Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the AIA AI Design Symposium in San Francisco — a gathering of architects, technologists, and firm leaders exploring how artificial intelligence is already reshaping design practice.
The tone of the day was unmistakable: excitement mixed with real uncertainty.
Speakers compared this moment to the early transition from hand drafting to Revit and BIM. That shift created new roles, new workflows, and new expectations across the profession. Today’s AI moment may feel similar — but I think it’s a lot larger.
As 2025 AIA National President Evelyn Lee noted, the biggest challenge may not be the technology itself, but cultural inertia. The tools are advancing quickly. The harder question is how our firms, workflows, and professional identities evolve alongside them.
One idea repeated throughout the symposium stood out:
“We’ve never been here before.”
Artificial intelligence isn’t simply another tool. It’s something more fluid and much more powerful — a collaborator that can assist with research, write scripts, check thousands of documents for code violations, manage information, and even coordinate workflows.
In many firms, AI is already embedded in daily operations. Tasks that once took days — researching building codes, organizing documentation, or generating early design iterations — can now be completed in hours, or less.
Another emerging trend discussed by panelists is “vibe coding” — using AI to generate custom scripts and tools without technical programming expertise. Instead of relying entirely on off-the-shelf software, firms are beginning to create their own internal tools tailored to their specific workflows.
In other words, the industry may be moving from standardized SaaS platforms toward more customized, in-house technology ecosystems.
At the same time, the symposium highlighted an important shift in how we think about work.
It’s no longer just about how we work — but what the work actually is.
Despite all these new capabilities, however, one message was clear throughout the event:
Human judgment and accountability remain essential.
Design decisions, standard of care, intellectual property use, and legal accountability still require human oversight and sign-off.
Looking ahead, the conversation became even more provocative.
In the next five years, the AI landscape will likely remain fragmented, with many different tools competing and evolving. Eventually, many expect consolidation like what happened in the 90’s and 2000’s software eras.
Further out — perhaps 10 to 15 years — some speakers suggested we may see radically smaller teams supported by extremely powerful AI systems. In that world, professionals will spend minimal time producing documentation and more time curating ideas, directing workflows, and orchestrating outcomes.
Another opportunity discussed was the potential to break down long-standing silos in the building industry. Imagine architects, contractors, engineers, and owners all working from a shared, continuously updated dataset — with AI helping coordinate communication, scheduling, and decision-making in real time.
One statistic shared during the event was striking:
Today, architects are involved in only about 1% of residential construction projects. AI could potentially expand access to design services by lowering cost barriers and streamlining workflows. Perhaps the efficiency gains will allow architects a larger slice of the pie.
Perhaps the most important takeaway from the day was not efficiency or automation, but responsibility. As one speaker summarized, “Shape the disruption, or the disruption shapes you.”
The opportunity cost of not engaging with these tools has never been higher. Yet learning them is only part of the challenge. We must also cultivate a culture of curiosity—using AI not simply for speed, but as a means to explore, experiment, and rethink how all our professions work.
If AI is implemented merely as a way to produce drawings faster, we will have missed both the opportunity and our obligation to the future of the profession. Its greatest value may lie in what it frees us to augment—creativity, collaboration, and curiosity.
We are still at the beginning of this transformation. While the future shape of architecture and design remains uncertain, one thing seems evident: the firms that remain curious, adaptable, and willing to experiment will help define what comes next and be the ones who thrive.
- Robert Duncan
Director of Sales
AI in Architecture : Excitement, Uncertainty, and the Responsibility to Shape What Comes Next
