Construction projects are getting increasingly complicated. The tech stacks that support them are, too. In reality, though, plenty of construction firms are caught up in the “app trap.” 

What is the ‘app trap?’ 

The “app trap” is our term for the disconnected network of software that companies expect their teams to use. It’s such a prevalent issue that we made it the topic of our recent webinar. 

Today, the modern construction pro might need ten different logins just to get work done. If that sounds exhausting, it’s because it is. 

And, unfortunately, it’s all too common.

In the webinar, Danielle O’Connell, Vice President, Digital Portfolio & Enablement at Skanska USA Building, expanded on the issue.

“Most applications were brought on for a good reason to solve a specific project or regional problem,” she said. “But they now create overlapping capabilities and disconnected information because we have multiple versions of the same process across projects.” 

Construction has an underlying tech fragmentation problem. It impacts operational costs and overall productivity. What’s more, switching between apps adds an additional cognitive task to each individual delivering work in the office or in the field.

Modern solutions create modern problems

Sasha Reed, Senior Director of Industry Transformation at Procore, set the stage.

“There really is a disconnect operating across all of construction,” she said. “Disconnected systems make us blind to some of the early warning signs that are coming up through the work we're doing. 

“In fact, our research shows that 46% of your team's time is spent dealing with information gaps. That means every single day, you're looking at about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data that are generated, but a staggering 95% of that data goes unused.”

Resistance to technology adoption and the pace of modern projects can prevent teams from making full use of construction data and limit the insights they can draw from it. But one underlying problem exacerbates them all: the “app trap.”

“Why do we need ten different applications that do the same thing? We were trying to innovate at one point, but now we must focus on the cost and burden that tool bloat causes our teams,”  O’Connell argued. 

More construction technology has cleared some bottlenecks and delivered some efficiency gains. But at many companies, it’s also created a fragmented patchwork of point solutions. Data gets siloed in each, limiting the way it can contribute to project and portfolio insights. 

Beyond that, the “app trap” takes a serious toll on individual construction professionals. “When someone in the field constantly has to remember where information lives—whether it's safety docs, RFIs, or drawings—that repeated context-switching creates a massive cognitive burden,” O’Connell explained during the webinar. “We're trying to eliminate that friction by consolidating knowledge.”

So what can teams do to avoid the “app trap?”

The solution: A system of intelligence

Teams can start breaking free of the trap by moving construction tech stacks from that static, siloed systems of record to a unified system of intelligence.

That means eliminating redundant software and integrating different solutions. A system of intelligence provides a cohesive network across which project data can move. 

Drawings, schedules, RFIs, submittals, safety documentation—it should all be connected. This way, construction pros can see where projects stand, accessing all the information they need to best do their jobs quicker and more easily. 

A streamlined construction tech stack looks different for different companies. Your unique needs will shape what software you use and what processes you apply to it. The main takeaway, though, is that one integrated system can yield richer insights and lower cognitive load for your team. 

Plus, as we enter the AI era, that unified system of intelligence provides extra value. 

“You cannot shift to a system of intelligence if your data is disconnected,” Reed says. “This is a statement I will continue repeating: AI cannot reason across data it cannot see.”

Finding concrete proof

Spotlighting a recent win from a system of intelligence: With drawings, specifications and submittal information connected in Procore, a project team used AI to review a concrete submittal and identified 36 errors, helping avoid a potential $7.15 million mistake.

Strong systems of intelligence can yield other notable advantages, too. Reed said that Procore research showed that streamlined data strategies reduce manual bidding from weeks to 20 minutes. 

Across the board, an optimized construction tech stack delivered wins in a recent Procore survey. 

“What we have found regarding the ROI of a streamlined tech stack is that firms utilizing an optimized tech stack report a 48% increase in construction volume per person,” Reed said. “A 48% increase—think about your margins and where you're eking out profit! A 48% increase in volume is wild today, and 77% report improved profit margins.” 

Getting there: Key takeaways to build a system of intelligence

All of this begs the question: How do construction firms move from several siloed software solutions to a system of intelligence? O’Connell shared some actionable tips: 

  • Identify your foundational platform. A strong tech stack needs a strong foundation. Decide on the core platform upon which you’ll build. For Skanska, it’s Procore. As a result, the first question O’Connell and her team ask any point solution vendor is, “Do you integrate with Procore?" 

  • Check for overlaps. O’Connell shared that Skanska's Enterprise Architecture team mapped business capabilities against all applications in use. The resulting web showed them where capabilities overlap. From there, they were able to make strategic decisions about which redundant solutions to sunset. 

  • Focus where the work happens. “We look for high-frequency workflows,” O’Connell said. “Saving 15 minutes on a task repeated constantly adds up significantly across an organization, as do processes that consume hours of time.” What do your teams have to do over and over and over again? Where could a system of intelligence streamline that, or speed it through automation?

  • Develop good processes. During the webinar, O’Connell addressed the misconception some people have that AI will solve everything. To counter, she said, “If underlying workflows remain fragmented across systems, AI cannot fix it.” She recommended mapping data flows across every step of the process and looking for areas of optimization. 

Finally, some take-home advice from O’Connell:

“Don't automate the mess. Look at workflows and processes, figure out how data should connect, and then let AI help you scale what actually works. Move away from chasing shiny objects to being strategic, pragmatic, and value-focused.”

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