Business Finland, the official government organization for innovation funding, trade, investment, and tourism promotion has greenlit a €20 million co-innovation project aimed at solving the chronic productivity gap in the construction industry. Coordinated by Tampere University, the initiative called “AI Champion” will deploy a fleet of 100 “human-like” AI agents to eliminate the data silos that frequently lead to delays and cost overruns in major building projects.
The project addresses the “information gap” that occurs when data is handed off between designers, contractors and maintenance teams. Currently, vital information is often trapped in static PDF files or incompatible software systems. AI Champion aims to replace these fragmented workflows with autonomous data streams that ensure information flows continuously and automatically across the entire building lifecycle.
A central feature of the project is the “GPT Laboratory”, a virtual AI hub at Tampere University. Within the workflow, any detected break in a project’s information flow triggers a handoff to the lab, where researchers design specialized AI agents to restore continuity.
The project is scheduled to run through June 2028, with findings being continuously tested in real-world construction environments.
