Service

AI implementation & project intelligence.

We have successfully deployed enterprise-grade AI within live major-project environments in protected industries. We help boards, programme leaders and project controls directors understand what AI can genuinely do for major project delivery — and, more importantly, how to implement it successfully.

Book a conversation What we deliver

Verified outcome12+ monthsCumulative programme slippage mitigated

Verified outcome£14m+Cumulative delay-related costs avoided

Live programmesNot pilots or proofs of concept

Practitioner-ledExperienced project controls professionals

Abstract visualisation of a programme schedule with dependency logic and critical path highlighted

The problem we solve

Buying AI software is not the same as implementing AI successfully.

Project controls teams on major programmes are highly capable. But much of that expertise is consumed by the manual effort of producing the reporting that should be enabling decisions in the first place — processing schedule data, compiling activity counts, analysing float movement, updating narratives, preparing stakeholder packs.

By the time that information reaches decision-makers it is often already out of date. Highly experienced people spend more time preparing data than interrogating it, and the harder questions get less attention than they deserve: where is the slippage actually coming from, which sequences are genuinely recoverable, where can acceleration be achieved safely and realistically, and what requires immediate escalation.

Herne is not selling AI software. We sell the ability to successfully implement and apply AI within real major-project environments. The technology is an enabler — the value comes from combining sector expertise, project controls, commercial understanding, governance, experienced human judgement and enterprise AI.

What we deliver

Five service areas.

Service 01

AI Implementation Advisory

We are not simply demonstrating how we use AI internally. Engage us to determine where AI can genuinely improve your project delivery — particularly relevant to organisations operating in protected, highly regulated and complex project environments.

Where AI can genuinely improve project delivery
Appropriate project-controls use cases
Implementation approach
Data requirements
Assurance
Governance
Adoption
Integration into existing processes
How outputs should be validated
How intelligence becomes action

Service 02

AI-Enabled Project Controls

Integrating advanced analytics and enterprise AI with established project controls disciplines, so the controls function moves from retrospective reporting to forward-looking decision support.

Planning and scheduling
Cost and performance management
Risk and change
Forecasting
Reporting and data architecture
Performance management
Schedule assurance

Service 03

Acceleration & Delay Recovery

Using advanced analysis alongside experienced project controls practitioners to find where intervention will deliver the greatest benefit — while there is still time for it to influence the outcome.

Interrogate programme logic
Identify schedule vulnerabilities
Identify recovery opportunities
Assess acceleration options and path crashing
Test scenarios
Prioritise management attention
Support credible intervention strategies

Service 04

Schedule Intelligence & Assurance

Combining advanced technology with experienced planning and project controls practitioners to interrogate the schedule properly. Automated output does not replace professional schedule assurance — it informs it.

Schedule integrity and logic
Critical and near-critical paths
Schedule risk
Forecast confidence
Emerging delay
Recovery opportunities
Acceleration opportunities
Scenario options

Service 05

Portfolio Intelligence

Applying project intelligence across multiple projects and programmes, so executives can see where attention is genuinely needed across an interconnected portfolio.

Portfolio visibility
Benchmarking
Performance comparison
Emerging-risk identification
Prioritisation
Executive decision-making

Technology is only part of implementation.

PeopleProcessGovernanceDataControlsTechnology

How it works in practice

From intelligence to action.

AI does not independently make project decisions. Every step below involves experienced practitioners, and every output has to survive established project governance.

Project data

Schedule, cost, risk, change and performance data from the live programme.

AI-enabled analysis

Advanced interrogation of logic, delay, performance, risk and opportunity.

Expert validation

Experienced project controls practitioners challenge and validate the findings.

Delivery strategy

Recovery, acceleration and intervention options developed.

Governance & change

Options tested against baselines, commercial position, risk and project governance.

Project impact

Interventions implemented, monitored and measured.

Case study

AI-enabled recovery & acceleration.

Protected industry — client confidential.

