Cover Ir Albert Cheng, executive director of the CIC, poses with a humanoid robot the CIC Global AI and Smart Construction Conference and Exhibition (GASCCE) 2026. (Photo: CIC)
Ir Albert Cheng, executive director of the CIC, poses with a humanoid robot the CIC Global AI and Smart Construction Conference and Exhibition (GASCCE) 2026. (Photo: CIC)
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As the Construction Industry Council (CIC) continues to innovate and make emerging technologies accessible, Ir Albert Cheng sets out how the sector is moving towards a new age of AI
It all started three decades ago while computer wasn't widely used in workplace. As a young chartered engineer, Albert Cheng was tasked with overseeing the alignment, pavement, drainage and retaining walls of a 10km stretch of highway in the rural district of Tai Po. It was time-consuming—adjusting the alignment, for example, meant entering parameters into a computer and waiting two days for the result. If an error occurred, he would have to fix it then wait another two days.
The memory frames how Cheng, now executive director of the Construction Industry Council (CIC), describes his approach to spearheading innovation. “The only way to solve all our legacy problems in the construction industry is by technology,” he says, “and the emergence of artificial intelligence really accelerated the adoption of technology.”
Above Speakers and organisers gathering on stage at the CIC Global AI and Smart Construction Conference and Exhibition (GASCCE) 2026. (Photo: CIC)
Speakers and organisers gathering on stage at the CIC Global AI and Smart Construction Conference and Exhibition (GASCCE) 2026. (Photo: CIC)
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Through the CIC’s pioneering work in AI, Cheng’s argument has taken physical form. The CIC describes its function in three parts: facilitator, educator and connector. Through the Construction Innovation and Technology Fund, the CIC subsidises a substantial share of the cost of adopting new tools, from building information modelling (BIM) software to robotics, and supports the training required to operate them. In June, the CIC hosted the city’s first Global AI and Smart Construction Conference and Exhibition (GASCCE) at Hong Kong Science Park, bringing together more than 50 exhibitors from Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland, Singapore and other countries. Ranging from high-tech design software to drones and quadruped robots to help with construction site mapping and surveillance, the exhibitors’ AI-powered products spanned the full construction life cycle, from support through to long-term operation.
Hong Kong’s construction industry faces an ageing workforce—the current average age of construction workers in the city is 47.7—as of 2026—and high overhead costs, while few young people enter the trade. To Cheng, AI offers a way to reduce demand for scarce labour, raise productivity and shorten the time spent on repetitive technical tasks. “If 30 years ago, I already had some artificial intelligence to help me do all these kinds of calculations, I could have a lot more time with my family,” Cheng says.
Above A humanoid robot draws a crowd in a demonstration at the CIC Global AI and Smart Construction Conference and Exhibition (GASCCE) 2026. (Photo: CIC)
A humanoid robot draws a crowd in a demonstration at the CIC Global AI and Smart Construction Conference and Exhibition (GASCCE) 2026. (Photo: CIC)
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He also points to the change in attitudes towards high-tech tools. The arrival of generative AI, he observes, has “opened up the mindset of people in this industry”, allowing standards and concepts once studied over weeks to be understood more quickly. His method for accelerating the adoption of digital tools involves encouraging people to check out technology themselves. “Seeing is believing,” he says.
For all his focus on technology, Cheng’s ultimate concern is the people involved in the industry. Tech will enable practitioners who leverage AI as a daily instrument to oversee “very routine labour”, and then use AI to explore new areas that have long resisted easy answers, from developing lighter and more durable construction materials to developing new energy sources, such as hydrogen and solar energy, to improve ways of living.
Above A display from the Hong Kong Center for Construction Robotics at the CIC Global AI and Smart Construction Conference and Exhibition (GASCCE) 2026. (Photo: CIC)
A display from the Hong Kong Center for Construction Robotics at the CIC Global AI and Smart Construction Conference and Exhibition (GASCCE) 2026. (Photo: CIC)
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Asked what will distinguish the sector’s future leaders, Cheng points to an open mind, a willingness to keep learning and the courage to explore. By helping reduce the toil of manual labour, he says, AI can potentially help nurture a generation of young industry professionals who derive more time for interrogating the “unknown” and seeking to improve the societies they live in.
“Young people have dreams,” he says. “We need to make a change … and I hope that the construction industry is the place of work that young people enjoy, by using technology to make their dreams come true.”
