Konekt Egnyte Connector

With the new connector, files stored in Egnyte—itself a prominent cloud application in AEC—can sit next to the project record they belong to, such as RFIs (requests for information), submittals, action items, correspondence, and approvals that show what happened and when. This adds meaning and context to files that a cloud storage folder can’t provide on its own.

Key Takeaways

• Many Newforma Konekt customers are already using Egnyte as their data storage system, and the unified connection strengthens the value of both software systems
• The connector allows users to preview without downloading. View PDF and image files inline without the need to download.
• Search connected folders — users can find files, returning only what the user is allowed to see
• Track what went out — users can see and audit details in place, and generate a record copy each time a file is shared

Many AEC/O firms run both Newforma Konekt and Egnyte as they complement each other. Egnyte holds the large files: drawings, specifications, 3D models. Newforma Konekt provides the industry’s single view of the many sources of truth on a project, no matter where the information began in the process.

Newforma and Egnyte partnership bears fruit in a new connector between the two AEC platforms.

The new Konekt Egnyte Connector combines these platforms into a complete project record for end users, bringing together critical documentation and communications, including Teams Messages alongside RFIs, submittals, etc., into a unified context view.

“Firms should not have to choose between the storage their IT team trusts and the project record their project team needs. A lot of our customers already run Egnyte. This connector puts those files where the work happens and leaves the files where IT wants them,” said Carl Veillette, Chief Product Officer, Newforma.

Back in May

The new connector follows a partnership announcement at Newforma World 2026 in May of this year. Newforma provides a project intelligence and view-unification layer across storage systems firms already use, including Microsoft SharePoint and Autodesk Docs, without moving data.

For more info, visit them online here: www.newforma.com.

The post Newforma announces new Konekt Egnyte Connector appeared first on Architosh.

Introduction

Graphisoft framed its latest software developments around the concept of “design intelligence,” paired with an unwavering commitment to elevating the core “design experience.” Crucially, executives emphasized that effective technology must absorb complexity rather than delegate it back to the user—a philosophy driving the company’s newest cloud frameworks and AI implementations. For Archicad practices, IGNITE 2026 offered a compelling roadmap: early-stage conceptualization in Nemetschek Creator, unified cloud reasoning via OCP, and a deeply intelligent, agentic modeling environment in Archicad 30.

Graphisoft CEO Daniel Csillag opened Graphisoft IGNITE 2026 with enthusiasm, which was understandable given the sheer number of new products and technologies being introduced. (Image: Graphisoft)

Opening the event, Graphisoft CEO Daniel Csillag anchored the company’s technological ambitions in human purpose, reminding the audience that “buildings matter.” Beyond providing shelter, he noted, “they are where we live, where we learn, and where we recover.” Framed by this responsibility, Csillag addressed the industry’s evolving relationship with artificial intelligence:

Csillag urged the audience to view all upcoming announcements through those three core pillars—creativity, responsibility, and authorship—before handing the stage to Chief Product Officer Márton Kiss and Graphisoft’s product leadership team to detail the road ahead.

Nemetschek Creator — In Brief

Architosh recently published an in-depth feature on Nemetschek Creator—arguably Graphisoft’s most significant software release since BIMcloud in 2014. Creator differs from other BIM 2.0 cloud applications because of its later market entry. While a late start often signals a disadvantage, strategic patience this time offers distinct benefits.

A detailed screenshot of the new Nemetschek Creator cloud application, built from day one with Agentic AI in mind and element-level AI reasoning at its database core.

Consider Apple’s deliberate approach to AI—a company the Hungarian BIM pioneer often admires. Fast-paced shifts in the AI landscape can lead developers down costly dead ends. Like Apple, Graphisoft can afford to be patient compared with legacy competitors and cloud startups. CPO Márton Kiss notes that Archicad’s modular codebase already provides proven geometric math, B-Rep algorithms, and parametric solvers, avoiding the need to write new code from scratch. Furthermore, Graphisoft has historically led the AEC industry through major computing shifts, and it is now leveraging group-wide Nemetschek synergies rather than working in isolation. Combined with an unusually loyal user base, these factors give Graphisoft a unique strategic advantage. (see: Architosh, “IGNITE 2026: Nemetschek Creator and the Agentic BIM Architectural Shift,” 19 Oct 2026)

Deeper Dive on Creator: IGNITE 2026: Nemetschek Creator and the Agentic BIM Architectural Shift

Crucially, Creator isn’t positioned to replace desktop software; unlike Autodesk, Nemetschek and Graphisoft aren’t telling Archicad customers that Creator is the future and Archicad is the past. Instead, Archicad remains the heart of Graphisoft, leveraging desktop computing for its unique advantages and pairing it with new cloud tools that leverage the cloud’s unique advantages. The message was clearer and more reassuring, helping customers see their journey going forward.

Core Capabilities and Creator Ecosystem

Nemetschek Creator targets early-stage decision-making by integrating cost, carbon, energy, and microclimate analysis directly into early workflows. By replacing the traditional “model-export-analyze-rework” loop with centralized creative and analytical tools, design teams can prototype quickly and adapt directions while concepts remain flexible.

Your Architosh editor-in-chief asking questions about Rhino integration with Nemetschek Creator. While the presentation didn’t cover it, Graphisoft said integration with Rhino 3D is already on the Creator roadmap, enabling architects to use Creator’s analysis and AI on more geometrically advanced Rhino-generated building models. (Image: Graphisoft)

Beyond automated site context models, Creator imports DWG, DXF, and OBJ files. Built as an open ecosystem, it brings external data and regulations into the cloud platform through partners like Cetopo, SSK Sky Rate, Google Earth, and the Nemetschek Open Collaboration Platform. And deeper internal integrations will extend to dRofus, MEP Designer, AI Visualizer, and Morpholio.

Pictures from the Graphisoft IGNITE 2026 event in Budapest. (Images: Graphisoft)

Graphisoft executives. Media Q&A.

(L) Saskia Tödler, Baunetz Wissen, (R) Soo Kim, Newsweek

Ivanna Papushenko, Fraulein_Architektin

Morpholio Trace—recently acquired by sister company Vectorworks—featured prominently at IGNITE 2026. With over one million users, including high-profile designers at Zaha Hadid Architects, Morpholio Trace creates a powerful halo effect for Creator, bridging initial freehand sketches directly into early-stage massing workflows.

During media Q&A, Graphisoft confirmed Creator will remain highly extensible, highlighting dRofus programming integration and an upcoming Rhino integration to run Creator’s analysis tools on complex 3D forms. Creator enters early access on October 28 for Archicad Max and Collaborate subscribers.

Nemetschek Open Collaboration Platform (OCP)

Nemetschek Creator wasn’t the only cloud milestone unveiled at IGNITE 2026. The new Nemetschek Open Collaboration Platform (OCP) debuted as a complementary cloud framework designed to span the entire project lifecycle—whereas Creator targets pre-design and early-stage workflows.

Nemetschek’s grand design intelligence strategy in one chart showing the Nemetschek Open Collaboration Platform (OCP) as an agentic AI intelligence layer that connects tools and platforms, including third-party ones across a project’s entire pre-design and construction phases. (click for larger view)

In private 1:1 meetings, Graphisoft executives emphasized that OCP is not merely another Common Data Environment (CDE). Instead, it operates above existing CDEs to provide a more comprehensive data umbrella. According to Sylwester Pawluk, Vice President of AI & Data, OCP shifts the industry away from file-based handoffs to real-time, element-level data streaming while keeping stakeholders in their design tools of choice.

A Metaphor for True Openness

To set OCP apart from proprietary competitor platforms, Nemetschek is anchoring the platform on open integration. During the keynote livestream, Graphisoft Senior Product Marketing Manager Marcell Hillier who is educated as a bridge engineer, offered a compelling metaphor:

That philosophy drives OCP’s open-ecosystem approach. While the Nemetschek Group has championed OpenBIM and IFC for decades, cross-platform data exchanges remain cumbersome. OCP addresses this gap by acting as a unified “intelligence layer” connecting tools, data, and teams.

Under the hood, OCP leverages Graphisoft’s award-winning BIMx viewing engine and will feature native integrations with Group tools like Solibri and dRofus—alongside third-party connections like the Archicad-to-Forma Connector to link OCP data directly into Autodesk Forma workflows.

Powered by Agentic AI

OCP’s intelligence layer utilizes a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. Rather than parsing monolithic files, the system enables plain-language queries across models, drawings, and documents:

• Element-Level Reasoning: AI can analyze individual components—such as doors, properties, or geometry—rather than entire file containers.
• Instant Data Streaming: Background publishing streams specific data views in ~5 seconds, bypassing heavy IFC or Revit uploads.
• Automated Quantification: Users can query the AI Assistant to pull real-time material takeoffs, object counts, and volume calculations.
• Cross-Tool Interoperability: Native bridges connect Archicad, Revit, and Solibri to query unified data across multi-software environments.

