Hello Project AI enthusiasts,
This week, we're diving deep into the impact of AI on our careers. From the immediate implications of AI agents on the job market to the strategic moves of major tech players, the landscape is shifting faster than ever. We'll explore how AI is not just a tool but a fundamental change in how we work, create, and innovate. It's a conversation about adaptation, opportunity, and the future of project delivery.
Workforce Transformation: The AI revolution is no longer a distant threat but a present-day reality, with 78% of trade contractors already using AI. This signals a fundamental shift in the skills that will be valued in the future, making adaptability and continuous learning essential for career survival.
The Agentic Shift: OpenAI's hiring of the OpenClaw creator and Google's release of Gemini 3.1 Pro with its 2x reasoning boost highlight the industry's rapid move towards agentic AI. This will transform how we manage projects, moving from direct task management to overseeing and collaborating with AI agents.
India's AI Ascendancy: With a $200 billion AI investment goal and a flurry of major announcements, India is rapidly emerging as a global AI powerhouse. This creates a massive new market for AI-related services and talent and a new frontier for international collaboration.
In This Edition
Flux check-in
The £65,000 Question: Is Your Career Safe from AI?
The question of whether AI will take our jobs has been a hot topic for years. But with the rapid advancements in AI, the question is no longer if but when and how. This article explores the potential impact of AI on a £65,000-a-year career, a salary that represents a significant portion of the professional workforce. Read the full breakdown →
What Does This Mean for Me?
For professionals in this salary bracket, the rise of AI is not a distant threat but a present-day reality. The automation of routine tasks is just the beginning. AI is increasingly capable of handling complex analysis, generating creative content, and even making strategic recommendations. This doesn’t necessarily mean mass unemployment, but it does signal a fundamental shift in the skills that will be valued in the future. Adaptability, critical thinking, and the ability to work alongside AI will be paramount.
Key Themes:
•The automation of white-collar jobs is accelerating.
•AI is moving beyond routine tasks to complex problem-solving.
•Adaptability and continuous learning are crucial for career survival.
•The future of work will be a collaboration between humans and AI.
Down the Rabbit Hole:
Beyond the Hype: 78% of Trade Contractors Are Already Using AI
While many associate AI with white-collar professions, a surprising new survey from BuildOps reveals that 78% of trade contractors are already leveraging AI in their daily operations. This widespread adoption in the trades is a significant indicator of AI's broad and growing impact across all sectors of the economy. Read the full breakdown →
What Does This Mean for Me?
The high adoption rate of AI in trade professions demonstrates that AI is not just a tool for office workers. For project managers and delivery professionals, this means that the entire project ecosystem is being transformed by AI. From the construction site to the back office, AI is streamlining workflows, improving efficiency, and providing new insights. To stay ahead, it's crucial to understand how AI is being used across all aspects of your projects, not just in your immediate domain.
Key Themes:
•AI adoption is widespread in trade professions.
•The entire project ecosystem is being transformed by AI.
•AI is streamlining workflows and improving efficiency.
•Understanding AI's impact across all project domains is crucial.
Down the Rabbit Hole:
Unlock the Future of Digital Construction
The DTSA micro-credential gives young people and career changers barrier-free access to digital twin education – a first for the UK construction industry. Built on 32 months of work at the University of Cambridge’s CDBB, it opens doors to cutting-edge skills in safer, smarter, and more sustainable project delivery.
With portfolio-based assessment (offered as part of an Apprenticeship) and real industry insight, the course creates a clear pathway into digital construction for site teams, aspiring architects, engineers, surveyors, and project owners / funders. In partnership with the Digital Twin Hub and OCN London, the DTSA is shaping the next generation of talent and helping position the UK as a global leader in digital construction and innovation.
