Latest news with #ClaireRutkowski
Forbes
29-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why AEC Leaders Should Treat AI As An Imperative, Not A Fad
Claire Rutkowski is WSP U.S. Business Partner and Digital Transformation Advisor, and CIO, POWER Engineers, member of WSP. By now, you've probably read countless articles about AI—and I can see you wince that you've landed on yet another one. We are, I believe, at the peak of the hype cycle, the zenith of overinflated expectations about the technology. AI has been promised to help us solve a lot of problems, from workforce scheduling challenges to climate change. In the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, I've heard many conversations about how AI can lead to transformational ways of doing business, solve the retirement skills gap and eliminate any backlog challenges because it will enable us to work so efficiently. So why read another article about AI? In writing this, my goal is to provide practical advice about applying AI, rather than discuss the possibilities and promises of paradigm shifts. In my view, taking practical steps toward AI implementation can align with an organization's strategic objectives and allow leaders to fully tap into AI's potential. Leaders should treat AI as an imperative, not a fad. For instance, two common ways I've heard of professional service organizations leveraging AI are to shorten the time of proposal preparation and ideate on marketing materials that professional marketers can refine. I've also heard that some HR departments in the AEC space are leveraging AI to speed up the creation of job descriptions and find candidates with the most applicable experience from stacks of résumés. Key AI Use Cases In The AEC Industry From my observations, there are several key use cases for AI in the AEC industry. For one, there's generative design, which AEC firms can leverage for design optimization. Engineers and other stakeholders can enter constraints, such as budgets, energy efficiency goals and square footage amounts, into AI-powered design software and receive AI-generated design options. From there, they can narrow those options to the few that are the most viable and present them to clients. Another key use case is the monitoring of construction sites using computer vision. Through AI-powered cameras, site supervisors can track progress, safety compliance and work efficiency. This level of routine monitoring can enable projects to be completed in a more streamlined and safer manner. Additionally, using AI-assisted building information models for clash detection can streamline coordination. AEC projects involve various models, namely, mechanical, electrical, structural and architectural. Sometimes they don't align—for instance, the electrical model doesn't quite fit the structural model. When different departments manually lay their models against each other for clash detection, it tends to be a time-consuming process where different stakeholders spend hours upon hours pinpointing which elements need to be fixed. Mistakes and missing problems can be pitfalls of this process. However, AI can rapidly scan models and identify coordination issues, leaving teams with more time to address them. Finally, AI can be used for predictive analytics in risk management. AEC projects have common reasons for failure. Machine learning models can be used to predict the likelihood of failure based on the past performance of a given team, the type of project, the companies and clients involved, weather patterns and other variables. How AEC Leaders Can Decide Which AI Initiatives To Prioritize While some AEC leaders might want to explore various AI use cases within their organizations, unfortunately, budget limitations can hinder them from doing so. Budget limitations aside, I don't recommend focusing on more than one use case at a time. Instead, I advise a fail-fast approach, where teams run a small, nimble pilot on a use case to test and learn. Running too many initiatives at once could overwhelm AEC teams. To decide which use case to start with, AEC leaders should let their organizational strategies guide them. They should ask themselves if their top goal is trying to facilitate innovation, generate internal efficiencies, reduce risks, create a different client experience or something else. Leaders should engage their teams to understand how AI is already being used on the ground. From there, they can select the use case that best aligns with their top goal. For instance, if risk reduction is a firm's top goal, then the firm could begin by monitoring construction sites using computer vision. Actions AEC Leaders Should Take Now AEC leaders should proactively and responsibly embrace AI, rather than sit on the fence. Failure to embrace AI comes with risks. The longer AEC leaders wait, the more likely they are to fall further behind their competitors, leaving them to play catch-up. At that point, in addition to technical debt, their firms might have developed a culture of skepticism around AI, making change management even more difficult. There is also a danger of employees turning to public AI tools in the absence of company-driven solutions and processes. This can put organizations' intellectual property at risk. In addition to selecting an AI use case to test and iterate, AEC leaders should encourage and cultivate certain knowledge and skills for themselves and their teams, such as prompt engineering, data literacy, understanding AI-integrated workflows and understanding how to ethically use AI (including safeguarding clients' data). At the most foundational level, AEC firms should establish AI governance boards to determine how they want to navigate applying AI, get their team members familiar with AI and start looking into ring-fenced solutions to ensure data doesn't leave the walls of their organizations. AI is, in my view, not a technology that will fade with time—it's here to stay and will help AEC firms solve pressing challenges. AEC leaders can decide to embrace AI and lead the future or wait to be disrupted by it. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Forbes
02-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why It's Imperative That AEC Firms Implement Guided Innovation
