What Delivering Infrastructure 2050 Taught Me About the Future of UK Infrastructure

Last month I attended Delivering Infrastructure 2050, ACE's conference on the future of UK infrastructure delivery, held at the IET in London. Projectworks was proud to sponsor the event, and as someone who spends most days talking to engineering consultancies about how they run their businesses, it was refreshing to spend a day talking about the industry itself. A few themes came up again and again, and three in particular stuck with me.

1. The industry needs clarity, confidence and consistency

One line from the opening session summed up the day for me: infrastructure delivery needs clarity, confidence and consistency. With repeated government changes disrupting projects and shifting priorities, firms are being asked to plan long term projects in an environment that’s struggling to stay still.

That's not a problem any single tool can solve. But it's exactly the challenge we think about at Projectworks every day. When a firm has clarity, confidence and consistency over its financial insight and operating model, it's far better equipped to absorb project delays and market volatility without losing its footing. That internal resilience is what allows firms to keep delivering steadily, even when the wider landscape isn't.

2. Delivering more efficiently, with AI in its proper place

There was honest acknowledgement that infrastructure delivery isn't as efficient as it needs to be, and that better planning, not just better execution, is where the gains sit. One suggestion that stayed with me: projects should look more like 80% planning and 20% doing, rather than the other way round, which is closer to reality today.

AI came up throughout the day, but not as a silver bullet. Speakers were candid that AI has a real carbon cost, and that its value lies in specific, practical applications, like helping teams make sense of large volumes of data, rather than being pitched as a replacement for human intelligence. That's a distinction we take seriously at Projectworks too. Where AI shows up in our platform, it's there to support engineering judgement, surface insights faster, and reduce manual admin, not to replace the expertise that firms are built on.

Read more about Projectworks AI features here.

3. SMEs are essential to closing the skills gap

Perhaps the most consistent message of the day came from the ministerial keynote and beyond: supply chain and skills gaps should be filled by engineering SMEs. With a genuine shortage of skills across the sector, and around one in ten planning roles currently vacant, the answer isn't always to hire the bigger firm or the firm you spoke to last. Instead, bring in a local specialist firm who can fill that specific niche. Whether it’s decarbonisation expertise, water infrastructure or something else entirely, the SME on the ground often knows the area better than someone placed there from elsewhere.

That message resonated because it's close to home. SME and mid-sized engineering consultancies are exactly who we build Projectworks for. These are the firms doing genuinely specialist work, often punching well above their size, and they deserve tools that help them compete and deliver with the same confidence as larger organisations.

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Delivering Infrastructure 2050 was a reminder that the challenges facing UK infrastructure are as much about how firms plan, resource and collaborate as they are about the projects themselves. This is exactly the space Projectworks exists to help with, and it was a privilege to be part of the conversation.