The original call
Original year: 2019
2026 assessment
Scorecard verdict: Live / too optimistic
Live, but I was too optimistic on timing. The technology is real — Fastbrick’s Hadrian, masonry robots, layout robots and Built Robotics’ autonomous earthmoving all exist and are working in 2026. But “forever changing the way the industry operates” by now? Not yet. Robotic masons are demonstrations, pilots and niche deployments, not the default crew on the average job site. The labor-shortage pressure that should be pulling them in is enormous, and adoption is still slow. I will own this one: I had the direction right and the pace wrong.