New Construction Industry Research
The 2026 Capital Program Maturity Report is here.
Capital programs are getting more complicated. But most organizations’ management approach isn’t keeping up.
Kahua partnered with trusted global research organization Verdantix to survey 50 capital program leaders to benchmark the digital maturity of their construction programs.
We took the opportunity to ask about the realities of capital program delivery:
- What are the biggest challenges you experience?
- How integrated are your systems today?
- How quickly are your able to detect and address risks?
- What methods (spreadsheets, software tools, custom solutions) are you using for planning, construction, and operations tasks?
The Capital Program Maturity Report reveals how organizations are operating in an increasingly complex capitol program environment, and what the future looks like.
What are the key takeaways? There are new expectations for digital maturity.
1. We’re moving beyond a project-centric model.
94% of organizations are managing six or more projects at once, expanding beyond the traditional one-off project model. Adapting to a more sophisticated portfolio management style is difficult, due to from fragmented data.
2. System consolidation is changing the game.
58% are consolidating systems, but only 22% have an identified system of record. A single, trusted, portfolio-wide data source lets firms control the whole portfolio—and paves the way for practical AI.
3. AI use is ahead of AI value.
84% use public-based AI models like ChatGPT, but only 8% are getting much value from it. Heavy investment in AI is a top priority from many organizations, while the connectivity needed to make it work is often lacking.
4. AI still needs human involvement.
Respondents consistently said that their organizations expected AI to improve speed, insight, and productivity—not accountability, which remains a human function. And yet, most don’t have the system foundation to take advantage of AI.
“We are not managing projects anymore. We are managing interconnected systems that affect operations for decades.“
The market has changed, but delivery models haven’t kept pace.
Companies, agencies, and contractors need a strong data strategy to truly leverage and accelerate technology, including AI.
But only 4% of organizations work in a fully connected systems environment today, leaving most organizations somewhere between digitization and true integration. This model shows the progression from manual processes and disconnected tools to integrated systems, shared data, and intelligent operations.