70% of Hyundai E&C staff now use AI as builder overhauls how it works

Hyundai Engineering & Construction is overhauling the way its employees work by building an AI-powered environment accessible to all staff. More than 70 percent of its workforce already uses AI systems on the job, and the company says its artificial intelligence transformation — known internally as AX — is delivering measurable gains in productivity, safety and quality management.

Hyundai E&C recently introduced an AI-based contract review system that automatically detects unfair or irregular clauses and helps prevent fair-trade risks before they arise, according to the construction industry Wednesday. Given the construction sector's vast project-specific data and abundance of unstructured documents, the company says having AI conduct fast, accurate reviews upfront significantly boosts productivity and precision.

A flagship example is the overseas contract comparison and review agent — an AI system that analyzes large volumes of contracts and automatically identifies risks. It can simultaneously search and analyze more than 1,300 documents, including the company's standard English contracts, MOUs, non-disclosure agreements and project files. Drawing on preprocessed information covering relevant regulations, comparable contract cases and review expertise, the system sharply cuts the time needed for document analysis while screening out potential legal risks in advance.

The company's AI pre-sale consultant, an active customer service tool powered by generative AI, has also seen strong uptake. Unlike conventional scenario-based chatbots, it uses GPT technology to handle a wide range of inquiries in natural, everyday language without preset constraints. Customers who previously could only reach a call center during weekday business hours can now get responses around the clock, reducing consultant workload while improving customer satisfaction at the same time.

At construction sites, the company is also rolling out smart safety electronic display boards. The boards let workers check key site safety information not only at kiosks but also on personal mobile devices. An AI safety assistant built into the system offers multilingual support and a conversational question-and-answer function, delivering tailored information to individual workers.

Hyundai E&C is also upgrading existing platforms with AI to strengthen site monitoring and safety and quality management — including HiBoard, a smart construction management platform, and Q-Pocket, a mobile and web-based integrated inspection system. An AI-generated character called Zero Beaver leads online quality education sessions, and as employees' AI capabilities have grown, the range of tasks to which they apply AI has expanded accordingly.

Employees also use AI tools the company developed in-house. HAI, a conversational AI work-support system, lets staff choose from different AI services depending on the nature of their tasks. Built on retrieval-augmented generation, it connects to internal databases — including company guidelines, regulations, site data and construction materials — to organize knowledge sharing and deliver optimized information. HAI offers a range of AI models, including GPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity, so employees can select the one best suited to their work, while a robust security framework prevents sensitive internal information from leaking.

M365 Copilot is an AI service employees can deploy immediately for document-based tasks using work data. All staff actively use it for drafting meeting minutes and reports, translation and a variety of other tasks. Recently, more general employees have been using M365 Copilot for vibe coding to build their own work tools.

Based on figures compiled in July, about 70 percent of all employees — spanning site support, research and general office roles — use HAI and M365 Copilot, and power users who log more than 100 sessions a month have surpassed 30 percent of the total user base and continue to grow, the company said.

To foster an AI-centered organizational culture, Hyundai E&C is selecting in-house AI champions, expanding institutional support through shared platforms, training and rewards, and accelerating its shift in working practices. The company has in particular been designating internal AI change-management specialists called ACEs to drive cultural transformation. ACEs focus on four areas: identifying and standardizing AI use cases applicable to their own work, introducing outstanding departmental AI applications, running division-wide rollout programs, and sharing information within the ACE community — all aimed at creating a work environment where employees can readily apply AI to their day-to-day tasks.

The company is also restructuring its organizational makeup, simultaneously pursuing software innovation centered on people and culture alongside hardware innovation centered on technology and platforms, with dedicated teams overseeing each. The AI Design Lab handles the spread of an AI organizational culture, while the AX Platform Team is responsible for upgrading AI platforms.

The AI Design Lab, set up earlier this year with the goal of embedding new ways of working across the company, identifies and promotes AI strategies and initiatives so all employees can use AI freely. It runs company-wide AI adoption activities, including the ACE program. The AX Platform Team builds and operates the internal and external AI service environment — including HAI, the smart construction management platform and the AI pre-sale consultant.

Programs that let employees exchange diverse AI experiences are also underway. Playground, an experience-driven AI community where staff can accumulate hands-on experience across areas from content creation to task automation, and Play Day, a platform where employees can try out key AI features in everyday settings and share their work with colleagues, are both designed to deepen familiarity with AI across the workforce.

The company has also distributed internally produced vibe coding course materials and incorporated related coursework into its new-employee orientation program as part of ongoing AX education. A separate AI leadership program runs for executives, and the company plans to expand it into an advanced course in the second half of the year to raise AI adoption among decision-makers.

"We plan to keep driving work innovation through data and AI — backed by institutional support such as rewards for AI performance — and to focus on fully internalizing and advancing AX," a Hyundai E&C official said.