The recent period has seen a proliferation of tools and startups focused on applying AI in various aspects of AEC.
Here are some relevant cases that illustrate the state of the art and current trends:
- Augmenta (Canada) – Generative MEP Design: Augmenta Construction Platform has been recognized for automating the design of MEP systems, starting with electrical. They managed to reduce 40% of the pilot modelling time working with Miller Electric, generating ready-to-manufacture designs. Augmenta uses generative AI and search for optimal paths, and plans to extend to plumbing and air conditioning. It stands out for its multi-criteria optimization approach (minimizing wiring length, number of elbows, estimated cost, etc.) maintaining total coordination with architecture and other disciplines.
- MagiCAD (Finland) - BIM with built-in AI: Mature product with a large user base, which from 2023-2024 integrates AI/ML modules. It offers automation in MEP modelling tasks within Revit, AutoCAD and BricsCAD environments. MagiCAD AI can suggest optimized design solutions based on millions of manufacturer BIM objects. It is currently in collaborative development with designers (via uploading projects to their cloud) to learn from real designs and improve their recommendations. It represents the tendency to add AI as an additional layer in conventional BIM software plugins.
- Spacio (Sweden) - Early generative architectural design: Founded in 2022, it gains visibility in 2024 for facilitating room studies and preliminary projects in minutes. With parametric AI, it generates multiple variants from user parameters (length, standards, preferences) and provides performance metrics (areas, preliminary costs, sustainability) in real time. Its main contribution is to accelerate the conceptual phase and feed the BIM flow from early stages, avoiding subsequent reprocessing for suboptimal initial decisions.
- ALICE Technologies (USA) - Planning optimization: Startup highlighted for its AI-based engine to simulate thousands of construction programming scenarios. It has demonstrated in real projects (AF Gruppen, Build Group) that it can reduce durations ~18% and costs ~15% through schedules generated by AI. ALICE analyses task interdependencies, resource availability and constructive sequences, proposing alternative plans that a human would hardly explore completely. Its use cases since 2023 validate the value of AI in the management of complex works, with savings of millions of dollars and weeks of time.
- OpenSpace (USA). - Automated photogrammetric monitoring: Founded in 2017, for 2023-2024 it is consolidated as a leader in visual monitoring of work. It combines portable 360° cameras with AI in the cloud to map images on the BIM model/plan. It offers an updated "digital twin" that stakeholders can go through remotely, even with outstanding differences vs. the plan. Its impact is to improve transparency and communication in global projects, reducing face-to-face visits and detecting detours in time. It has opened the way for virtual assistants (such as Dot of Buildots) who directly answer questions about the progress of the work.
- Buildots (Israel) - Hull vision and AI for tracking: Their cameras mounted on construction helmets capture video continuously; the AI identifies constructed elements and compares against BIM planning. In 2024 they launched "Dot", which is referred to as the first AI assistant for construction managers, capable of integrating the collected data and answering questions about progress. This initiative reflects how AI not only analyses data, but also synthesizes it into actionable information through conversational interfaces. It saves time in reports and supports making decisions based on objective data of the field.
- Stratus (USA) - Prefabrication automation: A platform focused on the MEP component manufacturing stage and structure from the BIM model. It is not AI per se, but it emerged in 2023 as part of the trend of closing the design-work gap. It automates the generation of spools, labels and tracking of prefabricated elements. By integrating with coordinated models (potentially produced or verified by AI), it ensures that what is manufactured is exactly what is required, minimizing workshop errors and logistical delays. The vision of Industry 4.0 is to link design AI with digital manufacturing, and tools like Stratus implement that link.
- COVE Tool (USA). Cove is the AI for Architecture company, combining expertise and technology to deliver better outcomes. With insights from 60,000+ projects, Cove Architecture enhances design efficiency, while Cove Sustainability drives measurable sustainability impact. Nowadays, they have an AI agent Vitras.ai, which is capable of automating complex tasks, enhancing decision-making, and promoting sustainability.
- Other initiatives: Multiple startups and solutions deserve to be mentioned: Pelles AI and Drawer AI apply AI to electrical design and design, automating the generation of single-wire to multifilament plans and the calculation of branches and feeders. Schnackel “AI for MEP” (EE. UU.) is a proprietary suite that claims to produce optimized MEP designs using AI trained in thousands of engineering projects, although of a proprietary nature. In 5D planning, traditional companies such as Oracle and Autodesk are incorporating predictive algorithms into their project management tools to predict cost deviations and recommend actions (for example, Autodesk Construction Cloud with risk analysis based on data from multiple works). In operations, maintenance assistants emerge that use BIM models and IoT data to predict failures in buildings and suggest optimal operating routines (e.g., digital twin platforms with AI for facilities). Finally, at the level of structural design, the use of generative AI is investigated to propose more efficient structural configurations in material and cost, integrating, for example, earthquake-resistant design criteria learned from databases of previous designs.
This ecosystem of post-2023 innovations shows that AI is permeating all stages of the AEC cycle. Companies that adopt these tools early report remarkable competitive advantages, either in reducing deadlines, reducing rework or improving the quality of deliverables. It is worth noting that many of these solutions are designed to integrate with the dominant BIM platforms (ArchiCAD, AllPlan, VectorWorks, Revit, Navisworks, etc.), which facilitates their adoption without the need to rethink the entire workflow. However, the variety of options can be overwhelming, and there is a need for a clear strategy to implement AI effectively and align with business objectives.
One path to get a full adoption of AI from the software developers in the AEC, thinking a collaborative way, is to join the BIM standards from BuildingSmart, through the management of IFC, BCF, and IDS format in a native way. That can ensure the best way to interact with all AEC agents. Finally, I must note that Bonsai ( the former Blender BIM CAD) is a free and complete 3D modelling tool with a lot of customization capabilities open to AI, working in LINUX, Windows, and macOS.
References:
Domínguez Rogers, F. J. (2023) MEP Coordination and how AI is imposing itself. LinkedIn Pulse.
Josserand, M. (2021). How to automate MEP layout using Machine Learning. Medium.
Increases (2024). Case Study: How Miller Electric Reduced their Modelling Time by 40%. Augmenta Blog.
BIM Space (2025). MagiCAD, what is MagiCAD for Revit? [Web article].
NeevIQ (2025). Top 6 AI Tools for MEP in 2025: Transforming Workflows and Efficiency. NeevIQ Blog.
AEC Magazine (2023). Fuzor 2024 uses AI for "4D automation". Greg Corke
Numalis (2024). Driving Efficiency: How AI Streamlines Construction Costs. [Web article].
Open Space (2023). Product website and documentation. [Data on 360° monitoring].
Buildots (2024). Press Release: Buildots launches AI assistant for site managers. The Construction Index.
ECLAC - ECLAC (2024). Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index (ILIA) 2024 - Press Release.
Citations:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/micromouse
https://futurearchi.blog/en/ai-parametric-design-space/