Claire Rutkowski is Chief Information Officer at POWER Engineers. getty In recent years, the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry has experienced paradigm shifts driven by factors such as labor shortages and technological advancements . The AEC industry is grappling with these issues at a time when workers are arguably more needed than ever. Consider the civil engineering field. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers' ' 2025 Report Card for America's Infrastructure ,' grades varied 'from a B in ports to a D in stormwater and transit.' Moreover, the report explained that while 'evidence points to improvements throughout infrastructure's system-of-systems, nine categories remained within the D range—a clear sign that more needs to be done to improve the health of America's built environment.' Given the pent-up demand, private equity firms have stepped into the picture. As noted by Zweig Group , 'M&A activity in the AEC industry surged in 2024, driven by private equity, regulatory investments, and strategic acquisitions.' Both the talent gap and private equity investments are, I've observed, forcing AEC firms to innovate and leverage new technologies. If you're a leader at an AEC firm, however, it's important that you first achieve organizational agility. Without organizational agility, your firm will likely struggle to innovate, effectively integrate new technologies and ultimately remain competitive. In my experience, many AEC firms are not organized in a way that promotes innovation—many have rigid structures where cross-collaboration is limited. Such structures stifle innovation. For instance, some AEC firms have traditional, hierarchical role structures where risk mitigation is the key priority. Road people talk to road people, water people talk to water people and so on. Others still use outdated workflows and legacy systems that slow down decision-making and limit collaboration. Technical debt is rife. AEC firms that lack organizational agility will face challenges when it comes to internal and external innovation. Even if they are able to innovate, they will likely face difficulty implementing those innovations in-house or selling them to clients. To achieve organizational agility for your AEC firm, I first recommend moving away from the industry's standard hourly billing model as much as you can. This is admittedly a gradual shift, but you should start right away. Adopt an outcome-based pricing model, where you charge clients for the results you generate for them. Why make this move? Because the traditional hourly billing model essentially penalizes AEC firms as they become more efficient. For instance, you and your team could develop an in-house solution that enables you to work faster, but because you're charging clients by the hour, you face internal resistance to using the solution. That internal resistance results in wasted investment. Or, if you end up using the solution, you'll get paid less. Additionally, you should set a clear innovation strategy that brings out your firm's unique strengths—and that balances efficiency-related innovations with the development of new products and services. Both types of innovations are, in my view, crucial for AEC firms. Depending on the circumstances, you might opt to focus more on one over the other. For example, during an economic downturn, you might decide to invest more in efficiency-related initiatives. As part of your innovation strategy, you need to delegate who is responsible for innovation at your organization. I've observed that AEC firms tend to take one of two approaches when it comes to delegating innovation. The first approach? Making innovation everyone's job. This approach might sound appealing, but there are some problems with it. One is that in practice, when something is everyone's job, it tends to become nobody's job. There's also the problem of people innovating on the wrong things in a desire to stand out. That's how a firm can end up with thousands of reports that team members have deemed "crucial." The second approach is creating a standalone innovation department. This approach makes select employees responsible for innovating, but the department can end up becoming isolated from the rest of the business. Moreover, a standalone innovation department can stir up internal competition—those employees could start seeing other teams as rivals. In my view, the solution is a hybrid approach of guided innovation. A dedicated team should set the firm's strategic direction and then approve employees' ideas that align with that path. Mistakes AEC Firms Should Avoid Along The Way As your organization becomes more agile, you'll have greater capacity for innovation and technological advancement. However, there are key mistakes you should avoid along the way. For one, avoid technological innovation and advancement for the sake of it. You don't always have to reinvent the wheel. Don't hesitate to purchase existing, off-the-shelf solutions that another company has developed. For example, if your company needs an internal messaging tool, there's no point in developing your own version given that such tools already exist. Instead, direct your innovation efforts to your firm's 'secret sauce' —its unique value proposition. An example would be a transportation firm focusing innovation on tools that speed up routing and layout instead of tools that generate proposals more quickly. Another mistake is chasing shiny things. Innovation should be purposeful and well-thought-out rather than reactive. If you rush to implement every new type of technology and approach because they're trending or appear impressive, then you risk investing time and money into solutions that ultimately won't move the needle for your firm. Finally, it's a mistake to think that innovation doesn't have unintended consequences. It does. For example, say you and your team create a new asset management solution for your clients. That solution is not a one-time project; it's subscription-based and would require you to implement new contracts and a new billing system. It would also likely require you to bring in outside expertise, specifically a product manager with experience working at a software company, to step in and oversee the packaging and pricing of that solution. Additionally, such a solution would fundamentally change the nature of your firm's relationships with clients, making them more ongoing. Really think about a proposed innovation all the way through to make sure it's something you can support before proceeding. Ultimately, despite the challenges of becoming organizationally agile and, in turn, more innovative, it's imperative to do so for survival. If your AEC firm fails to innovate, you risk losing market share to your competitors or being disrupted by new entrants, such as large technology companies. But through strategic, purposeful innovation, you can future-proof your AEC firm. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