While presentation materials pointed to Claude as a core engine, Graphisoft confirmed an open, adaptable approach to underlying LLM technologies.

Strategic Timing in the Agentic Era

While competitors like Autodesk and Trimble launched cloud platforms years ago, Nemetschek’s timing aligns with the emergence of agentic AI. Because legacy platforms are currently undergoing complex re-engineering to support agentic capabilities, Nemetschek and Graphisoft are building natively for this new paradigm.

IGNITE 2026 presenters included (L-R) Pelin Haynes, Yasmin Herden, Sára Pintér, and Mercell Hillier, all of Graphisoft. (Image: Graphisoft)

Development has moved remarkably fast: work began in February 2026, reached customer beta in August, and is slated for a broad 2027 release with embedded AI workflows. By pairing strategic patience with group-wide synergy, Nemetschek is carving out a distinct position in the next generation of AEC cloud infrastructure.

Graphisoft Archicad and New AI

“Design intelligence” sits at the core of Graphisoft’s latest strategy. As its CEO emphasized at IGNITE 2026, while Archicad remains central, “design starts before a model exists and decisions continue long after modeling is done.” Rather than adding platform complexity, Graphisoft is expanding the Archicad ecosystem through open integration and strategic group synergies.

Headline changes begin with Archicad Max, a new subscription tier tailored for data- and AI-driven practices of any size. Built to support global, multi-office operations with full language pack support, Max bundles advanced AI tools—including the beta MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, upgraded AI Assistant, AI Spaces, and updated visualization models (Nano Banana 2 and Pro).

MEP Designer now includes an easy, transparent architecture model feature that renders only MEP elements as solid.

Beyond headline offerings, Archicad 30 introduces critical system refinements:

• UI & Data Management: A fully customizable Project Info dialog with smart search, custom folder creation in the Project Map, revamped attribute handling, and native Windows Dark Mode.
• Visualization & Extensions: Enhanced PBR rendering, updated Redshift engine tech, and the inclusion of “Pro Kit” add-on capabilities.
• MEP Designer: Updated with reliable routing and BIMx integration, MEP Designer now features an Autodesk Forma Connector for multi-platform cloud coordination. Unlike regional offerings like DDSCad, MEP Designer provides a state-of-the-art, global BIM solution—and remains the market’s only 3D MEP BIM system native to macOS.

Agentic Intelligence & Connected Workflows:

AI in Archicad 30 moves beyond simple generation to actionable model interaction via the new MCP-powered AI Assistant and AI Spaces:

• Model Automation: Through the agentic AI Assistant (MCP), users can query elements, execute model filters (e.g., isolating load-bearing columns), or alter renovation statuses via natural language. To prevent accidental overrides, the MCP server provides action previews prior to execution.
• Model Optimization: AI identifies structural or data issues within the BIM model and generates step-by-step resolution guides.
• AI Spaces: Users can index external project data—briefs, local codes, and office standards—into persistent, account-linked “Spaces.” The AI Assistant cross-references this documentation against the active model to flag non-compliant elements, such as non-conforming stair runs.
• Extensible Ecosystem: Graphisoft’s controllable MCP architecture allows external models like Claude and ChatGPT to interface directly with Archicad models, enabling users to trigger UI shortcuts and query project data directly from third-party AI interfaces.

Media Q&A and Architosh Analysis

Several key takeaways from our media Q&A and 1:1 interviews further clarify Graphisoft’s trajectory. First, Chief Product Officer Márton Kiss confirmed that Rhino model support in Nemetschek Creator is already on the roadmap. Second, on AI openness, Graphisoft reinforced that flexibility is central to its posture—supporting private LLMs and firm IP datasets. VP of AI & Data Sylwester Pawluk emphasized that small language models (SLMs) will be critical to AEC’s future.

Relatedly, while acknowledging the promise of on-device AI and Apple’s M-series unified memory for off-grid job sites, Graphisoft has not yet made any formal announcements on local AI compute.

Graphisoft spends quality time with selected media and influencers, giving them ample time to understand the company’s products and direction in both formal and informal settings, such as post-live event Q&A, private 1:1 interviews, and information conversations like the one captured here. (Left: Architosh’s editor, Center: Daniel Csillag, Graphisoft CEO, Right: Sywester Pawluk, Graphisoft VP) (Image: Graphisoft)

Our broader takeaway from IGNITE 2026 centers on strategy and timing. Graphisoft and Nemetschek introduced two major cloud initiatives—Nemetschek Creator and the Nemetschek Open Collaboration Platform (OCP). Branding both under “Nemetschek” signals cross-brand interoperability and a unified, group-wide posture. Without AI, these tools might seem like tardy cloud entries.

