Underground Infrastructure is Getting a Major Upgrade, and AI is Leading the Way

September 30, 2025

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Walnut Creek, CA – September 9, 2025  – Ahead of WEFTEC 2025, SewerAI is unveiling new insights into the underground infrastructure market that underscore a major shift:  utilities, contractors, and engineering firms are moving past curiosity and into adoption of  AI-driven inspection and asset management .

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Industry at a Crossroads

Across North America, utilities face mounting pressures:  aging infrastructure, workforce retirements, and shrinking budgets.  The  ASCE’s 2025 Infrastructure Report Card  gave U.S. wastewater systems a  D+ , citing a nearly  $700B funding gap  by 2033. Meanwhile, a  Black & Veatch survey  found  58% of utilities prioritize asset monitoring and management  as their top digital investment — but most acknowledge they are not leveraging existing data effectively (62% are not).

A New Independent Study Confirms: AI is Leading the Way

A newly released third-party market analysis  has confirmed what SewerAI customers already know : the company is setting the industry standard for  speed, accuracy, and ROI  in underground infrastructure management. 

Respondents spanned utilities of every size, contractors, and engineering firms — representing organizations serving millions of residents to those managing smaller regional systems. The findings provide a clear window into how decision-makers are prioritizing technology and why AI adoption is accelerating.

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Key Findings Reveal:

• AI is top of mind  – More than two-thirds of organizations are actively evaluating or adopting automation and AI for inspections, citing speed, accuracy, and cost savings as the biggest drivers.  “It used to take 40–60 hours of watching video on 5k ft of pipe. Now, we can review in less than a day with SewerAI,”  said a VP at a water infrastructure contracting firm.
• SewerAI stands out  – Among industry vendors, SewerAI has emerged as one of the most recognized names in the market. Customers rank it highest for  detection accuracy, ease of use, and AI capabilities,  and 70% of non-customers plan to evaluate or adopt SewerAI in the future –  the highest adoption intent among competitors.  “SewerAI is easy to use, so user friendly. It’s something you can get used to quickly, and makes it easy for our field team to operate,”  said a municipal engineer.
• Retention speaks volumes  – Once adopted, SewerAI shows leading retention vs. competitors (92% of adopters retained over the last 12 months), with  customers citing measurable ROI, integrations, and  customer service  as the main reasons.
• On  key purchasing criteria , SewerAI outperforms all competitors, particularly excelling on detection accuracy, UI / UX, and AI capabilities
• All SewerAI customers indicate a high likelihood of continuing to use the product – main drivers for continued use include strong detection accuracy, continued product improvements, great customer service (>1 min live response time), and ease of use 
• The ROI is real  – Customers report eliminating  40–60 hours of video review per 5,000 ft of pipe , detecting  25–35% more defects , and saving  six figures annually in labor costs.  “With SewerAI, we immediately receive a recommended execution plan with prioritized repairs, which means we no longer need to hire an engineering firm as an added step,”  said a wastewater department head at a public utility.

Taxonomy

• Utility Provider
• Industrial Use
• Intelligent Networks
• Infrastructure Management
• artificial intelligence
• Online Customer Training Platform
• United States