Maximise Digital Transformation, Maximise Information Management – The Fulcrum of Evolusion Innovation’s Approach to MMC
The major players in the Irish construction industry, in recent years, have been awash in talk of ‘digital transformation’. Indeed, Build Digital’s Annual Survey Results for 2025 showed that 72.8% of respondents, the majority delivering ‘built asset services’ directly, are currently engaged at some stage of the digital transformation journey.
But this journey can go much further than the obvious tools for improving project design and delivery, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) software or VR. True digital transformation re-considers information management as a business-wide undertaking. This execution is often easier for larger firms with more staff to upskill in digital construction and resources to integrate new tools with legacy systems. But digital transformation is simply about making use of data to improve operations.
Often all that is required to ignite the spark of digitalisation in a company is an advocate to lead. For an individual to succeed, they need to combine skills in engineering and structural design with digital and IT skills, as well as an appreciation for the importance of change management and communication to ensure all parties are onboard.
These are precisely the technical and soft skills that Mohamed Safwat, Digital Transformation Lead at Evolusion Innovation, brings to the table.
Mo’s journey started in his native Egypt where he first graduated as a Structural & Civil Engineer, before working as a Structural Engineer and Design Engineer while undertaking a Master’s course in Structural Engineering from the University of Cairo.
“After a few years as an engineer I became interested in the digital side, using Building Information Modelling and other technologies to augment and improve the design and delivery process. I worked in a role for four years that incorporated BIM and structural engineering, which gave me a blend of these skillsets and showed me how digital tools can lead good engineering practice.”
Digital Transformation Lead at Evolusion Innovation
This compelled a move to upskill further, and in 2021 Mo pursued another Master’s degree in Building Information Modelling, delivered jointly by the technological universities of Braga and Milan. With this specialist training complete, Mo was soon offered a return to a role as a BIM & Structural Engineer with Evolusion Innovation.
This included many of the usual responsibilities of a role like this, including producing Revit models and developing structural calculations of assets for ongoing projects, conducting site quality checks, and liaising with Pre-Construction and BIM teams.
But this role didn’t do justice to the unique blend of skills in traditional engineering, BIM-focused structural design, and digital technologies that Mo possessed. He wanted to put the name ‘Evolusion Innovation’ to the test. This meant spearheading the company’s digital transformation, driving digital initiatives that enhance operational efficiency, expand the technical expertise of all staff, and foster a digital-first mindset. In January 2024, Mo started as Evolusion Innovation’s first Digital Transformation Lead.
“This title is very novel in the construction industry – it’s much more common in technology development and business consultancy. What the Digital Transformation Lead does is sit in the middle of a Venn diagram bringing together structural engineering, digital design, project management, and IT. This helps you to truly see the big picture and work with different disciplines to plug the gaps in operations that maybe can’t be seen from just one perspective.”
Digital Transformation Lead at Evolusion Innovation
Upon starting his new role, the first thing that Mo did was to draw up ‘process maps’ for each team in Evolusion Innovation, to identify opportunities for digital improvements and find where projects, external and within the business, can be optimised. As part of this, Mo also worked with the senior leadership to conduct assessments of the technological skills and levels of adoption of the business’ teams and individuals.
“Training is more effective when people can see how it applies to them, their day-to-day tasks. We ultimately want to minimise the time spent on repetitive administration, and digital technology definitely enables time saving. But different tools need to be tailored to different needs first, not just implemented outright. And training is needed on these tools, so people and business teams can both understand the why of digital transformation and how to do it.”
Digital Transformation Lead at Evolusion Innovation
At the same time, Mo also initiated a project to improve the general level of uptake of AI. This started in December 2025, with the whole company receiving training in interacting with widely available AI tools and best practice for prompt engineering. This was further developed in the first half of 2026. Mo worked with team leaders to train AI agents on the unique needs of each business team and customise these AI agents to automate basic administrative tasks. This extended to Mo working on coding these AI agents to communicate with Evolusion Innovation’s other internal software packages.
Mo said, despite the early phases of development, this work is projected to greatly improve operational efficiency – to the tune of a 20-30% ROI.
The benefits of having a single point of expertise coordinating this type of business optimisation is clear to see. Yet, while Mo emphasised that more and more construction firms are looking at the bigger picture of technology adoption, there are still many opportunities for companies to undertake digital transformation projects.
“I have to regularly explain to people that I am not a BIM Manager, nor do I work in IT. I combine both roles, and more. While the idea is still novel in the building industry, companies that don’t embrace digital nativity or use the valuable insights to be gained from good information management will be left behind.”
Digital Transformation Lead at Evolusion Innovation
Sharing his final thoughts, Mo re-emphasised the incredible opportunity for construction companies, particularly SMEs, to undertake digital transformation to streamline operations, increase innovation, and keep ahead of industry trends. He noted that while working with a specialist consultant in digital transformation for construction firms works for some, promoting and upskilling from within will keep skillsets in-house.
“There is always a cost in adopting new ideas. I can see why SMEs are reluctant to spend time and resources on digital transformation. But it’s a necessity to keep up. You can promote someone in a BIM role to expand their information management tasks to the whole business. In learning about new digital tools and how they can be applied to construction, there are lots of useful education and upskilling courses, in Ireland and aboard, and even free resources online.”
Digital Transformation Lead at Evolusion Innovation
Digital transformation won’t happen overnight – nor organically. Companies need to be proactive about their uptake of digital technologies to remain competitive in an industry moving towards Modern Methods of Construction. This means coordinating digital transformation around a key figure with the right skills background. With this approach, Mo’s unique role may soon become more commonplace.
