Key Insights from the Boston CEO Roundtable on the AEC Business Model
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Last week in Boston, EFCG continued its CEO Roundtable series with a candid discussion on how AI is reshaping the AEC business model. EFCG Partners Jessica Zofnass Barclay and Marcus Quigley framed the conversation around three questions:
01 Where is AI Changing the business model? 02 What are we willing to stop doing? 03 How do we balance experimentation with enterprise-wide change?
Inside the Discussion:
11 Key Insights
01 Winning Work Through AI
Some of the clearest returns are showing up in winning work. One example from architecture linked
AI to higher win rates and margins, with the ability to offer clients more design options emerging as a
key differentiator. Several firms are seeing stronger competitiveness before they can consistently
demonstrate additional project margin.
02 Proprietary Data as a Lasting Advantage
Well-organized proprietary data can create a lasting advantage. Firms that have invested for years in
making project information accessible are now able to move more quickly. Integrating project
deliverables, internal knowledge, and acquired firms’ datasets gives practitioners a stronger
foundation for using AI. Because the tools themselves are evolving rapidly, well-organized
proprietary data may be one of the few durable competitive advantages. Over time, firms may also
begin treating data as an explicit asset that can be valued.
03 Turning Existing Data into New Markets
Existing data can also open new markets. The ocean-current modeling example illustrated how a
deep dataset, combined with AI, can support applications across a broader geography than originally
intended and create opportunities for new offerings.
04 The Challenge of Pricing AI-Enabled Efficiency
Efficiency gains are forcing harder conversations about pricing. Time-and-materials contracts and
audited overhead structures can make it difficult to translate AI-enabled productivity into profitable
growth. Greater complexity, volume, speed, and quality offer potential ways to define additional
client value, but capturing that value commercially remains a work in progress. Some firms are
beginning to address this challenge through fixed-price or unit-priced work that can support healthy
margins.
05 Delivered Value as a New KPI
Delivered value could become a new firm-wide KPI. AI may make it practical to review every product
leaving the firm providing a broader view of delivery performance beyond hours billed and revenue
earned. With agreed-upon measures and client feedback, firms could track the complexity
addressed, alternatives evaluated, risks reduced, and decisions supported across their portfolios.
These measures could provide a stronger basis for managing quality, demonstrating differentiation,
and pricing around value.
06 AI and the Evolving Standard of Care
AI raises important questions about the standard of care. As these tools make broader analysis,
alternatives evaluation, and error checking more practical, expectations for reasonable professional
practice may evolve. Firms will need to determine both how to validate AI-assisted work and when
these capabilities become sufficiently established that clients expect them to be used. Professional
judgment, clearly assigned review responsibilities, and documentation of key decisions will remain
essential.
07 Protecting the Development of Junior Talent
Developing junior talent will require deliberate attention. As AI takes on more foundational work,
firms will need to be intentional about how people build judgment and expertise. Ideas included
stronger mentorship and explicitly reserving project time for apprenticeship, with clients
understanding how that investment supports continuity and quality.
08 Reconsidering Staffing Models
Staffing models may need to change alongside workflows. If projects require fewer production
hours, firms will need to reconsider team composition, utilization expectations, hiring, and the
balance between junior and senior staff. Those decisions have implications for both near-term
economics and the long-term development of expertise.
09 Empowering Senior Technical Experts
Senior experts need time to get comfortable with the tools. Experienced practitioners are well
positioned to identify valuable applications and judge whether the results are sound. Giving them
time and support to experiment, including attempting work they previously considered impractical,
will be important to turning AI capabilities into better services and new offerings.
10 The Advantages of Small and Large Firms
Small and large firms bring different advantages to AI adoption. Smaller firms can make decisions
quickly, experiment directly with senior leadership, and adjust workflows with fewer organizational
barriers. Larger firms can draw on deeper datasets, broader technical expertise, and greater
investment capacity, while spreading successful applications across more projects. Each can build on
its distinctive strengths: speed and focus for smaller firms, and resources, knowledge, and scale for
larger firms.
11 The Critical Role of Leadership
Leadership matters. CEOs set the pace through what they prioritize, fund, and personally engage in.
Giving people room to experiment is important, but so is making decisions about which workflows to
change, what to scale, and who is accountable. Leaders who use the tools themselves are better
positioned to recognize opportunities, challenge assumptions, and build confidence across the firm.
THE BIGGER QUESTION
From productivity to lasting value
How can AEC firms translate AI-driven productivity into stronger businesses while continuing to
develop the expertise their clients depend on?
A central question throughout the discussion was how firms can turn productivity into stronger
businesses while continuing to develop the expertise their clients depend on. The examples shared
made that opportunity more tangible, even as many firms continue to work through the economics.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Have questions about the discussion or interested in bringing an EFCG CEO Roundtable dinner to your city?
We would welcome the opportunity to connect. ninanesselbush@efcg.com.