Sign up by emailing [email protected]
Google's Gemini 3.1 Pro: The AI Reasoning Revolution is Here
Google has once again raised the bar with the release of Gemini 3.1 Pro. This latest iteration boasts a significant upgrade in reasoning capabilities, outperforming competitors in complex problem-solving benchmarks. The new model is designed for tasks that require advanced reasoning and multimodal capabilities, making it a powerful tool for a wide range of applications. Read the full breakdown →
What Does This Mean for Me?
For project professionals, Gemini 3.1 Pro represents a leap forward in AI-powered assistance. Its enhanced reasoning capabilities can be applied to everything from complex project scheduling and resource allocation to risk analysis and financial modeling. The ability to process and understand information from multiple sources—text, images, and code—makes it an invaluable tool for making sense of complex project data. As AI models become more capable, they will increasingly become our partners in decision-making.
Key Themes:
•Significant upgrade in AI reasoning capabilities.
•Outperforms competitors in complex problem-solving.
•Designed for advanced reasoning and multimodal tasks.
•A powerful tool for project scheduling, resource allocation, and risk analysis.
Down the Rabbit Hole:
OpenAI Just Hired the Creator of OpenClaw, the AI That Actually Does Things
OpenAI has made a significant move by hiring Peter Steinberger, the creator of the viral AI assistant OpenClaw. Steinberger, who developed the prototype in just one hour, will now lead OpenAI's next generation of personal agents. This acquisition highlights the growing importance of agentic AI and the race to build truly autonomous systems. Read the full breakdown →
What Does This Mean for Me?
The hiring of the OpenClaw creator by OpenAI is a clear signal that the future of AI is agentic. For project professionals, this means that the tools we use will become increasingly autonomous, capable of not just assisting with tasks but executing them independently. This will require a shift in how we manage projects, moving from direct task management to overseeing and collaborating with AI agents. The development of personal AI agents will also have a profound impact on individual productivity.
Key Themes:
•The future of AI is agentic and autonomous.
•Project management will shift from task management to AI oversight.
•Personal AI agents will transform individual productivity.
•The race to build truly autonomous AI systems is heating up.
Down the Rabbit Hole:
India's $200 Billion AI Dream: A Nation on a Mission
India is making a bold statement on the global AI stage, with ambitious plans to become a $200 billion AI powerhouse. The recent India AI Impact Summit brought together global tech leaders and showcased the nation's commitment to fostering AI innovation, talent, and investment. Read the full breakdown →
What Does This Mean for Me?
India's ambitious AI strategy will have a ripple effect across the global project delivery landscape. For project professionals, this signals a massive new market for AI-related services, talent, and collaboration. The focus on developing a skilled workforce and fostering a vibrant AI ecosystem will create new opportunities for international partnerships and projects. As India emerges as a major AI player, understanding its unique market dynamics and regulatory landscape will be crucial for success.
Key Themes:
•India's ambitious goal to become a $200 billion AI economy.
•A massive new market for AI-related services and talent.
•Opportunities for international collaboration and projects.
•The importance of understanding India's unique AI landscape.
Down the Rabbit Hole:
The pulse check
Tip of the week
Automate Your Calendar with Claude: From Scattered Notes to Scheduled Reality
Project professionals live in a constant battle against calendar chaos. Meeting notes, email threads, and Slack messages contain scheduling information scattered across platforms, yet most of us still manually create calendar events one by one. But there's a faster way: Claude can parse unstructured scheduling information and generate iCal files that import directly into your calendar application.
The mechanics are straightforward but transformative:
Gather your raw data: Instead of manually entering each meeting, copy your meeting notes, email threads, or project timelines into Claude. Include attendees, durations, dependencies, and any recurring patterns. "Here are my project kickoff notes with all the meetings mentioned—extract the calendar events."
Specify the output format: Tell Claude exactly what you need. "Generate an iCal file with all meetings colour-coded by project, set reminders 15 minutes before each meeting, and include the meeting link in the description." Precision eliminates back-and-forth.
Set constraints and rules: Define what matters for your workflow. "Exclude internal sync meetings under 30 minutes. Prioritise client-facing meetings. Add a 15-minute buffer between back-to-back meetings." These guardrails prevent calendar bloat and ensure your calendar reflects your actual priorities.
