Authors:
Erikhans Kok, senior partner and leader of McKinsey’s Capital Excellence Practice;
Martin Linder, senior partner and leader of McKinsey’s Capital Excellence Practice;
Mark Pitcher, partner in McKinsey’s Capital Excellence Practice; and
Tim Drake-Brockman, Asset leader in McKinsey’s Capital Excellence practice.
The alliance brings AI- and advanced-analytics-enabled scheduling to project delivery, enabling owners and contractors to move faster, manage risk, and unlock measurable value.
April 14, 2026 – Capital project development today faces a paradox: demand is accelerating, while productivity remains an evergreen challenge. Capital projects are essential to global infrastructure and economic growth, but rising investment has not translated into better outcomes.
Industry leaders are increasingly using AI and advanced analytics to strengthen the data-driven nature of decision-making in capital projects—solving complex, nonlinear problems in engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning. When combined with deep industry expertise and new ways of working, these technologies can create a significant opportunity to reduce costs and schedule overruns.
Over the past several years, McKinsey has collaborated with ALICE Technologies, a pioneer in generative scheduling, to help clients quickly create, test, and optimize 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 is pleased to formalize our alliance this week.
“We’re excited to continue our collaboration with ALICE Technologies, 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, the firms have successfully introduced generative scheduling to more than 35 clients across capital-intensive industries, including infrastructure, data centers, energy, mining, and manufacturing, achieving schedule accelerations of up to 20 percent and significant cost savings.
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McKinsey & Company