Balfour Beatty CIO: In the age of AI, ‘the organizations that will thrive are those where HR & IT work in lockstep’

Balfour Beatty is an international infrastructure group that has shaped global skylines since 1909.

While the £10 billion-revenue infrastructure giant has been around for over a century, it is certainly not stuck in the past.

For instance, earlier this year, Balfour Beatty announced a £7.2 million investment in Microsoft 365 Copilot, the tech giant’s AI-powered assistant. This builds on a long-standing partnership with Microsoft around its digital products, like Office365, Azure, PowerBI and Power Apps.

UNLEASH sat down with Balfour Beatty’s CIO Jon Ozanne to find out more about this AI investment, and what impact it will have on the infrastructure giant’s 27,000 person-strong global workforce.

“Historically, construction has been slower to adopt digital technologies compared to other industries,” Ozanne tells UNLEASH.

AI gives us the chance to change that. Copilot acts as an intelligent assistant – not replacing human expertise, but amplifying it with the right support to work smarter and more efficiently”.

AI will help ‘every employee be as effective as they can be’

A major challenge in the construction sector is the “complexity and scale of operations” – this often leads to “inefficiencies, delays and increased risk”, Ozanne shares.

“There’s a clear opportunity to improve how we plan, communicate and execute work – especially when it comes to reducing avoidable errors and improving decision-making.”

By investing in Microsoft 365 Copilot, Balfour Beatty aims to address these challenges and “help every employee be as effective as they can be”.

Jon Ozanne, CIO, Balfour Beatty.

Ozanne continues: “Whether it’s simplifying routine tasks, surfacing insights, or enabling better planning, our goals it give our people the tools to focus on what matters most – bringing their expertise to bear where it has the greatest impact.”

The infrastructure giant is only early in its Copilot journey – to date, it has just rolled out the AI tool to its 13,000 UK colleagues, however, since “the results have been compelling”, Balfour Beatty is going to roll it to the rest of its global workforce.

“We don’t want to bet all our chips at once – we want to learn, adapt and improve with each step”, as well as lay a foundation that is “locally relevant and aligned with the needs of the business”.

Some of the positive results that Balfour Beatty has seen so far include 75% of early adopters felt Copilot improved their work, 78% found it enhanced their communication, and 77% exerted less mental effort on mundane tasks.

Plus, 66% said they would be more likely to take a role in the future where Copilot was available because of their experiences with the tool.

It’s clear that “Copilot is freeing up time for high-value work” – however, Balfour Beatty has also found it has diversity and wellbeing benefits.

Ozanne shares: “We’ve also heard from neurodiverse colleagues that Copilot boosts their confidence in meetings and presentations, which is a huge win for inclusion and wellbeing.”

Credit: Balfour Beatty.

AI is not a technology deployment, it must be a ‘people-first transformation’

UNLEASH was keen to find out about any change management challenges for Balfour Beatty in implementing Microsoft 365 Copilot.

The journey began with a big hackathon, which “made clear that lasting success would depend on empowering our people with new AI skills” – that’s why the infrastructure giant has “approached this not as a technology deployment, but as an employee-led business and cultural change phenomenon”.

“Our focus has been on answering the question: ‘What’s in it for me?’”, as well as providing learning and development for employees at all levels.

Given that this AI rollout was a “people-first transformation”, it was essential that Ozanne and his IT team worked in lockstep with the HR team.

“HR was embedded in the program in the program team from day one” – the department has a “pivotal role in shaping our training and development strategy, helping us build confidence across the organization”.

“This collaboration [with HR] ensured that Copilot wasn’t just introduced – it was understood, embraced and embedded into how we work” – HR had a huge part to play in the positive outcomes Balfour Beatty has seen from Copilot so far.

Speaking directly to HR leaders, Ozanne states: “Don’t treat AI as outside your remit”.

“AI touches every part of employee experience, so HR’s role in shaping how it’s introduced and scaled is critical.”

CIOs must view HR as a strategic partners. The organizations that will thrive are those where HR and IT work in lockstep – aligning people, purpose and technology to build a confident, future-ready workforce.”

Beyond productivity: Thinking about the safety & sustainability sides of AI

Top of mind for Ozanne as CIO at Balfour Beatty is thinking about how digital technologies can improve not just productivity, but also safety and sustainability.

Central to why the infrastructure giant decided to partner with Microsoft on its AI rollout is because “security and trust are non-negotiable”.

“Responsible AI use is paramount, especially in safety-critical industries like ours”, states Ozanne.

“Protecting our customer data is paramount, and Microsoft’s enterprise-grade approach to security, governance, and responsible AI gives us confidence that we’re scaling this technology in a safe and sustainable way.”

Balfour Beatty is “mindful of the energy demands” that come with AI use.

“If we achieve what we set out to with AI – reducing rework, streamlining inspections and optimizing resource use – the efficiencies gained and waste eliminated will far outweigh the energy costs.

“These improvements are already helping us lower carbon emissions, cut down on material waste, and deliver more efficient operations across thousands of projects.”

Ozanne is very clear: “Sustainability isn’t just a goal – it’s a lens through which we evaluate every innovation. And with AI, we’re building a more resilient, resource-conscious future for construction.”

Agents as the future of AI & work at Balfour Beatty

The construction giant sees “real promise” from AI agents. They have “enormous potential to go beyond analysis to intelligent action – reducing risk, preventing errors, and making our projects safer, smarter and more sustainable”.

In fact, Balfour Beatty has already started developing and deploying agents, with expertise ranging from personal productivity tools to helping with early-stage inspection and test plan reviews.

“Right now, we’re focusing on safety and quality, which is our core business processes” – however, “we’re just getting started”.

In addition to AI agents, top of mind for Ozanne over the next year and looking ahead to 2030 is “ensuring we have the most empowered and adaptable workforce with a genuine growth mindset to embrace learning and take in new ways of working”.

“As an organization, we will be more active in our links with academia ensuring we are preparing for the workforce with the digital skills it needs to flourish in our industry,” adds Ozanne.

Linking back to Balfour Beatty’s safety focus, the organization is highly away that “AI does bring with it advanced sophistication for criminals as well”.

Ozanne concludes: “Keeping our personal, company and our customer data safe and secure will be an even bigger priority as technology becomes even more pervasive across our business.”

AI will take center stage at UNLEASH World this October. With experts and HR leaders from Harvard, Unilever, GE HealthCare, MIT and Novartis sharing their insights on this HR topic of the moment at the show. It’s not too late to grab your pass, and join us in Paris, 21 to 22 October.