“Being able to provide the business with solutions that accelerate processes and prioritize the highest value tasks for our colleagues are very clear advantages, which allow us to increase the value of our work," says Prieto.

Incremental AI advancement

Despite all these advanced deployments of technology, Prieto believes there’s still a lot of work to do. As a result, Ferrovial is a founding partner of IndesIA, the association to promote AI in Spanish industry. â€œIt’s true AI has demonstrated to C-suites that its easy to use and the value obtained can be incredible,” he says. â€œBut we start from a situation where data scientists were misunderstood and could only add value if provided with funds that the business preferred to invest in other areas. It’s beginning to be clear now this is no longer the case, and we can demonstrate marked cost reduction and positive ROI on these investments."

There’s still a long way to go, however, given that not all companies have AI teams, but it’s becoming easier and more affordable to obtain AI services. “And with the help of initiatives such as IndesIA, the industry can have these services available in a simple way,” adds Prieto.

The AI basis of digital transformation

Digital transformation is one of the most important catalysts for companies in any sector to add greater value and remain competitive, and AI plays a crucial role, says Prieto.

In addition to the Herbicide Train project and the use of computer vision to inspect power lines, there are many others AI applications at Ferrovial developed from the AI ​​CoE that impact all its businesses. But AI also poses some challenges and risks when it comes to privacy, security, ethics, transparency, and accountability. â€œIt’s necessary to regulate this technology, to guarantee it’s used appropriately, safely, and beneficial to society,” Prieto says. “Of course, regulation must be proportionate, flexible and adaptable, and promote trust, innovation and competitiveness.”

In addition to AI, other technologies are also being explored to transform Ferrovial’s way of working to create value. â€œFor example, we use cloud computing to store and process data in a scalable and efficient way, and IoT to monitor and control highway, airport, and field op infrastructure,” he says. “We also use augmented and virtual reality to train and assist workers, big data to analyze and visualize large volumes of information, machine learning to automate and optimize tasks, and deep learning to extract knowledge from images, texts, sounds and other types of data.”

A future fixed in AI

The business landscape continues to radically change due to AI and other disruptive technologies. “More processes and tasks are going to be automated, optimized, and personalized with the help of AI, which will mean an increase in productivity, efficiency, and customer and employee satisfaction,” says Prieto. In addition, AI will also accelerate innovation, facilitate the creation of new products and services, and make adaptation to changes in the market and society more efficient. Specifically at Ferrovial, AI is a key to its digital transformation. “We’ve been able to see it very clearly because it allows us to extract value from data, improve decision-making, and generate knowledge," he says.