Insights from YegaTech AI Summit 2026: From Improving the old way of work to redefining the work
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:
Executives are moving past the basic question of, “How do we use AI to get more efficient?” Instead, they’re asking: “How does AI fundamentally change where value gets created?”
During the summit, owners and industry leaders shared some of the biggest shifts happening in the market right now:
1.Owners are starting to bring work in-house. As AI lowers the barrier to entry for certain types of knowledge work, forward-looking owners are experimenting with handling tasks they would have historically outsourced to AEC firms, such as drafting project reports or conducting early-stage analysis. It’s not happening everywhere just yet, but it’s a commercially important shift that will change the types of services AEC firms can successfully sell down the road.
2. Firms are positioning themselves for strategic advisory roles. Because the baseline for service delivery is changing, smart firms are rethinking their role entirely. Rather than just delivering projects as usual, they’re exploring how to help clients make better decisions, personalize experiences, and get more actual value out of their data and operations. Making the jump from “service provider” to “strategic advisor” is gradually becoming one of the biggest opportunities in the market.
3.The competitive landscape is changing. Competition isn’t just coming from the usual places. Leaders noted three competitive models gaining serious traction:
- AI-powered AEC firms adopting AI tools.
- Vertically integrated firms capturing more of the value chain.
- Tech-acquisitive firms buying up capability rather than building it slowly.
In retrospect, we’ve heard from many attendees that they were inspired by the story of Chris Mulleavy, the CEO of Hoyle Tanner, a 130-person engineering firm based in Manchester, NH. He shared his firm’s AI journey in collaboration with YegaTech and why they decided to have an AI team in-house. From this session, many executives realized that AI isn’t just a big-firm game, and smaller firms are better positioned to gain a competitive advantage.
The Takeaway
The companies that succeed in this next phase aren’t necessarily those that implement the most AI tools the fastest. They’ll be the ones that rethink what their clients actually value in an AI-enabled world.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this: how is your firm thinking about value creation right now?
