TT5: AI at Work

March 12, 2026

This weekly email is my curated selection of interesting and useful topics related to BIM, design, and technology. I aim to provide you with some good information and a few laughs along the way. So, what did I find interesting this week? Read down to find out!

This week's picks all ask the same question: what does AI actually change about how we work in AEC? Not in some distant future, but right now and over the next few years. I've been thinking about this a lot, especially as I prep for my free workshop, Claude for Busy Architects, coming up on March 19. If you want to see how architects are putting AI to work today (not just talking about it), sign up. It's free, and I think you'll get a lot out of it.

Alright, here are five things to check out this week:

#1: Can AI Convert a Floor Plan Sketch to a Revit Model?

I fed a hand-drawn renovation sketch to Claude and, 35 minutes later, had walls, doors, windows, and rooms in Revit without drawing a single wall myself. The result was about 85% accurate. Not production-ready yet, but this workflow creates a clear distinction between design thinking and production and shows potential for speed that traditional manual modeling can't match. And it's only going to get better as the tools improve.

Click here to read the full article at ArchSmarter.

#2: You're Automating the Wrong Thing

Mirco Bianchini joins Evan Troxel to argue that most firms are automating individual tasks when they should be building firm-wide systems to improve data use and knowledge management. The real gains from AI in AEC come from operational infrastructure, not from speeding up one person's Grasshopper script. Worth a listen if you're thinking about where to invest your automation energy.

Click here to listen to the full episode at TRXL.

#3: The Agentic Future of BIM

AEC Magazine's cover story asks whether AI-driven, solver-based design tools could fundamentally change our industry within five years. The article argues that BIM is shifting from static documentation to a live, intelligent environment where AI agents can reason about design data in real time. If you want a snapshot of where the major BIM platforms are headed, this is the article to read.

Click here to read the full article at AEC Magazine.

#4: What Keeps AEC Experts From Sharing?

Most AEC firms have deep expertise locked in the heads of a few senior people, and it rarely makes its way into systems that the rest of the team can use. This article looks at why knowledge sharing stalls in practice and offers a practical pipeline for turning individual know-how into real organizational capability. Especially relevant as firms start thinking about what AI needs to work well: structured, accessible knowledge.

Click here to read the full article at Knowledge Architecture.

#5: AI Won't Destroy the Economy.

Darius Foroux steps back from the doom-and-gloom headlines and argues that AI is resetting the balance of power between employers and workers, not ending work itself. Every major technology shift, from the printing press to the internet, has automated tasks while creating new ones. A good counterweight to the anxiety you're probably seeing in your feed every day.

Click here to read the full article at Darius Foroux.

That's all from me. I hope you're having a great week.

Michael