Top 10: Chief Technical Officers in Construction

Keeping competitive in construction requires deploying the latest technology.

From digital site models instead of printed drawings to data-driven modelling in place of end-stage checks, technology helps optimise operations and Chief Technology Officers lead these developments.

Their strategies involve digital construction tools, building information modelling, cybersecurity, data platforms and emerging innovations such as robotics, IoT and artificial intelligence.

A CTO – or equivalent, such as Chief Digital Officer or Chief Engineer – increasingly sits at the heart of efficiency, safety and sustainability efforts, translating engineering ambition into deployable technology. When successful, their company becomes a construction powerhouse.

Construction Digital has ranked the Top 10 tech leaders based on their company’s annual revenue.

10. Justin Rauner

Title: Chief Technology Officer

Company: Kiewit Corporation

Location: Omaha, Nebraska, US

Annual revenue: US$16.8bn

Justin Rauner joined Kiewit's executive team in September 2013 as Chief Technology Officer, a role in which he oversees the engineering department and leads technology enablement as a strategy across the employee-owned company's operations in North America.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from Missouri State University, completed in 1997 and brings more than two decades of information technology experience to the role, having previously served as IT Director of Applications at retailer Gordmans and as an IT Business Development Manager at Hallmark Cards.

9. Keith Churchill

Title: Chief Innovation Officer

Company: Bechtel

Location: Reston, Virginia, US

Annual revenue: US$23bn

Keith Churchill joined Bechtel in 2008 after several years in the heavy civil and infrastructure sector, starting as a field engineer on the Motiva Crude Expansion project in Texas.

He subsequently moved across Bechtel's Energy sector projects, covering, for example, project delivery, contract formation, cost management and field supervision, before moving into a corporate Operations Manager role focused on improving processes through innovation.

Keith now leads the identification, testing and rollout of new technology aimed at improving cost, schedule, safety and quality outcomes across Bechtel's global portfolio.

8. Mahesh Chikodi (Chakradi)

Title: Chief Digital Officer

Company: Larsen & Toubro (L&T)

Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Annual revenue: US$32.4bn

Mahesh Chikodi serves as Chief Digital Officer of L&T, one of India's largest engineering and construction conglomerates and sits on the company's Digital Executive Board overseeing digital innovation, analytics and technology.

Under his leadership, L&T has connected more than 15,000 machines across some 500 diverse project sites through its "Asset One" IoT platform, a scale of connected-equipment deployment that is unusual in a construction sector traditionally slower than automotive or consumer technology to adopt IoT and automation.

7. Yoshiyuki Murata

Title: Representative Director, Executive Vice President and Head of Technology 

Company: Daiwa House Industry

Location: Osaka, Japan

Annual revenue: US$37bn

Before joining Daiwa House Industry in 2021, Yoshiyuki Murata climbed the ranks to Representative Director and Vice Chairman at Taisei Corporation in 2020.

He joined Daiwa House Industry in 2021 and has served as Representative Director and Executive Vice President since 2022. His responsibilities include driving the adoption of digital technology across Daiwa House's construction operations, with a stated ambition to accelerate a cultural shift among engineers and specialist staff toward more efficient, tech-enabled ways of working.

6. Félix Jimeno Gonzalo

Title: CIO and Head of Information Systems

Company: Grupo ACS 

Location: Madrid, Spain

Annual revenue: US$56.3bn 

Félix Jimeno Gonzalo brings more than 25 years of experience in information systems and technology to his role as CIO and Head of IS at Grupo ACS. He has recently built on his expertise through completing a Digital Transformation Executive Programme.

His expertise include IT, digital resilience, infrastructure, the digital tools needed to support ACS's growing global project portfolio and cybersecurity. He has spoken publicly about the latter’s growing importance to the financial and government sectors that ACS serves as a contractor.

Currently, his focus is on digital resilience and unifying ACS’ technology practices across its various companies and geographies.

