Why Construction Keeps Solving The Wrong Problem

Construction is good at delivering projects. Too often, it starts before asking whether it is solving the right problem.

In this episode of Behind the Built Environment, BESA Chief Executive David Frise speaks with Mark Enzer, former Chief Technical Officer at Mott MacDonald and former head of the UK National Digital Twin Programme, about why construction needs to rethink value, data and outcomes.

Mark argues that the built environment cannot achieve better outcomes by improving delivery alone. To create greater value, the industry needs to examine how decisions are made, how organisations work together, and how data is used throughout the full life of an asset.

Rather than focusing solely on digital tools, this episode examines the thinking that needs to change before technology can make a meaningful difference. It explores why systems thinking, digital twins and AI are only useful when they support clearer outcomes, better decisions and more joined-up ways of working.

This episode explores:

• What systems thinking means in the built environment
• Why cost control is different from value creation
• How siloed organisations and disconnected data limit progress
• The role of digital twins in making better decisions faster
• Why collaboration needs stronger outcome-based incentives
• How AI could support systems thinking, and where the risks sit

From infrastructure delivery and net zero to procurement, resilience and digital transformation, this is a practical discussion about why the built environment needs to start with outcomes before it starts with delivery.

If you work in construction, infrastructure, building services engineering or public sector procurement, this episode offers a direct and practical examination of how the industry can move beyond cost, packages and projects and start solving the right problems.