A recent survey of architecture, engineering, and construction professionals found that only 27 percent are currently using artificial intelligence in their operations. That number is striking on its own. But the number that should really get your attention is what comes next. Among that 27 percent, 94 percent say they plan to increase their AI usage in 2026.
Read that again. The firms already using AI are not pulling back. They are accelerating. And they are doing it while the other 73 percent are still on the sideline.
In contracting, that kind of gap does not stay abstract for long. It shows up in how fast a competitor can turn around a proposal. It shows up in how much time their estimating team spends on takeoffs versus how much time yours does. It shows up in who walks into a BD conversation with better documentation, sharper positioning, and a cleaner story about the work they have done. Competitive advantages in this industry have always been practical. This one is no different.
What the survey does not tell you is why the 73 percent have not started yet. But if you talk to contractors and trade firm leaders across the country, the answer is fairly consistent. It is not skepticism about whether AI works. Most people past that. It is the absence of clarity about where to begin, what to prioritize, and how to implement anything without creating more confusion than you started with. The technology feels big and the day-to-day pressure of running a contracting business is real. That combination makes it easy to keep putting it off.
The problem is that putting it off has a cost that is hard to see until the gap has already grown.
The firms in that 27 percent did not all start with a massive budget or a dedicated technology team. Most of them started with a decision to get specific. They stopped asking whether AI was worth paying attention to and started asking where it could actually reduce friction, protect margin, or improve how their team operates. That shift from general curiosity to specific application is where real progress begins, and it is also where most firms get stuck without the right guidance.
Dynaimix exists for exactly this moment. The work we do is not about selling AI as a concept. It is about helping contracting firms, MEP firms, design-build teams, and trade contractors get clear on where AI fits their business, build the literacy their teams need to use it well, and implement it in a way that actually holds. Not a training session that fades in two weeks. A real foundation that moves the business forward.
The 27 percent are not waiting for the right moment. They are already moving, and in 2026 they are picking up speed. The firms that close the gap this year will be in a fundamentally stronger position heading into the back half of the decade. The ones that keep waiting will have more ground to make up with every passing quarter.
The window is open. The question is whether your firm walks through it.