In a candid and compelling panel at Construction Technology ConFex UAE 2025, a group of forward-thinking leaders came together to challenge the way our industry thinks about digital transformation. The session moved beyond buzzwords and focused on the practical realities and missed opportunities of adopting technology without rethinking the processes behind it.
Moderated by Ahmed AbouAlfa, Associate Director of Digital Innovations and Initiatives at Diriyah Company, the panel kicked off with a playful but powerful metaphor: McDonald’s in the 1950s. Just like Ray Kroc radically restructured burger production to deliver faster results at scale, today’s construction and real estate sectors must rethink, not just digitize, their workflows if they want to unlock real innovation.
The panel included:
- Abdallah Saadah, Program Control Director, Qiddiya Investment Company
- Amr Saad, Executive Director, Osool Integrated Real Estate Company
- Juan Tena, Executive Director of Digital Services, KEO International Consultants
- Yazan Alkhalidi, Chief Commercial Director, MERED
Together, they discussed how companies are often stuck using digital tools to replicate outdated workflows, turning paper inefficiencies into digital inefficiencies. From project controls to PropTech sales funnels, the panelists revealed how real change only comes when workflows are redefined from the ground up.
Key takeaways included:
- Workflows must start with people, not technology. As Amr Saad explained, “Start with humans. Map out the process end-to-end. Then bring in technology to optimize.”
- Simplification is not the same as oversimplification. Yazan Alkhalidi highlighted the need to streamline complex processes without losing necessary checks: “A 10-step process, even at 99% accuracy per step, still loses reliability.”
- Digital success must be cultural, not just technical. Abdallah Saadah emphasized, real transformation requires trust in the process, change management, and cross-departmental alignment, from project controls to site teams.
- Top-down and bottom-up transformation must go hand-in-hand. The panelists agreed that while leadership must champion digital workflows, frontline teams need to understand why the change matters, and be empowered to flag what isn’t working.
One of the most striking observations came from Juan Tena, who stressed the need to connect siloed digital initiatives: “Digital workflows today are often disconnected. The priority must be to create a unified environment that enables better decision-making.”
Watch the full panel discussion here:
