"A lot of the time people do things because it's fast, so we have to make using the correct standard faster."
Sasha Crotty of Autodesk on why firm standards get skipped. If the right way is the slow way, people find a shortcut.
Episode 247 of the TRXL podcast: trxl.co/247
"It's on the Server Somewhere" is out. Episode 247 of the TRXL podcast, part of Arc 3 of The Next AEC Tech Stack.
@AaronVorwerk of Egnyte told me up to 80% of the data on a project doesn't live in tools like Revit and Forma. It's in email, Slack, Teams, and calls, which is where the decisions get made.
trxl.co/247
Evan Troxel retweeted
The AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score fell to 44.7.
“Weakening billings are being compounded by a soft economy, challenging project financing, and growing caution among clients.” —AIA Chief Economist Richard Branch | 🔗 More news here: aia.org/about-aia/press/arch…
ALT Chart: architecture firms’ billings index falls to 44.7; inquiries rise modestly above 50 and average backlog is 6.2 months.
ALT Graphic: Commercial/industrial billings rise to 50.9; multi-family residential falls to 42.9 and institutional to 47.6.
ALT Infographic: architecture firms expect 2027 revenue down 0.9% on average; 35.5% expect about the same, 22.9% somewhat up, 17.6% somewhat down.
Two people in the same Rhino model at the same time. And Revit data you can edit from a browser.
I'm going live Thu Oct 29 with Mauro Sabiu and Mikael Santrolli of @MKSDTECH to demo Rhino Sync and Nessie.
9:30 AM PT / 12:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM UK
Register: luma.com/7pdxiszc
You're on a hospital addition and there's a decision in the old set nobody can explain. The person who knows is Joe, and he's a year from retirement.
@idid brought up Joe on the show. @RandallSStevens said firms keep a record of what got done and lose why it was decided.
Leadership Edge on TRXL 246, with a one-month experiment you can run on your last five projects: trxl.co/leadership-edge-trxl…
Virginia Senf of Speckle on AI and model data: "What we see at Speckle that is almost being exacerbated by that speed is the long-standing trust issue."
Faster queries don't mean better answers.
Episode 245 of the TRXL podcast: trxl.co/245
German Aparicio Jr. tells startups to "think of [Trimble] as the system of record" and build "systems of action, systems of intelligence" on top.
Which tool is your firm's system of record, and which ones get to act on it? AI tools want write access now.
Episode 245 of the TRXL podcast: trxl.co/245
AI as a intelligence layer in your next AEC tech stack: "Call an agent that runs an energy simulation over here, produces a rendering over here, and then brings it all back together."
Greg Demchak · episode 242 of the TRXL podcast
trxl.co/242
ALT TRXL 242 quote card: Greg Demchak
Oliver Goldman on why Revit's MCP server started read-only, in episode 242 of the TRXL podcast:
"Both of you have the pen." When the agent is in the model, trust is the problem.
trxl.co/242
ALT TRXL 242 concept card: Both of You Have the Pen — Oliver Goldman
Five people at Slantis (@lifeatslantis) demoed the Revit tools they built themselves this year, live in Session 2 of TRXL Live: AI at Slantis, with applied research lead Massimiliano Fraga.
One cut a 10-hour detail-library job to about five minutes. Another turns a photo into a native Revit family.
None of them are developers by training. Slantis gives people sanctioned time between projects to build, and calls it "the branch."
Full recap: trxl.co/slantis-show-and-tel…
ALT TRXL Live Session 2 recap: Four architects built their own Revit tools. What AI adoption looks like at /slantis
"You've sort of given away that productivity gain to the client."
Campbell Yule (@ctyule) got the last word in Arc 2. If work that took 100 hours now takes 70 because AI helped, and you bill hourly, the client keeps the savings. There's value in the service beyond the hours.
Michael Jansen of TwinMaster: "A fee is time-bound. Job's over, your fee is gone, and on to the next job you go."
Episode 244 of the TRXL podcast: trxl.co/244
ALT TRXL 244 thumbnail: Who Signs When the AI Is Wrong?
"Color code the concrete based on the quantity of embodied carbon… that is something you can do today."
Greg Demchak · episode 242 of the TRXL podcast
trxl.co/242
ALT TRXL 242 quote card: Greg Demchak
Roderick Bates on the tools firms vibe-code once and throw away, in episode 242 of the TRXL podcast.
"Lost wax software." Burn the mold. Keep what the work taught you.
trxl.co/242
ALT TRXL 242 concept card: Lost Wax Software — Roderick Bates
"You need to know where the water goes."
Holger Kreienbrink of Graphisoft on who still checks the AI's work once the junior tasks that trained people are gone: someone who understands the logic of building.
@TheodoreGalanos on who gets hit hardest: "We have people that graduated a year after ChatGPT came out." Educated without AI, hired into a profession where it's everywhere.
Episode 244 of the TRXL podcast: trxl.co/244
ALT TRXL 244 thumbnail: Who Signs When the AI Is Wrong?
"I think that person might be packing up their desk."
Roderick Bates of Chaos, on an intern who repeats a mistake after you've corrected them. With AI, "you're like, 'Well, I'll give it a pass.'"
Theodoros Galanos (@TheodoreGalanos) turns it around: we tell AI 93% isn't good enough because we need 99. "Are we 99? Like, do we know that?"
Episode 244 of the TRXL podcast: trxl.co/244
ALT TRXL 244 thumbnail: Who Signs When the AI Is Wrong?
"You have to value your own time first in order to want to save it."
Marty Rozmanith of Skema talking about how architects really don't value their time in episode 239 of the TRXL podcast.
trxl.co/239
Espy Harper lands at ~90% reusable hospital room data in episode 243 of the TRXL podcast.
Ninety percent already known. So why start from a blank page?
trxl.co/243
ALT TRXL 243 concept card: Ninety Percent Already Known — Espy Harper
Who signs when the AI is wrong? Across Arc 2 of my Next AEC Tech Stack podcast series, the answer I heard most often: the person with the stamp still owns it.
What changes is how much checking happens first. Holger Kreienbrink of Graphisoft gave the most honest answer: "People will check it one time, three times, five times, 10 times, and then check it less and less and less."
He admits he already does it with AI answers he doesn't feel like reading.
Episode 244 of the TRXL podcast closes Arc 2 of The Next AEC Tech Stack, with Randall Stevens (@RandallSStevens), Scott Reynolds (@scott_reyn), Theodoros Galanos (@TheodoreGalanos), Matt Wash (@BIM_Wash), Campbell Yule (@ctyule), and ten more.
trxl.co/244
ALT TRXL 244 thumbnail: Who Signs When the AI Is Wrong?
"I was not paid more hourly for being intelligent, which was one of the first times I realized designers are getting screwed."
@CliftonHarness (Testfit) on how his firm rewarded tech ingenuity — episode 239 of the TRXL podcast.
trxl.co/239
"Bimbeats is not a coach. It's a superpower for whoever the coach is inside the practice."
Ariel Cooke-Zamora on what their platform enables in an AEC firm in episode 238 of the TRXL podcast.
trxl.co/238
