TT5: Remember This

September 17, 2026

This weekly email is my curated selection of interesting, useful topics in BIM, design, and technology. I aim to share useful information and a few laughs along the way. So, what did I find interesting this week? Read on to find out!

I'm sending this on my way home from Autodesk University in Las Vegas. It was a busy few days. I presented on my Ulteig work on Monday and spoke on a panel about AI, add-in development, and coding. I really enjoyed connecting with current and past students and colleagues. That said, I’m an introvert at heart, so I’ll need a couple of weeks to recharge my social batteries.

This week's selection revolves around memory. People, firms, and even tools forget. The ones that succeed capture what they know and build on it. If you want to put Claude to work on what you know, I'm hosting a free webinar next week. Details are at the bottom. 

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

#1: Rolling Out Claude Code

Evan Troxel talks with the /slantis team about rolling out Claude Code across their 250-person studio since March. They started with about 10 deliberately scarce licenses, and now the firm ships more than one new Revit tool a day. But that created a new problem: nobody could keep track of what already existed. Their fix was a Claude skill that catalogs every tool they build, which is a smart example of using AI to manage AI.

Click here to read the full article at TRXL

#2: The Content Catalog Quest

Jason Kunkel set out to wipe his firm's Autodesk Content Catalog and start fresh. He found out you can't turn it off, and there are no real batch tools. The web interface showed 20,000 items while the API reported 179, thanks to browser caching, so he finished the job with Claude-written Python scripts and Power Automate. It's a candid look at what happens when software falls short, and why he still doesn't trust that his database is actually clean.

Click here to read the full article at Design Tech Field Guide

#3: Architecture's Memory Problem

Evelyn Lee talks with Natalia Bakaeva, a licensed architect who left practice to cofound ARKI, an AI memory layer that makes a firm's past details and layouts searchable. She argues that most firms sit on decades of dormant drawings and still make decisions based on guesswork. She also makes a strong case that architects need to build these tools themselves rather than wait for outsiders who don't understand how we work.

Click here to listen to the episode at Practice Disrupted

#4: Why Differentiators Matter More Now

Randy Deutsch argues that as AI flattens routine design and documentation work, what sets you apart shifts to judgment, taste, accountability, and the ability to explain decisions to different audiences. He's also refreshingly honest: not everyone needs a superpower, since most firms want reliable, coachable people. His best point is that your lasting advantage isn't any one skill but how quickly you can learn the next one.

Click here to read the full article at Who We Need To Be

#5: Stop Forgetting What You Read

Scott Young makes the case that how much you remember depends more on what you already know than on how smart you are. Instead of building an elaborate note-taking system, he suggests reading more, starting with accurate introductory books, because knowledge compounds. If AI is taking on more of the heavy lifting, building your own base of knowledge matters more, not less.

Click here to read the full article at Scott H Young.

Free Webinar: Claude for Busy Architects

You didn't become an architect to spend your career on busywork. Join me on Wednesday, September 23 at 5:00 PM EDT (2:00 PM Pacific) for a free webinar on using Claude to take the routine stuff off your plate.

Click here to learn more and register.

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

Michael