The UK is entering what could become the most consequential infrastructure investment cycle in a generation. After years of stop-start policy and delayed delivery, the Government’s 10-year Infrastructure Strategy and Road Investment Strategy 3 (RIS3) signals a renewed commitment to roads, regional connectivity and long-term economic growth.
Among the headline schemes already moving through the pipeline is the Lower Thames Crossing, currently the highest-value pre-execution transport project in Western Europe. With an estimated value of around £10bn, the project ranks in GlobalData’s top 10 road construction projects in Q1 2026[i].
GlobalData estimates the infrastructure sector’s output to grow in real terms by 7.2% in 2026, before recording an annual average growth rate of 3.9% from 2027 to 2030, supported by budget allocation under the UK’s 2025 Autumn Statement towards road development and RIS3.
The scale of ambition is undeniable. But so too is the scale of delivery risk.
Autodesk argues that now the real challenge facing the UK roads sector is no longer simply funding, but whether infrastructure owners, contractors and policymakers can modernise how projects are delivered, maintained and operated. Because if Britain attempts to deliver 21st-century infrastructure through fragmented, document-heavy workflows, the industry risks repeating familiar problems: delays, cost escalation, disconnected data and missed sustainability targets.
In this Q&A, Autodesk’s Nathan Brown and Jugal Makwana discuss why the UK’s infrastructure ambitions depend on creating a more connected, interoperable and data-driven ecosystem – and why procurement frameworks may ultimately determine whether digital transformation can scale across the sector.
The UK is entering a major infrastructure investment cycle. What does this mean for the roads sector?
Nathan Brown: There is clearly a significant amount of funding now being allocated through RIS3 and the wider infrastructure strategy, which is extremely positive for the sector. What was particularly encouraging was the strategy’s explicit recognition that innovation is vital to delivery.
That matters because roads infrastructure is now expected to balance efficiency, sustainability, resilience and long-term operational performance all at once. The direction of travel is positive, but the challenge now is execution.
Government has outlined broad objectives around innovation and technology-enabled infrastructure, but the next step is ensuring the wider ecosystem understands what that means in practice. That includes infrastructure owners, consultants, contractors, local authorities and the wider supply chain.
If the UK wants roads to be delivered faster, more sustainably and more efficiently by 2031, there needs to be much clearer alignment around what modern delivery should look like.
Historically, construction has not been the fastest-moving industry when it comes to transformation. The question now is whether the pace of delivery innovation can match the scale of policy ambition.
Where do you see the biggest disconnect between policy ambition and delivery reality?
Nathan Brown: One of the issues is that policy often talks about innovation at a very high level, but the mechanisms required to drive adoption across the ecosystem are still evolving.
Government has an opportunity to be more explicit about what good infrastructure delivery looks like in a digital era. Procurement is a powerful lever for change.
For example, if public funding is supporting a road project, there could be clearer expectations around whether digital delivery methods, lifecycle data management or advanced surveying technologies have been explored – and if not, why not.
The important point is creating confidence across the ecosystem. Companies are more likely to invest in digital capabilities when there are consistent signals that innovation and long-term performance will be valued throughout the delivery process.
How can government procurement frameworks help turn infrastructure ambition into delivery outcomes?
Nathan Brown: Procurement ultimately shapes behaviour across the delivery chain. As the UK seeks to deliver infrastructure faster, more sustainably and more efficiently, procurement frameworks have an important role to play in translating policy objectives into practical delivery requirements.
They can help set expectations around lifecycle visibility, operational resilience, sustainability and data accessibility, while encouraging organisations to focus on long-term outcomes rather than simply document outputs.
For example, National Highways has ambitious targets around reducing emissions from construction and maintenance by 2040. Achieving those goals requires procurement frameworks capable of monitoring lifecycle performance through connected data.
Simply setting a target is not enough. Procurement and delivery structures need to enable the sector to measure, manage and optimise against those targets over time.
What are the biggest structural challenges facing infrastructure delivery today?
Jugal Makwana: One of the most significant barriers to modern infrastructure delivery is that the industry remains heavily document-driven.
Traditionally, project delivery has focused on producing drawings, reports and handover documentation. But in a cloud-native, AI-enabled world, that approach increasingly becomes a constraint rather than an enabler.
Today, we should be thinking beyond project delivery and towards lifecycle performance.
Most infrastructure projects generate enormous amounts of information during planning, design and construction. But too often, that information becomes trapped in disconnected systems or static documents once the asset enters operation. The full context behind design decisions, environmental constraints, utilities, drainage systems or maintenance requirements is not always preserved in a reusable way.
The industry needs to move beyond document-based delivery towards connected data that supports lifecycle performance.
Why is lifecycle data becoming so important, particularly for roads?
Jugal Makwana: Infrastructure projects are not simply about building assets. Roads are part of a much wider interconnected system.
They support housing delivery, industrial growth, logistics, water infrastructure, energy networks and regional productivity. Delays in one part of the infrastructure ecosystem create ripple effects across the wider economy.