However, in the era of agentic AI, existing AEC software must be re-architected at the data layer to support agentic workflows. So these tools aren’t really late; they’re timely. Pawluk noted that data generated between 2020 and 2026 is projected to be ten times that of the preceding two decades (2000–2020). Because AI efficiently navigates both structured and unstructured data—mountains of it—the “I” in BIM is finally poised to realize its full potential—a sharp turnaround from Architosh’s landmark 2010 BIM report, which found that maximizing information was often too labor-intensive for architects to justify. The era of agentic AI will make this far easier and, critically, of more value for architects and their clients.

With element-level reasoning baked directly into Nemetschek’s new cloud architecture, these platforms’ timing makes profound sense. As AEC/O professionals adopt these tools, the industry finally gets the capabilities it has long wanted.

The post Graphisoft IGNITE 2026: Archicad Max, Nemetschek Creator & Cloud Innovation appeared first on Architosh.

Key announcements included Nemetschek Creator (previously previewed as Project Aurora) and the Nemetschek Group’s Open Collaboration Platform (OCP), both now open for early access registration. These announcements accompany the launch of the Archicad 30 flagship product line, along with updates to MEP Designer (Studio), BIMx, BIMcloud, and the new Archicad MCP (Model Context Protocol) initiative.

IGNITE 2026 Highlights

Graphisoft’s IGNITE events are global broadcasts where users worldwide watch detailed presentations of core technologies rolling out each fall. In this studio broadcast-like setting, an invited group of AEC technology press, industry influencers, and other media participates in a Q&A session with Graphisoft CEO Daniel Csillag, Chief Product Officer Márton Kiss, Vice President of AI & Data, Sylwester Pawluk, and key software architecture executives.

IGNITE 2026 Media Q&A session. Architosh editor Anthony Frausto asks the executive panel a question about Nemetschek Creator.

This format provides press outlets with critical access. The intimate media roundtable—comprising seasoned industry analysts and journalists—offers a platform for deep technical questioning that complements global industry reporting. In recent years, the media pool has become more strategic, with less overlap and broader touchpoints for reaching users.

As in prior years, Graphisoft IGNITE for media included an architectural tour led by an Archicad-based architectural practice. This year, Bánáti + Hartvig Architecture led media around their beautiful restoration and expansion project of the historic Drechsler Palace, a Neo-Renaissance building originally designed by Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos in the late 19th century. This building is now the W Budapest Hotel. (More on this subject in another future report). 

Hungarian architecture firm Bánáti + Hartvig Architecture has stunningly designed the W Budapest Hotel inside the historic Drechsler Palace (former Pension Institute of the Hungarian Railways).  (Image: Architosh / All rights reserved)

In this first IGNITE 2026 feature, Architosh will focus on Graphisoft and Nemetschek’s new cloud-based Nemetschek Creator, with our next report covering other announcements.

Nemetschek Creator

During the press Q&A, I asked why Project Aurora was branded as Nemetschek Creator, given its initial positioning as Graphisoft’s direct response to Autodesk Forma and other emerging BIM 2.0 platforms.

Márton Kiss, Graphisoft’s Chief Product Officer, explained that adopting the Nemetschek parent name reflects the platform’s deep, multi-brand integration and long-term role. He cited dRofus—the group’s advanced building program and data management tool—as a primary integrated engine within Creator. Other Nemetschek Group solutions may play an integrative role with Nemetschek Creator, but only dRofus was clearly mentioned at this time.

Márton Kiss, Chief Product Officer, Graphisoft, explains why the Nemetschek brand name is attached to the new cloud-based, agentic BIM-centric Nemetschek Creator.

This naming decision reflects a broader structural reorganization across the Nemetschek Group. As Ulrike Beringer, Senior Director of Group Communications & Corporate Responsibility, explained to Architosh in an email back in late August:

Architosh has been told several times, including last week, that Nemetschek’s Design Segment is increasingly co-developing core technology stack modules. This marks a definitive shift from the Group’s historical “hands-off” holding company strategy toward shared enterprise infrastructure across its globally scattered subsidiaries.

