Balfour Beatty unveils £7.2m AI investment with Microsoft

Balfour Beatty has invested £7.2m in Microsoft 365 Copilot as part of its digital transformation strategy, marking one of the UK construction industry’s largest known commitments to artificial intelligence.

The four-year partnership will see the technology embedded across Balfour Beatty’s internal Microsoft 365 systems, allowing the AI assistant to operate within its secure and compliant IT environment. The system will support employees across hundreds of projects, with the aim of improving productivity and site safety through automation and better decision-making.

Microsoft 365 Copilot integrates AI with widely used Microsoft tools such as Outlook, Excel and Word.

It is expected to cut down on repetitive tasks and speed up technical reviews, enabling engineers to focus on high-value work. The investment follows research from the McKinsey Global Institute suggesting AI could increase construction sector productivity by 14–15 per cent.

Balfour Beatty is also trialling AI-powered “smart agents” to enhance Quality, Health and Safety, and Assurance processes.

The first trial is being carried out on the A9 dualling project in Scotland. Here, the technology is automating the review of Inspection and Test Plans to identify outdated templates and inconsistencies.

Group chief executive Leo Quinn said: “Expanding access to Copilot is the natural next step in our digital transformation, empowering our teams with intuitive, AI-driven tools that streamline workflows and free up time for high-value work.”

Chief information officer Jon Ozanne said the move also bolsters the firm’s cyber security position while helping close the sector’s productivity gap.

The investment runs to 2029 and forms part of Balfour Beatty’s wider technology push, which includes augmented and virtual reality, biometrics, telematics and digital permitting.

According to its latest results, Balfour Beatty generated £4.06bn in turnover in 2023 and recorded a pre-tax profit of £118m.

The group’s 2023 strategic review noted rising opportunities in energy and transportation infrastructure and highlighted investment in innovation as a core pillar of its “Build to Last” strategy.

Source: Balfour Beatty announcement