INTRODUCTION
The construction sector is coming lately in the adoption cycle due to
its characteristics. 1 infer that poor, unclear and dis-jointed
information, segmentation into silos the interest of stakeholders,
duplication of efforts, non-alignment of interest with objectives,
mismanagement of resources have contributed to inefficiency and waste
which require re-orientation and re-drafting of business models. There
is an urgent need to adopt modern business models either in conjunction
with the conventional ones or jettison the conventional methods in its
entirety as the case may demand. Different technological advancement has
been employed in construction. Right from the beginning of civilisation
around 1800, when steam engine became the major driving force for
industries, to the second industrial age when electricity was
discovered. During this period, electrification was employed to
accelerate and automate production processes 2 . With the advent
of the third industrial revolution in the 1970s; further advancement was
made on electronics and information technology. During this period,
extensive use of computers and internet facilities became widespread
with human labour gradually replaced with machines.
The current dispensation, tagged ‘industry 4.0’ is an era of information
technologies and the advent of machines powered by artificial
intelligence (AI). According to 3 & 4 , the introduction of AI is
a great difference between the fourth industrial revolution and the
third. Artificial intelligence describes a technology whereby work
processes that would require a great deal of intelligence if performed
by human beings are taken over by machines, commonly referred to as
‘intelligent agents’. These intelligent agents deploy systems that
perceive the surroundings and take actions that maximise the chances of
success (5 ; 6 ). Through the development of theories,
methods, procedures, techniques, applications on intelligence, machines
are enhanced to perform complex tasks. The machines after programming
through computer systems are equipped with the ability to behave,
reason, learn, communicate and act in complex environments and therefore
perform in a better way, tasks that demand intelligent human
intervention (7;8; 9 ; 3 ).
Artificial intelligence require machines programming, however, with
‘machine learning’ (ML), a step ahead of AI, machines are not programmed
but become cognitive, having learnt autonomously acquiring computing
skills (10 ). Thus, with AI and ML, tasks are semi-automated or
fully-automated, that is numerically controlled on-site or off site
(11 ). Automation in the industry started about four decades ago.
This was initiated to reduce safety and health challenges and hindrances
in working with chemicals or radioactive elements, remote job sites,
highly contaminated jobsites and high-risk environments (12 ). AI
has a number of tools, divisions or domains for different activities.6 submitted that AI has been employed in a number of fields as
artificial neural networks (ANN), Genetic Algorithms (GA), case-based
reasoning (CBR), fuzzy theory, game theory (GT) and Multi Criteria
Decision Making (MCDM). These are further categorised as formal tasks
(such a mathematics and games) and expert tasks (such as scientific and
precision analyses in the realms of engineering and medicine). In the
fields of construction and engineering, genetic algorithms, neural
networks, fuzzy logics, expert system, natural language, robotics,
computer vision, case-based reasoning, k-means clustering, qualitative
reasoning model and so on have been successfully integrated to ease
production and management systems. Some of the applications of AI in the
fields of engineering and construction abound in the literature
(11 ;13 ). For competitive advantage and sustainability,
leadership is important, so also is firm resources and capability, this
study thus looks at the culture and strategy of firms from leadership
perspective with a view to promoting and instilling cultural orientation
and strategy for BIM and automation among indigenous construction firms.