Illustrative visual of a project schedule network with critical path highlighted

12+ monthsCumulative programme slippage mitigated

£14m+Cumulative delay-related costs avoided

6 monthsPeriod over which this was achieved

Achieved through the implementation of targeted recovery and acceleration measures — the combination of advanced analysis, project controls expertise and practical project intervention.

The challenge

A major programme operating against a fixed delivery milestone, approximately twelve months away, was experiencing increasing schedule pressure. The project already possessed experienced planning and project controls capability. The challenge was rapidly interrogating the scale and complexity of the live programme to identify where intervention could deliver the greatest benefit while there was still time to act.

The approach

We combined experienced project controls practitioners with enterprise AI to interrogate the live programme schedule — programme logic, critical and near-critical paths, schedule vulnerability, sequences capable of supporting increased shift patterns, areas where path crashing was achievable, and emerging areas requiring immediate escalation.

Rather than producing another retrospective report explaining why slippage had occurred, the team focused on what could still be done to recover the position. Potential interventions were reviewed and validated by experienced project professionals before being progressed through established governance.

01AI surfaced the opportunity.

02Experienced practitioners validated it.

03The project team converted it into action.

Strategic technology partnership

The Herne Group × Nodes & Links

Nodes & Links is not a general-purpose AI tool applied to project data. It is a platform built specifically on project controls foundations, schedule logic and programme analysis — designed to understand critical path behaviour, dependencies, risk exposure, float movement and where acceleration and recovery opportunities genuinely exist.

Nodes & Links provides

The schedule intelligence platform: transparent analysis with visible logic and traceable reasoning that can be presented with confidence to auditors, client assurance functions and regulators. No black-box outputs, no unexplained insights.

The Herne Group provides

Sector knowledge, project controls expertise, implementation capability, governance, challenge and practical intervention — converting intelligence into project outcomes. We are practitioners, not a software distributor or reseller.

“There is no other software out there that allows us to interrogate a live programme in this way and quickly identify where intervention is possible, where delivery performance can be improved, and where recovery and acceleration opportunities genuinely exist. It is truly helping us recover slippage and accelerate key milestones.”

Andy Garnett, Project Controls Director, The Herne Group

Read the full partnership announcement → · Visit Nodes & Links →

Common questions

What boards and programme directors ask us.

Will AI outputs survive regulatory and audit scrutiny?

They have to. In nuclear and defence, decisions, assumptions and controls outputs must withstand scrutiny from clients, regulators, assurance teams and auditors — black-box outputs with no visible reasoning will not gain trust. Every analysis we rely on is transparent: the logic is visible and the reasoning is traceable. In these environments that is not a differentiator, it is a baseline expectation.

Does this replace our project controls team?

No — it gives them their time back. Complex analysis that can require days of manual processing can now be undertaken in minutes, allowing experienced practitioners to spend more time assessing the findings, testing interventions and supporting better project decisions. The value is not that it is faster; it is that technology gives experienced project professionals more time to apply judgement and act.

Does the AI make the decisions?

No. Technology surfaces the intelligence. Experienced project professionals determine what it means, what is credible and what should happen next — and every option is tested against baselines, commercial position, risk and established governance before anything is implemented.

How does this work in a protected or List-X environment?

We already operate inside those environments every day, and we have designed PMO infrastructure to run within a List-X Common Working Environment. Security clearance, data handling and assurance are not afterthoughts for us — they shape how any implementation is planned from the outset.

We have already bought a tool. Why do we need you?

Because buying software and implementing it successfully are different problems. Implementation touches use cases, data, governance, process, people, adoption and assurance — and it has to integrate with the project controls function you already have. That is the work we do.

Get in touch

What could this mean for your programme?

If you are being asked what AI means for your projects and how to implement it safely, start with a conversation with one of our directors. No pitch deck, no proof of concept theatre.

Email info@herneuk.com

Email

info@herneuk.com

Head office

Oltec House, 18 Beecham Court,
Wigan, WN3 6PR