This is especially important in the UK because much of the investment is focused on upgrading existing infrastructure rather than building entirely new networks. You are dealing with buried assets, legacy systems, environmental interfaces, utilities and decades of accumulated complexity.
Without connected, reusable lifecycle data, uncertainty increases dramatically – and that uncertainty drives delays, cost escalation and sustainability risks.
If a road needs redesigning or maintenance decades later, infrastructure owners should be able to understand the full context of that asset upfront – not just the geometry, but why certain decisions were made, what constraints existed and how the surrounding systems interact.
The technology to capture and manage that context now exists. The challenge is scaling it consistently across the sector.
More broadly, the industry has access to many of the technologies needed to modernise delivery. Why isn’t innovation scaling more consistently across the sector?
Jugal Makwana: There are already many examples of innovation happening successfully across infrastructure delivery.
Advanced geospatial workflows, UAV-enabled surveying, cloud collaboration, AI-assisted design tools and sophisticated lifecycle management approaches are already being used across different parts of the industry.
The challenge is not a lack of innovation. It is fragmentation.
There are pockets of excellence, but they are not scaling consistently across the ecosystem. Part of that is policy. Part of it is procurement. Part of it is organisational inertia.
In many cases, delivery models and requirements remain heavily focused on document-based processes, while technology is evolving much faster than the frameworks that govern how projects are delivered. That creates a gap between what is technically possible and what the industry is currently incentivised to do.
Autodesk talks increasingly about platforms rather than products. What does that mean in practice?
Jugal Makwana: The industry increasingly requires interoperability and connected ecosystems rather than isolated tools.
Autodesk’s strategy is centred on helping architecture, engineering, construction, and operations teams work across a more open, connected, and interoperable lifecycle.
With Autodesk Forma, we’re supporting digital workflows from early planning and design through construction, with the goal of extending value into operations over time. A critical part of that work is data management: helping stakeholders move beyond document-based collaboration toward structured, connected data that supports better decisions across the project lifecycle.
Different sectors have different lifecycle needs. Roads and highways, rail, water, and buildings each depend on distinct data, workflows, and decisions. That means platforms need to support sector-specific context while keeping information connected across teams and tools.
Applications such as Civil 3D and InfraWorks, along with partner integrations, help connect design, infrastructure data, and project workflows so teams can work with greater clarity and continuity.
Autodesk believe a digital transformation works best when data, workflows, and teams can connect across an open, interoperable ecosystem. No single company technology stack can solve that complexity alone. Progress depends on helping stakeholders collaborate across the full design-and-make lifecycle—from early ideas through delivery, operations, and improvement.
What role can Autodesk play in supporting the transition in the UK?
Nathan Brown: Part of it is technology, but part of it is education and upskilling.
There is still a growing awareness curve around what digital delivery actually looks like in practice. Government departments, infrastructure owners and delivery organisations may all have ambitions around creating technology-enabled networks, but there also needs to be clarity around what capabilities, workflows and skills are required to make that happen.
That includes areas such as UAV-enabled asset scanning, geospatial integration, cloud collaboration, lifecycle data management and AI-assisted workflows.
Autodesk can help industry stakeholders understand not just the tools themselves, but how those technologies fit together across the full infrastructure lifecycle.
Looking ahead, what will determine whether the UK’s infrastructure ambitions succeed?
Nathan Brown: Ultimately, the UK’s infrastructure challenge is no longer purely financial. The funding pipeline is strengthening. The political narrative around infrastructure and growth is aligning. The question now is whether the sector can modernise delivery fast enough to avoid repeating the same structural inefficiencies on a much larger scale.
[i] GlobalData, Construction in the UK, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2030, Q1 2026
Nathan Brown
As part of a global team, Nathan Brown is responsible for developing and executing strategies to support collaboration between Autodesk and policymakers. As the lead for this work in the UK, Ireland, and Africa, Nathan represents Autodesk within the policy ecosystem, ensuring the company’s unique insights are shared to support greater innovation in sectors critical to economic growth.
Nathan has amassed a wealth of policy expertise, having spent several years in the Innovation team at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), focusing on policy to support industrial digital transformation. Before joining Autodesk, Nathan also spent time in Whitehall, working in the Government Office for Science, where they were part of a team tasked with creating proposals to improve the regulatory environment for growth sectors such as AI, green tech, advanced manufacturing, and the creative industries.
Jugal Makwana
Jugal Makwana is a Senior Executive at Autodesk, working across global infrastructure, construction, and industrial sectors. Jugal focuses on industry transformation, open and strategic ecosystems, and the adoption of digital, data‑driven, and AI‑enabled workflows across the design, construction, and operations lifecycle.
Jugal works closely with customers, partners, standards bodies, and industry consortia to shape future‑ready strategies around digital twins, open standards, and outcome‑driven delivery. Jugal is an active contributor to global industry forums and regularly speaks on topics including digital transformation, ecosystem collaboration, and the future of the built environment.
Jugal serves as a Board Member at buildingSMART International, contributing to the advancement of open standards and interoperability across the built environment.
