A series: What the AI Revolution and Construction have in common (3)

Anna, Founder

March 26, 2026

Part three of a three-part series on AI, construction, and structural inclusion.

Rebuilding differently: digital transformation, leadership, and structural inclusion

In the first two articles, I explored how inequality becomes embedded in systems and how conditional belonging shapes women’s decisions to stay, adapt, or leave.

Across this series, I’ve explored two connected ideas:

When inequality is built into foundations, it compounds.
When belonging is conditional, withdrawal is a predictable response to the environments women encounter.

So what does that mean in practice?

The digital transformation risk

There’s another dimension here that construction cannot afford to ignore.

Bates highlights a gender gap in AI usage among young adults, with men using AI tools more frequently than women.

If women’s prior experiences of digital spaces involve harassment, invisibility, or self-censorship, it’s not surprising that enthusiasm for new tools might differ.

Now consider where construction is heading:

AI-supported recruitment screening
Digital workforce management systems
Automated performance tracking
Online learning platforms
Industry networking spaces are moving increasingly online

If new systems are introduced without considering women’s lived experience of digital environments, adoption gaps may widen.

Worse still, if AI tools are trained on historically male-dominated datasets, they may replicate patterns of bias in hiring, progression, or evaluation.

Without deliberate design, digital systems will reproduce the inequalities already present in the industry.

Through We Build Too, we are exploring how to give women the confidence and support to navigate digital tools, training, and sites safely. Right now, we are listening, gathering research, learning from women’s experiences, and inviting input that will directly influence the platform’s design. By capturing patterns in participation, engagement, and experience, We Build Too will provide industry leaders with the evidence they need to address culture, bias, and structural barriers before they further drive women out.

What this means for We Build Too

Building We Build Too in this context carries responsibility. If AI systems can “hardwire” misogyny where women’s safety is treated as secondary, then any platform designed to support women in construction must reverse that logic.

That means:

Clear codes of conduct
Proactive moderation
Thoughtful onboarding and identity validation
Designing with women, not just for them
Recognising that digital environments are not neutral

It also means creating spaces where women don’t need to mask. Where they don’t need to abandon traits coded as “feminine” to be credible, and where participation does not require self-erasure.

If we simply help women survive hostile environments more effectively, we risk reinforcing those environments. The goal is not helping women endure hostile environments more effectively, but changing the environments themselves.

At the same time, the anonymised insights We Build Too will provide are a tool for systemic change. They will help leaders understand what is driving withdrawal, which behaviours are exclusionary, and where interventions can have the biggest impact, creating safer, more inclusive environments for women (and all) in construction.

A turning point for industry leaders

Bates argues that legislation alone cannot solve digital misogyny and that culture and public attitudes matter significantly.

The same applies to construction. Yes, policies are important, targets are useful, and statements signal intent, but everyday behaviour shapes reality.

If supervisors ignore sexist remarks, if suppliers continue to produce PPE that doesn’t fit, and sites don’t have facilities, women will continue to self-regulate by shrinking their presence.

As digital transformation accelerates, leaders face an additional responsibility to ensure new technologies do not entrench old biases.

This means asking:

Who is shaping our AI systems?
What datasets are they trained on?
How are we auditing for bias?
Are women involved in procurement and implementation decisions?
Are digital platforms psychologically safe for women to use fully and visibly?

The future of construction will be both physical and digital, with bias in either domain compounded.

Foundations matter, in code and concrete

What struck me most while listening to The New Age of Sexism wasn’t just the scale of harm, but how predictable it is when design excludes.

When environments are built without women’s voices, women adapt. When adaptation requires shrinking, participation declines. When participation declines, representation shrinks further.

It becomes self-reinforcing.

Construction understands the importance of foundations better than any industry. We know that if they are wrong, the structure will fail.

The AI revolution is forcing us to confront the same truth digitally.

The question is whether construction will repeat history or consciously rebuild differently.

An invitation

To industry leaders: Digital transformation is not neutral, culture is not accidental, and foundations are choices.

If you are serious about attracting and retaining women, safety (physical and psychological) cannot be an add-on. Engaging with We Build Too now allows you to contribute to our research and help shape the anonymised insights that will inform inclusive practices across the industry.

To women navigating construction today: You can help shape We Build Too by joining our research or signing up for our newsletter. Your input will directly influence how we design platforms, spaces, and tools that support women safely, visibly, and sustainably.

We Build Too exists to empower women and provide the industry with the data it needs to create lasting, structural change.