McKinsey + ALICE scheduling
McKinsey announced a partnership with ALICE Technologies to apply generative AI to construction scheduling, with the firms saying the tool creates 'what‑if' scenarios and can help accelerate project timelines by about 20%. The collaboration was presented as an example of consulting firms pairing diagnosis with implementation tooling. (constructiondive.com)
Construction scheduling is getting an artificial intelligence pitch from one of the world’s biggest consulting firms. McKinsey said this week it is formalizing an alliance with ALICE Technologies to sell generative scheduling tools to construction and infrastructure clients. (constructiondive.com) (mckinsey.com) A construction schedule is the master sequence for who does what, with which crews and equipment, and in what order. ALICE’s software takes an existing plan and tests many alternate versions so teams can compare “what-if” options before work starts or when delays hit. (alicetechnologies.com) (mckinsey.com) McKinsey and ALICE said the tool can help contractors accelerate projects by as much as 20 percent. Construction Dive reported the terms were not disclosed, and said the companies have already introduced the software on more than 35 projects. (constructiondive.com) (mckinsey.com) The pitch lands as capital-project owners face a long-running productivity problem. McKinsey said demand for infrastructure is rising while project productivity remains weak, and argued that more owners and contractors are turning to artificial intelligence and advanced analytics for planning and delivery decisions. (mckinsey.com 1) (mckinsey.com 2) McKinsey has been writing about “generative scheduling” for several years as a way to model physical constraints, labor, equipment, access, and startup sequences, then test millions of possible combinations in minutes. The new alliance turns that idea into a named offering tied to a software vendor rather than a consulting concept alone. (mckinsey.com 1) (mckinsey.com 2) ALICE said its software plugs into existing planning workflows by importing schedules from Oracle Primavera P6 or Microsoft Project and overlaying them on drawings. The company says teams can then visualize alternatives in two dimensions and compare feasible schedules instead of updating one static timeline by hand. (alicetechnologies.com 1) (alicetechnologies.com 2) ALICE is a Menlo Park, California, company founded in 2015 from Stanford University research, and it says it works with contractors and owners in infrastructure, industrial, and commercial construction. McKinsey’s operations practice is using the alliance to pair advisory work with a specific implementation tool for capital projects. (alicetechnologies.com) (mckinsey.com) The immediate test is whether owners and contractors treat schedule optimization like software they can deploy across portfolios, not just a one-off consulting exercise. McKinsey and ALICE are betting that faster “what-if” planning will be easier to buy when the diagnosis and the tool come together in one package. (constructiondive.com) (alicetechnologies.com)
