New Workshop: AI in AEC

Over the past few years, most eyes have been focused on AI's impact on real estate operations, not development. It is, after all, easier to train an LLM to have a conversation with a prospective tenant about available units than to design a new building from scratch.

The next two years is likely to look quite different. As technology matures, AI is playing a larger role in the entire real estate development process from site sourcing and evaluation to design, engineering, and even construction itself.

But architecture, engineering, and construction face challenges to AI adoption that the operations side does not. The stakes are higher, the cost of errors is greater, and regulatory considerations prevent the kind of large-scale replacement of humans with machines that many on the operations side contemplate. The impact of technology can't be ignored, with artificial intelligence executing test fits, identifying drafting errors, and even performing basic roles on construction sites—roles that will only expand in the coming years.

In other words, there's nuance.

So we're excited to offer our first-ever deep dive workshop into the growing role of AI in AEC. We'll tackle that nuance in a two-hour exploration next week, a critical primer on AI's role at the bench and in the field for those across AEC as well as real estate developers and investors looking to better understand technology's impact.

AI in AEC: A Workshop

• Thursday, January 22 | 12:00–2:00pm ET | $299
• Recordings included for all participants
• Register Now

AI is not about replacing architects or engineers, and it is not just another software upgrade. It changes the economics of iteration, coordination, and error discovery. This session explains why AEC is uniquely exposed to AI, where value shows up first, and why speed to decision matters more than raw automation.

We'll cover:

1. The AI Stack for Architecture and Engineering

We break down the AI stack in plain terms, separating foundation models from AEC-specific tools, workflow layers, and systems of record like Revit and Rhino. Participants learn how to classify vendors, spot vaporware, and understand where durable value accrues. The goal is to help firms make smarter adoption decisions and avoid chasing buzzwords.

2. Concept Design and Early Feasibility

This section focuses on how AI impacts the earliest phases of design, where changes are cheapest and leverage is highest. We cover rapid massing, program test-fitting, zoning constraint analysis, and early energy and daylight heuristics. The emphasis is on how AI enables faster option testing, better tradeoff analysis, and earlier owner alignment, not automated design.

3. Design Development, Documentation, and Engineering

We explore where AI is already compounding quietly inside documentation workflows. Topics include drawing production acceleration, change propagation across large plan sets, spec drafting, and cross-discipline coordination. We discuss real productivity gains, where firms are seeing time savings, and why fewer rework cycles matter more than faster drafting when it comes to fees and risk. We'll also cover how AI shows up in structural, MEP, and technical engineering workflows, including early system sizing, option comparison, value engineering scenarios, and sanity-checking assumptions.

4. The Construction Interface

AI’s impact does not stop at design. We examine how AI affects the handoff to construction through faster submittal review, RFI triage, and drawing interpretation. This section connects design-phase decisions to downstream outcomes like change orders, schedule risk, and cost overruns, helping architects and engineers understand why owners increasingly care about AI-enabled workflows.

5. Economics, Incentives, and Firm Strategy

Finally, we'll we zoom out to the business implications. We discuss which AEC firms benefit most from AI adoption, which business models feel pressure, and how client expectations are changing. The session addresses why AI pushes value upstream toward judgment and owner relationships, and why firms that sell outcomes outperform those that sell hours.

6. The Adoption Playbook

We close with a practical adoption playbook. This includes where to start, how to keep humans in the loop, and how to build internal support for AI tools. We end with predictions for the next 24 months and what architects and engineers should prepare for now.

Come join us for an engaging two hours diving into AI's growing role in getting things built.

Register Now

-Brad Hargreaves