Construction: Innovation under pressure between cybersecurity, digital modernization, and organizational obstacles

Faced with predominantly local competition (58%), French players prioritize cybersecurity as their top technological priority (44%), followed by IoT (35%) and AI (32%). However, reliance on aging systems (92%), siloed services (44%), and budget constraints (36%) still hinder their transformation.

Despite these obstacles, nearly two-thirds (64%) advocate a proactive and continuous approach to innovation, with the sector thus showing a clear willingness to invest and modernize its infrastructure, thereby placing innovation at the heart of its competitiveness.

• France leads the way in recognizing the importance of innovation (84%) among the three countries surveyed, but considers it more difficult than it was 5 years ago (80%). This need to innovate is closely linked to competitive pressure: 84% of French decision-makers admit that maintaining competitiveness literally keeps them up at night.
• Implementation of innovation: In France, 64% of construction sector leaders believe they adopt a proactive and continuous approach to innovation. Conversely, in the energy and services sector, a more frequent reliance on an opportunistic or ad hoc approach seems to prevail, reflecting a less structured and strategic approach to innovation in this area.
• Local or European competition? For construction companies (58%), the majority of competitors are local. In the manufacturing sector, however, European companies are almost on par with local competitors.
• Tech: Cybersecurity is among the top priority technology areas in the construction industry (44%), more so than in the energy and manufacturing sectors. This is followed by the Internet of Things (IoT) at 35%, then Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and Cloud Computing, both tied at 32%.
• The state of technological infrastructure: respondents clearly identified reliance on legacy and aging systems and processes as a barrier to innovation. This observation is shared by 92% of executives in the construction industry.
• Internal obstacles to innovation: silos between departments within the company (44%), inadequate technologies (41%), and budgetary constraints (36%) are the main internal challenges in the French construction sector. However, internal resistance to change is cited to a lesser extent in this sector compared to the energy and manufacturing sectors.

France is leading the way in recognizing the importance of innovation.

France stands out for its particularly acute awareness: innovation is no longer an option, it's a condition for survival. The majority of business leaders in France (92%) agree that innovation is important to help their company remain competitive, and more than 84% state that without innovation, their company could not survive. This figure puts France far ahead of the United Kingdom (62%) and even Italy (80%), which is also aware of the importance of innovation.

Furthermore, 80% of French decision-makers believe that innovation is more difficult today than it was five years ago. This perception undoubtedly reflects increased regulatory constraints, skills shortages, and the challenges associated with the energy transition. This pressure is palpable in their responses: 84% of French decision-makers admit that maintaining competitiveness literally keeps them up at night.

To the question, "Is your organization ready to face future disruptions or sectoral challenges?", the answer is generally positive: 94% of manufacturers say they are ready, a figure equivalent to that of the other sectors studied. However, approaches to innovation vary considerably across sectors:

What does the competitive landscape look like for each sector and where is the "competition"?

Perceptions of competition at the sector level show that for construction (58%) and energy (62%) companies, competitors are predominantly local. In manufacturing, however, European companies (49%) slightly outnumber local competitors (47%) as the main sources of competition.

Technology & digital transformation: AI, IoT, cybersecurity and CleanTech are priorities for businesses

Only 9% of the executives surveyed described their technological infrastructure as "very advanced". This figure places France ahead of Italy (7%), but behind the United Kingdom (14%).

Respondents clearly identified the obstacles to digital transformation, particularly the reliance on legacy and outdated systems and processes. This observation was widely shared across several sectors:

• Construction: 92%
• Energy & Public Utilities: 79%
• Manufacturing industry: 76%

In other words, while the will to transform is there, the technological foundations still need strengthening to support innovation and remain competitive. But where are companies focusing their efforts? Here are the technologies considered priorities by sector.

• AI and IoT are among the priorities across all sectors, with a strong emphasis on the manufacturing industry.
• Cybersecurity remains a strong focus for construction (44%), more so than in other sectors.
• Data management is gaining momentum, particularly in the manufacturing industry (43%).
• The energy and utilities sectors show a strong orientation towards CleanTech (36%) and advanced analytics (40%).

For Mike Bray, VP Innovation, RS: “While France stands out for its strong awareness of the urgent need to innovate, only 9% of executives consider their technological infrastructure to be highly advanced. This gap, exacerbated by reliance on aging systems, underscores the need to invest in clearly identified priorities such as AI, IoT, and cybersecurity. The momentum is there, but transformation now requires a concrete acceleration of resources.”

Obstacles to innovation

External brakes

External forces represent a significant obstacle to innovation. No player in the construction, energy, or manufacturing sectors claims to be completely free from external challenges.

Market volatility and economic conditions are the main external challenges in France, particularly for the energy and services sector (52%), followed by industry (49%) and construction (48%). This finding shows that these companies operate within a complex macroeconomic context that influences their innovation strategies. It is worth noting that market volatility, while significant, is perceived as less critical in a country like the United Kingdom (34%), for example.

For industry in particular, the lack of external funding is cited by 49% of respondents. This figure illustrates a real problem in France especially, where industrial innovation is hampered by a glaring lack of private external investment.

Internal brakes

Despite a culture of innovation often considered positive, companies also have to deal with significant internal obstacles.

Three main obstacles emerge:

• Resistance to change

One of the main internal obstacles in all sectors, particularly in manufacturing (47%) and energy (45%), is cultural resistance. This resistance slows the adoption of new technologies, hinders the deployment of pilot projects, and complicates the scaling up of innovations.

• Budget constraints

A critical challenge, especially in energy (48%) and manufacturing (44%). In low-margin sectors, financial constraints hinder investment in R&D, pilot projects, or the adoption of innovative technologies.

• Lack of skills and expertise

A significant obstacle for the energy sector (50%), but also in other sectors. Skills gaps between specialized employees and the talent shortage in future technologies – AI, IoT, robotics, data, sustainable development, cybersecurity – complicate the implementation and management of innovation projects.

Methodology

This report is based on a survey conducted in June 2025 by Walnut on behalf of RS. A total of 576 participants were interviewed in the UK, France, and Italy. Unless otherwise stated, the results presented in this report are based on data from the 192 participants in the study conducted in France.

Details of the French sample surveyed

Areas of expertise

• 66 participants from the construction industry – 34%
• 58 participants from the energy and services sector - 30%
• 68 participants from industry – 35%

Socio-professional category

• Owner, CEO – 23%
• Executive (C-level), Director - 44%
• Senior managers – 31%
• Middle managers - 1%
• Entry-level frames / Junior frames - 1%

A complete comparative analysis can be found here.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.