September 9, 2025
In the construction industry, the building process is inherently complex, requiring seamless collaboration among multiple stakeholders to manage technical constraints, regulatory requirements, and iterative design changes. Yet, much of this process remains manual and document-based, forcing real estate managers, engineers, architects and contractors, to navigate between multiple software tools and data sources, cross-referencing specifications in various formats and modeling updates. This fragmented workflow leads to inefficiencies, planning inconsistencies, costly errors, and delays that undermine project profitability.
In a context where the need for innovation becomes more pressing -the construction industry is expected to grow by 70% by 2040 (McKinsey) and already suffers from lack of productivity and labor shortage-, recent technological breakthroughs are unlocking new opportunities to disrupt the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector. Advances in automation and collaboration tools enable the streamlining of workflows, while generative design promises to revolutionize how projects are conceived. By harnessing these innovations, we believe that the AEC industry can move toward a more efficient, data-driven and collaborative approach that accelerates project conception and delivery, while generative models enhance creativity and drive iteration.
A construction project unfolds through several critical phases, demanding tight coordination among all stakeholders. It starts with the exploration phase during which developers and urban planners evaluate regulatory, financial, and environmental constraints to determine whether to proceed with the project. At this stage, multiple design options are explored and visually tested, allowing architects and planners to creatively assess different site configurations and volumetric studies before moving on to technical design.
Following this, the Design Phase begins. Architects and engineers collaborate to develop and refine the building plans. This process involves continuous back-and-forth, where specifications and requirements are repeatedly adjusted and reflected in the design models to accommodate various constraints. The key deliverable at the end of this stage is the Building Information Model (BIM), a comprehensive digital model that consolidates structural, mechanical, and environmental information.
The crucial step is Coordination. Here, the primary objective is to ensure technical compatibility across all systems —structural, MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing), and architectural— while working on the BIM before construction kicks off. This requires intense collaboration -and numerous back and forth- between designers, contractors, and engineers to identify and resolve potential conflicts early on, thus avoiding costly delays and rework.
Last but not least: Building Phase, which involves translating the validated plans into on-site execution. Site managers and workers depend on these detailed models to efficiently manage the project, ensuring compliance with regulations and high-quality standards. The focus during this phase lies in optimizing project schedule, managing on site execution, streamlining supply chain operations, and implementing robust progress tracking to meet deadlines and control costs.
For decades, the construction industry has lagged behind in embracing technological advancements. The sector must reinvent itself to meet mounting demand.
Low margins on projects -around 5%- have contributed to construction companies’ incompetence to invest in productivity-enhancing software which lead to low margins again… An infernal vicious circle that explains why this industry remains the worst in terms of productivity rate : from 2020 to 2022, productivity in the global construction industry has even declined by 8 percent (McKinsey). Increasing output is not a matter of adding more manpower, as fragmented teams and inefficient collaboration remain endemic across project stakeholders.
Obviously, legacy softwares have began to digitalize the sector. Autodesk is the industry’s dominant player here, holding around 36% and 47% market share in CAD (Computer Aided Design) and BIM (Building Information Model) respectively, with $1.5 billion in annual revenue. Its integrated suite of solutions supports the entire project lifecycle: AutoCAD for early-stage design, Revit for integrated BIM modeling, Navisworks for coordination, and BIM 360 for on-site execution and real-time collaboration…
But despite the widespread adoption of the Autodesk suite, profitability continues to suffer due to limited collaboration. Endless back-and-forth between stakeholders often leads to costly design conflicts — for example, a power supply routed through the same location as a water line within a single project. These “clashes” are still resolved manually by design engineering teams. Other massive lack of efficiency : RFP response are still handled manually, with hours spent on massive documents with an unbelievable lack of automation…
This paradox highlights Autodesk's limitations: while powerful and widespread, the suite lacks flexibility and has been slow to embrace emerging innovations. The underlying statement is that Autodesk has benefited from its monopoly over the AEC industry to sell the same core products for more than 20 years, increasing prices without integrating major innovation; relying on acquisitions to maintain its hegemony and expand its influence across the entire value chain. Over the past 30 years, Autodesk has acquired more than 80 companies - Revit in 2002 and Spacemaker AI in 2020...- reinforcing its dominance in the design software industry.
Autodesk has been ignoring the complexity of modern workflows and the necessity for intelligent automation. Providing no AI-native, nor multiplayer, nor real-time tools has frustrated the users who are now stuck with outdated softwares. We do believe that the giant Autodesk has left room for innovative players that cease this opportunity to finally provide users with that long-awaited cloud-native tools -more than never now that they are urged to address the labor shortage.
Recent technological advances on computation and modeling open the door to a new era for design engineering, where real-time collaboration is supported by intelligent tools. It’s time to embrace the technological challenge to disrupt the leader: here is the core opportunity we forecast.
Generative design presents a transformative opportunity for the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, fundamentally reshaping how projects are conceived and optimized. By integrating AI-driven algorithms and data-centric models, generative design accelerates both upstream feasibility studies and downstream performance simulations. In the early stages of a project, these tools can explore and optimize multiple design configurations in a fraction of the time traditionally required, allowing engineers, architects, and urban planners to rapidly identify the most efficient solutions and present them effectively. Two approaches should be distinguished:
One of the most promising advances in the digitalization of construction is the ability to encode a building project into a unified, collaborative environment. Traditionally, designers and engineers have relied on fragmented tools, leading to inefficient workflows and manual updates. Solutions like Speckle, Qonic or Urbim address this fragmentation by consolidating all project data and design elements into a single, dynamic platform (Common Data Environment). When a model is modified, all related data points—cost estimates, compliance checks, visual presentations—are automatically updated, eliminating the friction of switching between tools. This integrated approach creates a shared, always-updated source of truth that enhances collaboration between architects, engineers, contractors and workers.
Beyond simplifying access to project data, the next frontier lies in AI-powered digital models that embed the building’s logic through knowledge graphs. These intelligent models allow for constraint-aware design: they encode regulatory, environmental, and technical requirements within the model itself, ensuring that every stakeholder operates within validated parameters. They redefine the way complex systems are represented, creating structured digital twins of buildings where relationships between components, materials, and constraints are inherently mapped. By making the underlying complexity of buildings explicit and accessible, these technologies unlock new levels of efficiency, transparency, and alignment across the entire construction value chain.
