The Value of Visual Intelligence: A Case for Construction Leaders

By

Jeevan Kalanithi

, Michael Fleischman

, and Anna K. Cottrell

Reviewed by 

Zoe Mullan

and Nicholas Dunbar

Last Updated Jan 30, 2026

By

Jeevan Kalanithi

, Michael Fleischman

, and Anna K. Cottrell

Reviewed By

Zoe Mullan

and Nicholas Dunbar

As a leader in the construction industry, how do you react to yet another tool that promises to boost your ROI or improve workflows? You’ll likely feel skeptical, as you may already be managing tool fatigue within your organisation, low adoption, or challenges with tech implementation on-site.

When teams rely on you, you need to quickly decide which innovations are hype and which are truly useful. 

It’s never been more critical to make that distinction accurately, as the UK construction industry navigates intense pressure on margins, a persistent skills shortage, and increasing client demands for predictability. Executives need a clear signal to cut through the noise of overhyped ‘innovation’ to understand which technologies create tangible financial and operational value. 

In the spirit of real utility, this article makes the case for Visual Intelligence on every site. Featuring Michael Fleischman, OpenSpace’s co-founder and CTO, and Jeevan Kalanithi, co-founder and CEO, we will explore how visual intelligence platforms powered by spatial AI are changing how teams work, resolve issues, and save material time and money on every project.

Shared Project Ownership

When people consider spatial AI, they most likely think about artificial intelligence somehow replacing humans or taking over some of their tasks. But with visual intelligence models, the truth could not be more different. By pairing visual intelligence with your system of record, the technology empowers site teams and construction leaders to do what they’re meant to do, despite all constraints: lead, manage, and execute the project. 

Imagine knowing exactly what’s happening on your construction site and managing progress in near real time. Fleischman says,

"The biggest transformation in business is often due to changes in people's access to information. One of the most essential things in construction is having timely access to information about what's actually happening in the field. Real-time visibility into what’s happening in the field translates to more transparency between participating parties and inherently less risk. For example, Shepherd Insurance found OpenSpace customers to be lower risk, experiencing fewer claims and smaller losses, which is why they offer up to 25% lower insurance premiums to our customers." 

Michael Fleischman

Co-Founder and CTO

Openspace.ai

Kalanithi notes that transparency from visual intelligence-powered sites could eventually shift contracts toward more Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) with greater shared risk/profit and increase direct delivery work, because builders can manage risk with greater certainty. Businesses could see more contracts based on a model of performance and quality, rather than parceling out risk between parties. Projects could actually become less expensive to build due to the insurance discounts alone, improving a firm’s competitiveness or profitability. 

This technology delivers real value, driving material savings, improving margins, and reshaping risk profiles so leaders can run their businesses differently. The result is a more holistic approach to executing a project, with fewer caveats around siloed responsibility for every segment of the job. 

The Best Way to Win an Insurance Battle is Before It’s Even Begun

Speaking of risk, every construction executive worries about  insurance claims, with thoughts of:

• “Is there enough evidence?”
• “Is there enough documentation to prove what happened?” and finally,
• “Will the insurer pay out, and how long will it take to get reimbursed?”

Complex or unresolved insurance claims can cause delays and eat into already thin margins.

Insurance claims tend to go off track when details are unclear – what happened, when it happened, and who was responsible – often due to poor records, weak accountability, or gaps in communication between parties.  

A simple yet revolutionary impact of routine construction site visuals is its way of providing indisputable evidence for any disagreements that may arise. Solid evidence should result in a simple, straightforward interaction with the insurer that takes one day to process, rather than weeks or even months of back-and-forth. None of this is theoretical, but rooted in concrete examples from construction firms that are already using Visual Intelligence Platforms.  

Kalanithi offers a compelling, real-life example of a building constructed in Texas. The project was a timber frame, multifamily project, positioned next to an empty car park. One night, a group of kids lit fireworks in the car park, which started a fire on the construction site. The project team needed a resolution quickly. 

"The building was not finished, but they couldn’t sit around waiting for the insurance adjuster. But because they were using visual intelligence on the project, they could send the data to the insurance company immediately, which was able to process the claim in less than 24 hours, without waiting for someone to show up. It would have taken at least a month if done the traditional way." 

Jeevan Kalanithi

CEO

Openspace.ai

The insurer was able to clearly see what had happened because they had time-stamped imagery of the site before and after the fire, which ruled out any mistakes by the team. Jeevan’s example illustrates how, when a construction site is hit by ‘unknown-unknowns,’ the types of problems no one can predict, visual intelligence helps accelerate the insurance claim process, translating into very real savings in an environment where every lost day is damaging. 

The benefits of visual intelligence go even further. Rather than simply reducing the amount of time it takes to process a claim, the technology can prevent situations that lead to claims in the first place. 

Fleischman adds,

"Shepherd looked at customers who use OpenSpace and customers that don't, then measured the number of claims on these projects, controlled for size, and other risk factors. It found a significantly reduced number of claims on sites and projects that use OpenSpace. This goes beyond just dispute resolution; there’s a ‘trust but verify’ kind of approach that happens when you know your site is being captured with visual intelligence tools. The jobsites are inherently less risky."

