Construction technology is evolving fast, but its hiring strategy hasn’t quite caught up. As demand for innovation grows across areas like BIM, automation and digital infrastructure, the industry faces a major constraint: insufficient talent with the ‘right’ background.

Typically, this looks like professionals with direct construction experience and a strong grasp of emerging technology. Over the years, we’ve successfully placed many candidates with this preferred profile. However, as demand for this combination of skills surges, the talent pool that ticks both those boxes is still small. That’s why leaders now need to broaden the scope of their search and start thinking differently about where the right kind of capabilities come from.

Zac Evans, Managing Consultant at Propel, believes that the issue isn’t a lack of capable people, but rather a misalignment between what companies are looking for and where they’re willing to look. In this article, he explains why construction tech leaders need to broaden their lens and start hiring for what’s possible, not just what’s familiar.

The Problem Isn’t Talent, It’s Tunnel Vision

Construction tech is a rapidly evolving space, blending traditional engineering expertise with new digital tools, data and automation. But while the sector’s ambitions are scaling, hiring habits haven’t kept pace.

Right now, we’re seeing many businesses prioritise candidates who’ve already worked in construction. On the surface, that makes sense – familiarity with the industry’s complexities can feel like a non-negotiable, but as the market evolves and demand surges, those parameters narrow the funnel significantly – and often unnecessarily.  

The truth is, the number of professionals who tick every traditional box, such as deep industry knowledge, strong tech fluency and commercial adaptability, is limited. The result is an over-reliance on a small talent pool that’s already overstretched and missed opportunities to bring in fresh perspectives from other industries.

Construction tech businesses aren’t alone in this challenge. Sectors like LegalTech and HealthTech have faced the same growing pains of needing niche expertise but struggling to find enough people with the perfect hybrid profile. The solution for those other sectors was to begin hiring for potential and mindset over just industry-specific experience.

Transferable Skills Are Already Out There

Many of the skills needed for scale in construction tech – across product, software development, data, UX, operations – already exist in adjacent industries like SaaS, PropTech and advanced manufacturing. But companies often overlook them, either unsure how to assess cross-industry candidates or stuck in the belief that only those who’ve ‘walked the site’ will succeed.

While domain knowledge can be valuable, especially in client-facing roles, construction tech isn’t just about understanding the build environment. It’s about driving innovation in a traditionally change-resistant space. That takes people who can translate complex workflows, spot commercial opportunities, and implement systems that scale. And it’s those skills that can be found far beyond construction.

In my experience, I’ve regularly worked with talent from outside the sector who bring fresh thinking and proven success in similar transformation journeys. With the right onboarding and support, these hires have quickly (and frequently) become some of the strongest drivers of progress because they bring new ideas to old problems.

Yet, in many cases, construction tech companies are still chasing unicorns: candidates with deep industry knowledge, startup speed, and technical fluency. Waiting for those perfect fits often means overlooking and missing out on excellent talent who could make a real impact.

To Grow the Construction Tech Industry, We Need to Grow the Talent Pool

If the sector wants to meet its ambitions, it can’t afford to wait for the perfect candidate who’s seen it all before. Leaders need to be open to hiring people who don’t have direct construction experience but do have the skills to help businesses move forward.

If the construction tech sector is serious about transformation, that requires shifting mindsets around what ‘qualified’ really looks like. It also means removing internal barriers that limit mobility, like rigid job specs, non-competes, or the outdated assumption that only insiders will succeed.

From my perspective, my advice would be to stop holding out for candidates with both boots-on-the-ground experience and SaaS know-how and think about the core strengths you’re really missing. Do you need technical capability? Product intuition? Strategic growth experience?

If your leadership team already has strong construction experience, it may be more effective to hire for product vision, technical capability, commercial acumen, startup mentality or scaleup know-how. You can embed industry knowledge through structured onboarding since it’s always possible to teach the tools and language, but curiosity, resilience, and cross-functional smarts are much harder to train.

Ultimately, the companies that thrive are the ones that invest in potential, prioritise adaptability, and build a culture where great talent can grow. Construction tech has a chance to lead the way in rethinking how transformation happens, but that starts with how you hire.

If you’re rethinking your hiring strategy or want to explore a broader approach, we’d love to chat. At Propel, we work closely with construction tech businesses to identify the talent that will drive their next stage of growth.

You can reach out to us directly, or why not connect with Zac on LinkedIn? And if you’re heading to Digital Construction Week (June 4-5), make sure you stop by and say hello to Zac and the team!