“New facilities will need to be built, and existing plants will need upgrades to support modern, flexible operations,” Sobolewski added. “From an E&C perspective, this means a wave of greenfield and brownfield projects.”

Every new hub generates a multiplying effect, pulling in investment for logistics, utilities and community infrastructure, Sobolewski noted, but cautioned that financing remains the key challenge. “Companies will need to tap traditional funding alongside tax incentives and nontraditional partnerships to make the business case work,” he said.

PwC also highlights a pivot toward modular and “self-healing” factories. Only 6% of executives said their operations are modular today, but nearly half expect to be fully modular by 2030. That transition would require broad deployment of digital twins, predictive maintenance systems and advanced automation—technologies that could reshape design and delivery of new projects.

Sobolewski warned that modularity and AI cannot be treated as add-ons. “The biggest risks are scale, cost and execution,” he said. “Retrofitting legacy plants is complex, and even new builds require capital, design and supply chain decisions to be aligned from day one. Without that, modularity risks becoming an isolated upgrade rather than a true system-wide breakthrough.”

RELATED

An Electrifying Future for Transportation Infrastructure at the ITS World Congress

Policy incentives are adding momentum. PwC cited tariffs, tax measures and the One Big Beautiful Bill law for its capital expenditure and R&D incentives. 

While it did not reference them directly, the findings align with other federal programs enacted under President Donald Trump’s predecessor, Joseph Biden, including the CHIPS and Science Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act, which collectively direct hundreds of billions of dollars toward semiconductor manufacturing, transportation and utility upgrades and clean energy projects. 

Together, those measures form a policy framework supporting the reshoring and energy independence strategies executives say are essential.

Reshoring Factories, Reinventing Energy

Energy infrastructure is another focal point. Only 38% of executives surveyed believe their current systems can meet projected needs over the next five years. In response, 80% said they plan to boost investment in resilience within three years, including nuclear, hydrogen and storage projects.

PwC survey data shows engineering and construction leaders prioritizing modular and flexible production systems, reflecting sectorwide investment in reconfigurable, distributed and adaptive manufacturing capabilities.

“The gap between current energy capacity and future needs is significant, and closing it will require investment on several fronts,” Sobolewski said. He pointed to grid modernization as essential, with nuclear and hydrogen likely to play larger roles. 

“Battery storage and distributed energy systems will be vital for balancing supply and demand and providing site-level resilience,” he added. For construction firms, that translates into more complex, integrated projects that combine multiple energy sources into cohesive systems.

Artificial intelligence and robotics are also moving from the margins to the mainstream: 81% of executives plan to increase AI investment in the next three years, with the same share expecting to expand robotics deployment. 

High-growth companies are already outpacing their peers by investing in cloud-based analytics and predictive systems that can scale across entire enterprises. By 2030, more than half of respondents expect most roles to be AI-augmented.

Sobolewski said this will only intensify pressure on workforce development. “The shortage of skilled trades remains a major pressure point across engineering and construction,” he said, highlighting electricians, welders and pipefitters as especially critical. Engineers with expertise in automation, simulation and digital factory design are also in short supply. 

“This isn’t just a numbers gap, it’s a skills gap,” he said. “Workforce transformation has to run in parallel with project delivery.”

Executives also highlighted regulatory foresight and sector convergence as key trends. While 93% believe anticipating regulatory changes can provide a competitive edge, fewer than 20% consider regulatory monitoring a top AI application. 

Nearly two-thirds expect meaningful convergence across industries within five years, raising the stakes for cross-sector alliances and hybrid business models.

PwC concluded that firms willing to invest in onshore production, modular construction, sovereign energy systems and AI-driven operations will define the U.S. industrial future. “Whoever owns the intersection owns the advantage,” the report said.

Looking for quick answers on construction and engineering topics?
Try Ask ENR, our new smart AI search tool. Ask ENR →