AI is moving from multifamily back offices to construction sites

McCarthy Building Cos. has signed a multiyear, multimillion-dollar agreement with Palantir to develop a connected AI operating system for its construction operations, the companies announced in early June. The deal, reported by Construction Dive reporter Matthew Thibault, marks one of the most concrete examples yet of enterprise-level AI investment taking root among large contractors.

The platform at the center of the partnership is called Pulse, McCarthy's AI-native system designed to give field teams real-time insight, scenario planning, risk analysis, and what the companies describe as decision orchestration. Per Construction Dive, the system is intended to support workers across the full project arc, from design through active building in the field. Palantir, which is headquartered in Miami and provides AI software to clients in sectors ranging from defense to food manufacturing, will supply its Artificial Intelligence Platform as the underlying engine.

AI's job-site ambitions go beyond scheduling

The McCarthy-Palantir deal lands as broader conversations about AI's construction potential are intensifying. Multi-Housing News recently sat down with James Garner, Head of AI and Data at Gleeds and a member of the Construction Professional Group Panel at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), to discuss where the technology actually stands. Garner brings more than two decades of construction industry experience and has helped shape industry standards around the use of data and AI.

According to Multi-Housing News, Garner sees AI already making headway in project management and back-office work, but frames those wins as early steps. The areas he considers most consequential involve connecting AI directly to field operations, including coordinating onsite robots alongside human crews. That application is still developing, but Garner described it as a near-term frontier rather than a distant concept.

Data readiness and culture are the real obstacles

For all the momentum around AI tools, Garner flagged two persistent obstacles that can stall even well-funded initiatives. The first is data quality. Construction organizations generate enormous volumes of project data, but that information often exists in formats that AI systems cannot readily use. Getting data into a structured, accessible state is a prerequisite that many firms underestimate, according to Multi-Housing News.

The second barrier is cultural. Garner told Multi-Housing News that the willingness of teams to trust and adopt new tools often matters more than the cost of the technology itself. He outlined four distinct mindsets he sees across construction organizations when it comes to AI, ranging from skeptics who see no role for the technology to advocates who are pushing for broad deployment. Bridging those gaps, he argued, is where leadership attention should be focused.

Keeping humans accountable within AI-assisted workflows also came up as a critical design principle. Garner was clear that AI should support decision-making, not replace the professional judgment of the people responsible for a project's outcome. That framing aligns with how RICS has approached the development of responsible AI standards for the built environment sector.

Investors and insurers are watching closely

The conversation at Multi-Housing News also touched on how capital and risk markets are responding. Garner noted that investors and insurers are beginning to pay closer attention to how construction firms use AI, viewing robust adoption as a signal of operational sophistication and risk management capability. That dynamic gives larger contractors additional incentive to formalize their AI strategies, not just to improve efficiency but to influence how they are perceived by financial stakeholders.

The McCarthy-Palantir partnership, which Construction Dive reported is structured as a multiyear commitment, reflects exactly that kind of strategic posture. Rather than deploying point solutions for specific tasks, McCarthy is building what it describes as a connected operating system intended to scale across project types and teams.

Robotics as the next chapter

Both threads converge on the question of robotics. Garner, speaking to Multi-Housing News, described onsite robots as an area where AI's physical and analytical dimensions will eventually merge. Construction robots are not yet a standard fixture on multifamily job sites, but the infrastructure being built now, including connected data platforms like Pulse and the standards RICS is developing, is laying the groundwork for that integration.

For multifamily developers and general contractors, the practical implication is that AI adoption decisions made today will shape operational capabilities for years. McCarthy's multimillion-dollar commitment to Palantir signals that at least some large contractors are treating this as a strategic priority rather than a pilot project.