Michael Fleischman

Co-Founder and CTO

Openspace.ai

Visual intelligence naturally increases trust by increasing transparency. Kalanithi believes that there is real potential for a tectonic shift in the entire construction business model, which has historically suffered from the consequences of a predominantly risk-based, disjointed approach. 

"With the whole building industry, we've forced ourselves to parcel out risk to so many different parties, because no one's comfortable owning it all. This causes massive coordination problems, where you have the wrong data with which to coordinate, and there are way too many parties. If you have the visual data, then all parties can get their job done more efficiently." 

Jeevan Kalanithi

CEO

Openspace.ai

The New Way Is the Old Way But Better

It may sound counterintuitive at first, but the greatest value in the new visual intelligence technologies is their capacity to return the construction industry to a much simpler way of doing things. Simpler is not always better, but in this industry, it truly is. On-site, where not resolving issues can turn into costly mistakes, it’s all about seeing what’s really there and understanding what you need to do next. Fleischman summarises this approach in a single phrase certain to resonate with construction executives: 

"Money is made and lost in the field."

Michael Fleischman

Co-Founder and CTO

Openspace.ai

What visual intelligence platforms aim to encourage is a radical refocus on what’s happening on-site, with tools built for site teams. This technology is inherently image-first, easy to use, and helpful to end users. 

There’s no way to separate ROIs, the amount of rework a project requires, and the amount of insurance claims from routine problems that arise daily on-site. So, rather than promising improved ROIs or rework-reduction percentages that aren’t grounded in reality, the spatial AI technology promises better project outcomes through faster, more intuitive problem-solving. 

Says Kalanithi,

"What’s so good about this new way of work is that it’s like the old way where you'd go, ‘OK, that’s not right’, and you would just deal with it as opposed to filling out endless forms."

Jeevan Kalanithi

CEO

Openspace.ai

He ends with a compelling example of a real-life project where a main contractor was building a large commercial building for a well-known technology company. There was a lot of rain, leading to numerous weather-related delays. The builder was under heavy pressure from the owner regarding the programme. He said it wasn’t possible to mobilise his team because of the excessive mud on-site. Enter the power of visual evidence. 

"You could just see the mud was calf-high, and the issue just went away. Pictures don’t lie – it’s just a better way of working where there's more trust and transparency all around, and decisions get made way quicker." 

Jeevan Kalanithi

CEO

Openspace.ai

The Financial Case for Visual Intelligence & Your Next Step

As a construction leader, you may be wondering, “But will all these shifts save me money? And how smooth is the implementation of this new technology?” Great news.

With visual intelligence, you start seeing the impact immediately, notably through reduced disputes and insurance claims. It doesn’t take years to see the benefits. Often, one avoided claim pays for the software itself. Ultimately, visual intelligence is facilitating a powerful shift from text and documents to images, a medium that is much more powerful and efficient in construction. 

As for adoption, Fleischman recommends that, as a first step, a construction leader let their team decide whether they find the new technology useful.

"Where we see other technologies really stumble is when decisions are made at the top and mandated down, and it's actually not adopted in the field. If it's not useful, if it's not easy to use, and if the field does not like it, then they're not going to use it."

Michael Fleischman

Co-Founder and CTO

Openspace.ai

A much more beneficial approach is trialling the technology, putting it to use on several projects concurrently, seeing how it integrates into Procore and your key systems, and asking the site team what they really think. As we’ve seen firsthand, they won’t be shy to tell you the truth! 

How Visual Intelligence Can Transform Your Site - at a Glance

Available for builders and owners today, it allows teams to:

• Organise and analyse site imagery (photos, 360-imagery, drones) by place and time
• Locate issues indoors using technology like AI Autolocation to remove ambiguity and missing context
• Deliver fast insights for progress tracking, dispute resolution, or payment verification in near real time (~15-minute processing)
• Integrate this visual intel with Procore so issues are auto-pinned and two-way synced between platforms
• Make decisions more trustworthy with location-linked images, reducing risk and speeding handover

You don't have to ditch your current PM tools. You just need to verify that what's in them is actually happening on site. Read the final part of our series with Openspace.ai: Why You Need a Visual Intelligence Platform Alongside Your PM System to see how combining the plan with the reality cuts down on admin and arguments.

Written by

Jeevan Kalanithi

CEO | Openspace.ai

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Michael Fleischman

Co-Founder and CTO | Openspace.ai

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Anna K. Cottrell

Writer and Editor | Freelance

9 articles

Anna K. Cottrell is a writer and researcher with an expertise in the property and finance sectors.

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Reviewed by

Zoe Mullan

27 articles

Zoe Mullan is an experienced content writer and editor with a background in marketing and communications in the e-learning sector. Zoe holds an MA in English Literature and History from the University of Glasgow and a PGDip in Journalism from the University of Strathclyde and lives in Northern Ireland.

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Nicholas Dunbar

Content Manager | Procore

65 articles

Nick Dunbar oversees the creation and management of UK and Ireland educational content at Procore. Previously, he worked as a sustainability writer at the Building Research Establishment and served as a sustainability consultant within the built environment sector. Nick holds degrees in industrial sustainability and environmental sciences and lives in Camden, London.

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