It was evening of July 29th in 2019. Ahmed Shalhoub, Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) at the Main Contractors Company (MCC) had just landed in Athens, Greece from San Francisco. Shalhoub had participated in a conference at Stanford University on the latest developments in digital technologies in construction and spoke about MCC’s groundbreaking digital approach. He was ever-more committed to bring exciting new digital technologies to the construction industry. But a dark shadow was hanging over him, as his transformation strategy was under attack from the board.

It was evening of July 29th in 2019. Ahmed Shalhoub, Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) at the Main Contractors Company (MCC) had just landed in Athens, Greece from San Francisco. Shalhoub had participated in a conference at Stanford University on the latest developments in digital technologies in construction and spoke about MCC’s groundbreaking digital approach. He was ever-more committed to bring exciting new digital technologies to the construction industry. But a dark shadow was hanging over him, as his transformation strategy was under attack from the board.

Shalhoub was convinced that data and digital technologies could make MCC more competitive by optimizing construction, one of the most traditional industries worldwide and least digitized3. He had been granted resources for digital innovation in 2012 to support the Middle East project. That was a big success because in such a project-based business, research and development (R&D) resources are scarce and only through successful and profitable projects could he negotiate for more power and independence. Now the New Airport Terminal Building was facing its own challenges that were affecting the digital innovation strategy he had developed.