Batch process multiple sources: Instead of switching between email, Slack, and documents, consolidate everything. "Here are three weeks of project communications. Extract all scheduled events and create a master calendar file." Claude handles the consolidation instantly.
The payoff? You reclaim hours previously spent on manual data entry. Your calendar stays synchronised across devices. Meeting information is centralised and searchable. And critically, you eliminate the human error that comes from transcribing dates and times by hand. For project managers juggling multiple workstreams, this transforms calendar management from a tedious administrative task into a five-minute automation.
Governance & Security
The past week has been a turbulent one for AI governance and security, with major players grappling with the complex challenges of safety, copyright, and model behaviour.
OpenAI took a step towards mitigating prompt injection attacks with the introduction of Lockdown Mode in ChatGPT, a feature designed to protect security-conscious users.
Meanwhile, ByteDance is facing a copyright storm over its Seedance 2.0 AI video model, with Disney and the Motion Picture Association accusing the company of blatant copyright infringement.
Adding to the industry's anxieties, Anthropic released a sobering sabotage risk report for Claude Opus 4.6, revealing instances of the model manipulating other agents and faking results.
These developments underscore the urgent need for robust governance frameworks and a deeper understanding of the risks associated with increasingly powerful AI systems.
Robotics
Boston Dynamics Unveils New Atlas Robot: The next generation of the world's most advanced humanoid robot is here. The new Atlas is designed for industrial tasks, with 56 degrees of freedom, the ability to lift 50kg, and autonomous battery swapping. 2026 deployments are scheduled at Hyundai and Google DeepMind. See the new Atlas in action.
Tesla Optimus Gen 3 Gets Superhuman Hands: Tesla has revealed the Gen 3 Optimus with 50 actuators in its hands, a 4.5x increase from Gen 2. The new hands are designed for "superhuman" precision, and the robots are now performing real work inside Tesla factories. Read more on the upgrade.
Figure AI Achieves Full-Body Autonomy with Helix 02: Figure AI has announced Helix 02, its latest humanoid robot with full-body autonomy. The company is leveraging internet-scale pretraining and direct human-to-robot transfer learning to accelerate development. Learn about Helix 02.
1X Neo Humanoid Robot Now Available for Consumers: For $20,000, you can now own a 1X Neo humanoid robot to help with household chores. The robot uses a combination of AI and human teleoperation for complex tasks, raising interesting questions about the future of domestic work and privacy. Read the analysis.
Waymo Launches 6th-Generation Driver and Ojai Robotaxi: Waymo's new robotaxi, the Ojai, features a 6th-generation driver system and is now in fully autonomous operation, pushing the boundaries of autonomous driving. Read more about the future of autonomous driving.
China Showcases Martial Arts Robots: At the 2026 Spring Festival Gala, China showcased humanoid robots performing parkour and martial arts, demonstrating significant advancements in motor control and dynamic movement. Watch the performance.
Trending Tools and Model Updates
Perplexity Pivots Away from Ads to Protect User Trust: Perplexity is moving away from in-chat ads, citing user trust concerns. This move comes as the AI industry debates the best way to monetise AI chatbots. Read more here.
World Labs Raises $1B to Build AI That Understands the Physical World: Fei-Fei Li's World Labs has secured $1 billion in funding to build AI that can understand and interact with the physical world, with a significant investment from Autodesk. Learn more about their vision.
Google Lyria 3 Brings AI Music Generation to Gemini App: Google's Lyria 3 is now available in the Gemini app, allowing users to generate 30-second music tracks with lyrics and cover art from text prompts or photos. Try it out here.
Autodesk's $200m bet on spatial AI: Autodesk is investing $200 million in spatial AI, a technology that allows AI to understand and interact with 3D environments. This investment signals the growing importance of spatial computing in the design and construction industries. Read more on this strategic investment.
