Feeling like you don’t know where to start with AI isn’t a sign you’re behind. It’s just what the beginning of something new feels like, and we hear it from firms of every size, small to large.

Many executives want to know where the ROI of AI is. Fair question, with the caveat that most firms are trying to measure the wrong things at the wrong time.

We just wrapped up our AI Summit with an incredible group of executives, open to sharing and contributing to how firms should transform, where the bottlenecks are, and how to overcome them. If there was one major theme that stood out, it’s this.

I’ve been following the Stanford HAI AI Index over the past few years. Based on their latest AI Index report, AI is now entering a new phase where managing it is becoming more complex than building it

Across dozens of conversations, one question kept coming up:

What’s actually happening with AI in AEC, not in theory, but in practice?

What stood out most wasn’t just the technology, but how seriously organizations are engaging with it. It was obvious that this is no longer experimental, but progress is happening globally.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen tech companies like Autodesk (~1000 roles), Microsoft (~9000 roles), Amazon (~16,000 roles), Salesforce (~1000 roles), Workday (~400 roles), and Meta (~1500 roles),… all announcing layoffs. And almost all of them shared a similar reason: “It’s because of AI.”

As we start 2026, I’ve been thinking about AI’s impact on work. The other day, I was listening to a talk by an economist who was breaking down how AI is impacting the labor market, using traditional workforce metrics such as GDP, income, and job loss. While those standard metrics show what’s happening at a high level, they don’t tell the whole story. What’s often missing from these analyses is the under-the-surface impact of AI on day-to-day work.

AEC firms are trying different paths in response to AI advancements, including acquiring AI startups. For example, a few weeks ago, AECOM acquired Consigli, an AI startup focused on “autonomous” engineering workflows, for about $400M.

During my opening keynote at the Talent-Max conference in New Orleans, an HR leader asked me a question that stuck with me:

“What skills do our employees need with AI everywhere?”

Many people ask, “Whatever AI tools we use, others also have access to, so can AI really be our differentiator in the market?”
The short answer is no; it won’t by itself.
Think about airplanes. They were once a disruptive technology, transforming the travel and supply chain industries. But now? All airlines have airplanes. United and Spirit Airlines both will get you from A to B faster than driving or taking a bus. But why do I still prefer United over Spirit?!

How to Reduce the Negative Environmental Impacts of AI, while advancing innovation?  The other day, we were flying from San

What Kind of Resources Does AI Consume Besides Electricity? During a recent visit to the Computer History Museum in Mountain