Hi Reader!

Here is where AI in construction actually stands, in RICS's own numbers. RICS is the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors the governing body for chartered surveyors across the UK, Ireland and beyond. Nearly half of firms have not started at all. Fewer than one in seven use it regularly. And when you ask what is holding everyone back, the top answer is not cost, and it is not the technology. It is people.

How construction is really using AI" — RICS AI in Construction Report, 2025​
​Sources: RICS AI in Construction report, RICS responsible-AI standard​

So the real bottleneck is capability, not kit. Which is exactly what makes the next bit matter. In March, RICS brought in its first global standard on the responsible use of AI, and gave it teeth: every chartered surveyor must now hold a baseline level of AI literacy. Not a nice-to-have. A requirement. Alongside it, two more: be transparent with clients about where you use AI, and be able to explain and stand over anything it produces for you.

Read that again. A whole profession has been told, in writing, that understanding AI is now part of doing the job properly.

I think that is exactly the right instinct. But what is becoming more evident is that a rule that says "you must be AI literate" is the easy part. Becoming AI literate, actually changing the way busy teams work, that is the hard part, and it is where a lot of teams stall. Until now.

Introducing the AI Institute Capability Add-On​
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The AI Institute was built on a simple belief: we set out to help real people, doing everyday work, become genuinely excited about using AI. We regularly report productivity gains of in excess of 20%, but that productivity needs to be maintained by improving what you're doing and continually experimenting.

That is why we have introduced a new service we call Capability. A quarterly retainer service that helps turn practical training that into ability, and makes it stick long after the course ends.

Month 1 our forward deployed engineer sits with your team and works on live builds with them.
Month 2 is lunch and learn - updates on features that are relevant to you and some light touch troubleshooting.
Month 3 is governance - a written review of the agents running in your team, checked against governance best-practice standards, so leadership has assurance and visibility that the work is safe, consistent and auditable.

You can mandate literacy. You cannot mandate capability. That gap between the two is where this week's guest lives.

This week on ChattingGPT: James Garner

This week: James Garner

James Garner is Head of AI at Gleeds, a Fellow of RICS, and one of the people who sat on the working group behind that very standard. He co-founds the excellent Project Flux and has been a quantity surveyor since 1998, a profession he jokes you could pull someone into from 1890, give a day's training, and they would manage fine today. Which tells you how unusual this moment is.

His warning is blunt. Firms are spending real money on AI and writing AI strategies, but almost no one is funding the capability to actually use the tools. Adoption is racing ahead. Capability is not. And that, not the technology, is where the risk now sits.

His fix is refreshingly small: take responsibility for your own AI literacy, because no one else will. Put half an hour in your calendar every Friday and do nothing but experiment. We also get into why an "AI strategy" that is not a business strategy will fail, transparency versus explainability, and the eight Claude files every professional should set up.

🎧 Apple Podcasts

🎧 Spotify​

What are you doing on Thurs, 30 July?

If you're about Dublin town, and you're feeling summery, why not join us on the roof of our new offices in Grand Canal Dock for a lunch and learn, or relax and enthuse AI session?

We recently had our Strategy Day there and the chats and hacks and ideas that flowed after the meeting, we feel, are too good to keep to ourselves.

Come along on Thurs 30 July from 12.30pm.
Some of our trainers will be there. Meet the agent builders. More importantly, meet each other and let's have a really good chat about where we're all at with the various tools at this time.

Save your spot: RSVP here​

Open Training: Autumn 2026

One thing we have learned this year - the built environment does not take the summer off.

All of our summer courses are fully booked.

So if you're thinking of getting some training for your team this autumn, don't leave it too late.

The reason our courses always fill is because they are live, practical, and built on the work you actually do: tenders, drawing reviews, cost extracts and programme tracking.

First cohorts start 15 September, with early places closing 28 August.

If you are looking for a focused way to move AI from something the team talks about to something it applies on real project work, now is the time to take a look.

Starts 15 September. This is the most hands-on AI training in the built environment, built on real tenders, drawing reviews and cost extracts, with not a marketing example in sight. Secure your spot →

​Browse all public courses >>​

Yours, with half an hour blocked off on Friday (thanks James!) ⏳

AI Institute