Every decade brings a new wave of innovation that initially disrupts, and ultimately strengthens, how we design, build, and deliver the built environment. For those who lived through the shift from hand drafting to CAD, and later from CAD to BIM, the pattern is familiar: new technology arrives with both excitement and uncertainty. Concerns about job loss, shifting professional identity, and unfamiliar workflows often accompany major industry transformations.
Yet history shows that AECO professionals don’t just adapt, they advance. Each leap forward has expanded skill sets, created new roles, and dramatically improved project outcomes. Draftsmen became CAD technicians. CAD users evolved into BIM modelers and coordinators. Teams reimagined workflows and embraced digital collaboration, discovering that technology didn’t replace their expertise; it amplified it.
Today, the industry stands at its next major inflection point: the rise of artificial intelligence in AECO. And once again, Autodesk is at the forefront, investing in AI not as a trend, but as a purposeful response to the workflow inefficiencies, data challenges, and delivery constraints AECO professionals face every day.
Autodesk AI: The Next Evolution in the Design & Make Process
Autodesk recently introduced Autodesk AI, a platform of capabilities being woven across its Design & Make portfolio, including Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC), Civil 3D, Revit, InfraWorks, and other essential AECO tools. Autodesk AI is built to reduce friction, accelerate decision-making, and strengthen project predictability through automation and intelligent data insights.
Autodesk AI helps AECO organizations:
- Autodesk AI helps AECO organizations:
- Automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks
- Reduce manual rework and increase accuracy
- Streamline modeling and documentation workflows
- Turn rich project data into actionable insights
- Improve collaboration through cloud-connected environments
Autodesk emphasizes that AI is designed to support, not replace, the professionals responsible for creating models, conducting analyses, and making project decisions. This aligns closely with Autodesk’s four principles of responsible AI, ensuring tools are transparent, secure, fair, and accountable. It also mirrors ARKANCE’s approach to AI adoption: strategic, responsible, and rooted in human expertise. The new PDH article, How AI Solutions Benefit AECO Professionals, expands on this perspective, positioning AI not as a disruption but as a natural continuation of AECO’s digital evolution. As Aaron Wagner, Senior Director of Autodesk Construction Cloud at ARKANCE, explains:
“AI is a continuation of the transformation already underway since the early days of CAD and BIM—not a disruption to fear, but an evolution to embrace.”
How AECO Roles Continue to Evolve with Technology
The article underscores the industry’s long history of technological progression, from manual drafting to CAD, from CAD to BIM, and now from BIM to AI-enhanced workflows. Similar themes emerge across Autodesk’s BIM for Infrastructure guidance: each shift expands professional capabilities and improves delivery outcomes.
Examples of evolving roles include:
- Manual drafting → CAD technicians
- CAD → BIM modelers and coordinators
- BIM → digital project managers and cloud collaboration specialists
- Cloud collaboration → AI-supported design, review, and project intelligence
The takeaway is clear: AI extends the impact of AECO professionals, allowing them to focus on high-value decision-making and creative problem-solving. AI Adoption Requires More Than Technology
A significant theme in How AI Solutions Benefit AECO Professionals is that successful AI adoption requires readiness, not just software. Autodesk’s responsible AI framework reinforces that firms must first strengthen their digital foundations.
Key readiness elements include:
- Structured, high-quality project data
- Standardized workflows and templates
- ACC or cloud-based collaboration maturity
- Team comfort with automation
- Clear QA/QC processes for model and data integrity
These elements align with ARKANCE’s AI Readiness Assessments and Digital Delivery Consulting, which help organizations determine where AI can add value and what foundational improvements must come first.
ARKANCE: Your Long-Term Partner in AI, Automation, and Digital Delivery
As a global Autodesk Platinum Partner with deep AECO expertise, ARKANCE supports organizations at every stage of AI adoption. Our teams provide:
- AI readiness evaluations
- Standards and automation development
- Workflow optimization for BIM, GIS, Civil 3D, and ACC
- Training and enablement around Autodesk’s emerging AI tools
- Long-term digital transformation strategy
ARKANCE’s philosophy aligns with Autodesk’s responsible AI vision: AI should enhance human capability, improve predictability, and reduce inefficiencies, not replace the technical expertise the industry relies on.
Read the Full Article + Earn Continued Education Credits
Dive deeper into how AI is reshaping AECO by exploring the full PDH article, How AI Solutions Benefit AECO Professionals, published with Informed Infrastructure.
Access the article and complete the quiz to earn approved continuing education credits.
As AI continues to accelerate, Autodesk and ARKANCE stand ready to guide your team with the tools, expertise, and support needed for confident digital transformation.
Lisa Galicia, Marketing Programs Manager, Infrastructure
Lisa Galicia is the Marketing Programs Manager for ARKANCE’s Infrastructure Business Unit, where she leads strategic initiatives that connect civil engineering professionals with innovative technology solutions. She develops programs that showcase customer success and demonstrate how ARKANCE’s expertise and Autodesk solutions help agencies deliver smarter, more connected infrastructure.