Enhanced Project Delivery

René Morkos, Ph.D., CEO and founder of ALICE Technologies says collaboration and generative scheduling can save time and millions on capital project delivery

Capital projects are essential to global infrastructure and economic growth, but while demand is accelerating, rising investment is not guaranteed to produce better outcomes.

That presents a problem as well as an opportunity for industry leaders, and the solution they are increasingly turning to is AI and advanced analytics.

AI not only strengthens the data-driven nature of decision-making in capital projects - solving complex, nonlinear problems in engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning - but when combined with deep industry expertise and new ways of working, these technologies can create a significant opportunity to reduce costs and schedule overruns.

Take McKinsey, who have collaborated with ALICE Technologies, a pioneer in generative scheduling, to help clients quickly create, test, and optimise construction schedules. Together, they bring a fundamentally new approach to capital project planning on complex programs, helping owners and contractors improve how projects are planned and delivered. Based on a proven track record of tangible client impact, McKinsey formalised the alliance earlier this year.

The evidence in favour of AI is compelling:

• A generative scheduling model for a major port-expansion project delivered over 15 per cent schedule acceleration, which led to a £15 million reduction in labour costs through improved utilisation and £60 million in accelerated revenue through earlier completion.
• Over three months behind schedule on their large-scale cell-manufacturing facility, a major electronics-manufacturing company was exploring ways to get its project back on track. An optimised schedule for the installation of over 1,000 pieces of equipment delivered six weeks of schedule acceleration and over £37 million in impact through cost savings and revenue acceleration.
• A leading engineering, procurement, and construction player building an elevated guideway for a public transit operator was over a year behind schedule and confronted with £60 million in identified risks. Using an advanced analytics engine, we were able to explore over 100 "what-if" scenarios and recovered the 13-month delay.

"We're building on more than five years of work across industries to improve how large capital projects are planned and executed," says Mark Pitcher, a partner in McKinsey's Capital Excellence Practice. "Building more robust, analytics-driven schedules is a critical opportunity for the industry, and one that can drive significant improvements in cost and schedule performance."

Together, McKinsey and Alice have successfully introduced generative scheduling to more than 35 clients across capital-intensive industries, including infrastructure, data centres, energy, mining, and manufacturing, achieving schedule accelerations of up to 20 per cent and significant cost savings.

"Generative scheduling creates a step change in capital project performance," says Erikhans Kok, senior partner and leader of McKinsey's Capital Excellence Practice. "When embedded within the right operating model and supported by strong project controls, it can help organisations make faster, more informed decisions."

Generative scheduling is reshaping how complex capital projects are planned and delivered, but technology alone, does not close the performance gap; what is required is rewiring the entire organisation. Lasting impact goes beyond the software implementation: it takes robust capability building, an integrated operating model embedded in existing planning and delivery processes, and continuous benchmarking that feeds execution data back into future plans.

ALICE enables scalable insight by ingesting BIM models and P6 schedules to simulate millions of execution paths and identify the most efficient and resilient options. Deep scheduling and construction expertise allow contractors and owners alike to accurately model real-world project conditions to improve on-time delivery.

"Rethinking capital project planning and delivery is essential to address the stagnant performance in cost and schedule outcomes," says Martin Linder, senior partner and leader of McKinsey's Capital Excellence Practice. "By leveraging advanced technology, data-driven decision-making, and collaborative planning, stakeholders can optimise project delivery, maximise value, and adapt to the increasing complexity of modern capital projects."

As capital projects grow more complex and the value of capital at stake continues to rise, the organisations that combine AI- and analytics-enabled tools with disciplined ways of working will be best positioned to deliver large-scale projects with greater certainty time and on budget.

The future direction of capital project delivery is clear.