Caterpillar shares vision of construction’s future at CONEXPO 2026

Caterpillar leaders Rod Shurman (Group President), Jaime Mineart (Chief Technology Officer), and Ogi Redzic (Chief Digital Officer) took the stage at CONEXPO 2026 for a keynote speech on Wednesday. The topic: how the equipment giant is evolving to help solve today’s construction industry challenges.

From workplace safety, chronic labor shortage and the fact that 30% of site work is often “rework” (wasted effort), Caterpillar says it is focusing on these tough challenges by using autonomy, AI, and connected technologies that are already delivering proven results for customers.

Safety: Moving toward zero incidents

Safety isn’t just a manual; it’s now integrated into the machine’s DNA. Caterpillar’s Cat Detect portfolio is moving beyond simple warnings to active intervention.

• Collision Mitigation: Unlike older systems that just beep, new mitigation technology can actively stop a machine if it detects a hazard or person in its path.
• Virtual Guardrails: Through the new Cat AI Assistant, operators can use voice commands to set safety limits. For example, telling the machine, “Hey Cat, set my ceiling height to 14 feet,” prevents the boom from ever hitting overhead power lines.
• Post-Event Coaching: Using VisionLink, the system records video of “near misses,” allowing managers to use real-world footage as a training tool to ensure the same mistake isn’t made twice.

Products to boost productivity

Efficiency on a job site often comes down to accuracy. To combat the 30% waste caused by rework, Cat is leaning into Grade and Payload technologies.

• Cat Grade: Imagine a dozer that follows a 3D design file automatically. The blade adjusts itself to the exact specifications of the plan. As CTO Jamie Beinhart put it, it’s like “Google Maps for your self-driving dozer.” This tech can reduce the time taken for a job by nearly 50%.
• Cat Payload: This feature measures the material in the bucket in real-time. It prevents “wasted passes” and ensures trucks are loaded perfectly every time—never under-filled and never overloaded.

Helping solve the labor problem

The labor shortage is the “elephant on the job site.” Caterpillar is addressing this by removing the operator from the cab entirely when necessary.

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Cat Command & Remote Operations

Through Cat Command, an operator in an office in Naples, Florida, can operate a machine at a job site in Las Vegas.

• Multi-Machine Control: A single operator can now manage up to five machines across different sites.
• The “Orchestrator” Role: Instead of sitting idle waiting for a truck to arrive, a remote operator can jump between a loader, a dozer, and a compactor, maximizing every minute of their shift.

The AI Assistant

For new operators, the learning curve is steep. The Cat AI Assistant acts as an on-board coach. An entry-level worker can ask, “How do I get unstuck from the mud?” and receive a video tutorial right on their display.

Cat’s VisionLink ties it all together

All of this hardware is tied together by VisionLink, a “single pane of glass” for fleet management.

• Mixed Fleet Support: Recognizing that most sites aren’t 100% Caterpillar, Cat has partnered with Geotab to bring “on-highway” assets (like pickup trucks and fuel trucks) into the same dashboard as the heavy machinery.
• Predictive Maintenance: By analyzing data, the system can predict a failure before it happens, turning an “unplanned downtime” event into a “planned maintenance” window, saving thousands in lost productivity.

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