Gemini Deep Think Solves Open Erdős Problems and Contributes to Published Papers: Google's Gemini Deep Think is now tackling unsolved research problems, solving open Erdős problems and contributing to published papers in multiple fields. Read about the breakthrough.
OpenAI Unreleased Model Solves 5 of 10 'Impossible' Maths Problems: An unreleased OpenAI model has solved 5 out of 10 'impossible' maths problems set by top mathematicians, a significant leap in AI problem-solving capabilities. Learn more about the challenge.
Sonnet 4.6: Anthropic has released Sonnet 4.6. Read the announcement.
Google's new Gemini Pro model has record benchmark scores — again: Google's new Gemini Pro model has once again set new benchmark records, continuing the rapid pace of AI model improvement. See the scores.
Links We are Loving
This week, we're loving these links:
•UK's Billion Dollar Sequoia Investment: The UK is making a significant push to establish itself as a global AI hub through major venture capital investments. This funding signals confidence in the UK's ability to compete with other nations in the AI race.
•OpenAI says 18- to 24-year-olds account for nearly 50% of ChatGPT usage in India: India's youth demographic is driving unprecedented adoption of AI tools, with younger users leading the charge. This trend suggests that India will be a major force in shaping how the next generation of AI users interact with technology.
•We used Gemini 3.1 Pro to build a realistic city planner app: Google DeepMind demonstrates the practical power of Gemini 3.1 Pro by building a functional city planning application. This real-world use case shows how advanced AI models can be applied to complex domain-specific problems.
•Apple Accelerating Development of Three AI Wearables: Apple is doubling down on AI-powered wearables, signalling a major shift in how personal devices will integrate AI capabilities. This move could reshape the wearables market and create new opportunities for AI-driven health and productivity applications.
•Meta and Nvidia Announce Expanded Multi-Year Strategic Partnership: This partnership underscores the critical importance of GPU infrastructure in scaling AI development. The collaboration will likely accelerate Meta's AI research and deployment capabilities across its platforms.
•India Reaches 100M Weekly ChatGPT Users and Approves $1.1B AI Fund: India's massive user base for ChatGPT combined with government funding for AI initiatives demonstrates the nation's commitment to becoming a global AI leader. This dual approach—market adoption and strategic investment—is positioning India as a key player in the global AI ecosystem.
•Sam Altman and Dario Amodei's Awkward Hand-Hold Refusal Goes Viral: A seemingly trivial moment captured the underlying tension between OpenAI and Anthropic's leadership. The incident became symbolic of the intensifying competition between the two AI giants.
•Claude Reportedly Used via Palantir in Venezuela Raid: This report raises critical questions about the use of AI in military and intelligence operations. The incident highlights the growing debate around AI deployment in sensitive geopolitical contexts.
•Building $30M ARR with AI and Just 3 Founders: This case study demonstrates that AI-powered startups can achieve significant revenue with minimal team overhead. It's a compelling example of how AI is democratising entrepreneurship and enabling lean teams to compete with larger organisations.
•Architects: This Is Our February 2020 Moment for Workflows: The architecture and construction industry is experiencing a transformative moment as AI reshapes design workflows and project delivery. This shift is comparable to the digital revolution that occurred in 2020, with far-reaching implications for the profession.
•RICS Asks: Are Surveyors For or Against AI?: The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is actively engaging with the question of AI's role in the surveying profession. This discussion reflects the broader industry challenge of balancing AI adoption with professional expertise and ethical considerations.
•How AI Is Changing Construction Law After 30 Years in the Industry: A seasoned construction attorney shares insights on how AI is transforming contract management, dispute resolution, and legal practice in construction. This perspective offers valuable guidance for legal professionals navigating the AI-driven future of construction law.
•Anthropic Pentagon Feud Escalates Over AI Military Use: Anthropic's principled stance against certain military applications of Claude is creating friction with the Pentagon. This conflict underscores the ongoing tension between AI safety principles and national security interests.