5. Marie-Luce Godinot

Title: Senior Vice-President, Innovation, Sustainable Development and Information Systems

Company: Bouygues

Location: Paris, France

Annual revenue: US$87bn

Marie-Luce Godinot joined Bouygues Construction's IT department in 2001 and has since held a number of technology-related roles for the company.

In 2022, Marie-Luce was promoted to Senior Vice-President, Innovation, Sustainable Development and Information Systems for the entire Bouygues group, joining its Group Management Committee in January 2024. She oversees cybersecurity, digitisation and artificial intelligence alongside climate and biodiversity strategy.

Marie-Luce has described digitalisation as key to tackling sustainability challenges, citing the optimisation of carbon costs and material resources as priorities.

4. Gilles Godard 

Title: Chief Digital Transformation Officer

Company: VINCI Construction, VINCI

Headquartered in: Nanterre, France

Annual revenue: US$85.1bn

Gilles Godard is driving change in VINCI Construction by leveraging digital tools to unify 1,300 decentralised units and providing the means for managers to control costs, manage resources effectively and measure their own performance.

While he has spent 20 years leading transformative projects in France, the UK and Greece, his experience also extends beyond Europe to Africa and the French Overseas territories where he has also led VINCI’s international construction businesses, heading acquisitions.

Subsequently, he transitioned to the helm of the UK division, merging VINCI plc and Eurovia UK before moving into his current role.

3. Huang XiaoHong

Title: Vice General Manager and Chief Engineer

Company: Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA) 

Headquartered in: Beijing, China

Annual revenue: US$91.3bn

Huang XiaoHong plays a mammoth role at one of the world's largest engineering, procurement and construction contractors, which is a dominant force in global hydropower, energy and water infrastructure.

He is responsible for the technical direction of a business that spans dam-building, renewable energy, transmission infrastructure and large-scale civil works across dozens of countries.

The technical leadership team's ongoing ambition is to embed more advanced engineering technology and sustainable construction practice into projects delivered at a scale few rivals can match.

2. Jinghui Dai

Title: Chief Engineer and General Manager of the Science, Technology Innovation and Digitalisation Department 

Company: China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC)

Location: Beijing, China

Annual revenue: US$141.5bn

Jinghui Dai has held the position of Chief Engineer at China Railway Construction Corporation, one of the largest railway, infrastructure and engineering contractors in the world, since October 2025.

The company has been at the forefront of some of the world's most technically demanding infrastructure projects, from high-speed rail lines to complex tunnelling and bridge works, while its technology leadership has been tasked with ensuring that innovations in digital design, automation and construction methods are deployed consistently across its vast network of subsidiaries and projects.

As a state-backed engineering group with hundreds of thousands of employees worldwide, CRCC's technology function plays a significant role in supporting the group's ambitions to expand its international infrastructure business, particularly along Belt and Road-linked transport corridors, while continuing to push efficiency and safety standards across its core domestic rail and construction markets.

1. Guo Haishan

Title: Chief Engineer, China Construction First Group

Company: China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) 

Headquartered in: Beijing, China

Annual revenue: US$287bn

Rather than a CTO, CSCEC's top management team including its Chairman and President, direct CSCEC’S technology strategy. However, chief engineers play a crucial role at the company’s subsidiaries. While Guo tends to keep a low profile, his role at CSCEC’s leading subsidiary: China Construction First is not one to overlook. As Chief Engineer, he is responsible for overall technological innovation, construction quality and engineering development for China Construction First, a major national construction company in China.

Founded in 1953, it was the first construction "national team" of New China and is known historically as the "Iron Army" of industrial construction. Guo is helping to maintain the company’s longstanding reputation, overseeing digital engineering and technology adoption, ensuring that operations, including major infrastructure projects and skyscrapers, meet modern technological standards. Under him, the company has leveraged earthquake resistance and earthquake control technology in its buildings and pushed digital-intelligence integration as well as green innovation.