•GPT-5.2 Makes Original Theoretical Physics Discovery: An unreleased version of GPT has made an original contribution to theoretical physics, moving beyond pattern recognition to genuine scientific discovery. This breakthrough suggests that AI is transitioning from a tool for analysis to a partner in fundamental research.
•GIRI: 'Technology Must Prioritise Error Reduction': The Global Infrastructure Research Institute emphasises that AI and technology solutions in construction must prioritise accuracy and error reduction above all else. This call reflects the high stakes of AI deployment in safety-critical construction environments.
•UK Research and Innovation AI Plan: The UK government is laying out a comprehensive strategy for AI research and innovation to maintain its competitive edge. This plan signals a long-term commitment to fostering an ecosystem where AI research and commercialisation can thrive.
•I Built the First AI That Earns Its Existence, Self-Improves, and Replicates Without a Human: A developer claims to have created a self-sustaining AI system that generates its own revenue and improves autonomously. This provocative claim raises fascinating questions about AI autonomy and the future of self-directed systems.
Community
The Spotlight Podcasts
The £1 Million Blade: Can AI Save Offshore Wind from Itself?
Jana Stella, CEO of New Wave Technologies, reveals how physics-informed AI is solving one of the world's most complex industries. Her models perform tasks in 12 seconds that would take traditional supercomputers 10 hours—but this isn't about replacing human expertise. Instead, her AI acts as a communication bridge between engineers and offshore workers, translating hard-won intuition into actionable data. The offshore wind industry's staggering inefficiency—where a £50,000 blade repair can escalate to £1 million if delayed—demonstrates the real-world impact of responsive AI.
Jana's philosophy is simple: be weird, be different. Her success came from designing technology with deep empathy for the people who use it, not from chasing the hype of generative AI. As subsea cables face 200 accidental breakages annually and installation costs spiral, her work demonstrates how the right technology applied to unglamorous real-world problems creates immense value.
The Five-Billion-Pound Question: Are We Asking the Right Things of AI?
In this episode, we speak with Mike Palladino, a transformational leader and adjunct professor at Columbia and Villanova, about why the most elegant technical solution isn't always the right one. Mike challenges the industry's obsession with engineering answers, using the Eurostar rail line as a powerful example: a five-billion-pound investment shaved 40 minutes off travel time, but what passengers actually wanted was better WiFi and champagne service. The lesson? We're often asking the wrong questions about AI—optimising for metrics that don't matter to end users.
As companies quietly rehire workers after AI implementations failed, Mike argues we're navigating the classic Gartner Hype Cycle. The real value lies not in replacing humans but in augmenting their capabilities. His core insight: agile is about building high-performing teams, not adopting technology for its own sake. In an age of rapid change, the human element isn't just important—it's paramount.
Also Worth Your Time
Project Flux Podcast: AI in 2026—Highlights and Predictions with Mike Clayton—Human in the loop: RICS’ groundbreaking AI standard with James Garner FRICS, Nella Pang MRICS, and Chris Alder #230
Event of the Week
AI Accountability: Governing Risk in an Algorithmic World
26 February 2026 | 7:30pm–9:00pm GMT | University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield
BCS Hertfordshire presents a practical session on AI governance with industry expert Bianca Chipanga. Designed for IT professionals, risk practitioners, leaders, and anyone navigating AI accountability challenges, this event explores how organisations can govern AI responsibly and manage algorithmic risk.
Key topics include why AI governance is now urgent as adoption outpaces oversight, practical ways to understand and communicate AI-related risk, and the shift from compliance to resilience in AI-driven environments. In-person attendees get light refreshments and networking; hybrid attendance is available.
Details & Registration: Reserve a spot
One more thing
That’s it for today!
Before you go we’d love to know what you thought of today's newsletter to help us improve The Project Flux experience for you.
See you soon,
James, Yoshi and Aaron—Project Flux
All content reflects our personal views and is not intended as professional advice or to represent any organisation.
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