In more concrete terms, if sister company Vectorworks develops a tech stack, say, related to Maxon’s Redshift rendering technology, the Group shares that work across its other BIM authoring apps, Archicad and Allplan. The same has happened in the reverse direction with Archicad’s AI Visualizer technology. The Group’s individual BIM authoring companies are not only coordinating on agentic AI technologies like MCP but also conducting independent agentic AI research into alternative applications of AI technologies.

During the same week as Graphisoft IGNITE 2026, Germany’s Maxon, a sister company to Graphisoft, announced Redshift for Architects 2027 with new support for Archicad. This technology sharing at the Group level exemplifies enterprise-level efficiency and global leverage.

This mix of Group-level coordination and independent research, under the umbrella of global enterprise resource sharing, gives the Nemetschek Group a strong formula to compete with its primary peer, Autodesk. And this brings us to Nemetschek and Graphisoft’s answer to Autodesk Forma.

Answering BIM 2.0 with Agentic Architecture (BIM 2.0+)

The AEC industry is well aware of the cloud-native design platforms targeting early-stage site, massing, and environmental analysis. These so-called “BIM 2.0” web tools offer browser-native multi-user canvases that desktop monoliths struggle to replicate.

Evolution of AEC Software Architectures Part 1/2. Click to see larger.

However, Nemetschek Creator represents a distinct branch: it was conceived, architected, and coded post-ChatGPT and for agentic AI. To understand why a post-AI architectural foundation matters, we must examine the paradigm shift across three generations of AEC software architecture. (See images above and below.)

The Evolution of AEC Software Architectures Part 2/2

Nemetschek Creator introduces Intent-Based Interactive Design—an operational paradigm in which users define programmatic goals, environmental constraints, and spatial criteria, enabling generative AI agents to propose compliant spatial iterations. Graphisoft says on its website that “Nemetschek Creator is an AI-first approach that turns project intent into feasible design options before detailed modeling begins.”

Nemetschek Creator offers users an AI-first approach that turns design intent into feasible design options.

“Using project requirements, site constraints, performance goals, or visual references, teams can generate, evaluate, and refine concepts against sustainability and performance criteria,” says Graphisoft.

Beyond iterative spatial generation, Nemetschek Creator performs core BIM 2.0 environmental analytics—simulating daylight, carbon footprint, building code compliance, and contextual terrain physics. It functions as a cloud workspace where early massing options can eventually be pushed and bidirectionally synced with Archicad. Additionally, multiple project stakeholders can be invited into the project on the cloud through their web browser.

As Nemetschek Creator enters early access beta, Graphisoft said its generative capabilities will evolve rapidly over the coming year. This acceleration is possible because Graphisoft has spent years quietly re-architecting its codebases and data structures, and refactoring its core codebase to prepare for agentic orchestration.

Archicad’s Hybrid Microservices Advantage

In a one-on-one interview at IGNITE 2026, Márton Kiss highlighted a structural asset observers often overlook: Archicad’s modular, hybrid microservices architecture.

To drive this point home, note a recent Architosh report on Autodesk Revit 2027’s GPU-accelerated graphics, which enabled smooth sectioning. In that analysis, we noted that Graphisoft decoupled Archicad’s display pipeline from its core parametric database over a decade earlier.

Nemetschek Creator can do unit studies for buildings, similar to other BIM 2.0 tools. At this early stage, Creator doesn’t yet match all the capabilities of rival BIM 2.0 solutions, but Graphisoft is a fast innovator with some of the world’s top CAD industry programmers.

While thread decoupling within a desktop binary isn’t a microservice in itself, that early modularization is the prerequisite software engineering needed to build and deploy successful cloud microservices.

The Role of Microservices in Agentic BIM

Unlike monolithic C++ desktop binaries—where the user interface, geometry evaluation, and display logic compile into a single executable—microservices operate as isolated, single-purpose network services.

In an agentic BIM ecosystem, Large Language Models (LLMs) and Small Language Models (SLMs) do not directly calculate B-Rep solid math or rasterize geometry. Instead, they act as reasoning orchestrators, calling external microservices via standardized protocols like Model Context Protocol (MCP).

When an AI agent evaluates a floor plan, it invokes an independent Egress Microservice or Daylight Analysis microservice to receive deterministic mathematical facts.

Sun studies and microclimate analysis in Nemetschek Creator. A user inputs criteria and goals to establish (design) intent. The AI-first approach generates feasible design options (massing models) which are then evaluated against daylight and microclimate analysis.

This pattern solves generative AI’s primary weakness: probabilistic hallucination. While neural models excel at spatial reasoning and intent parsing, microservices act as deterministic truth engines. The AI agent proposes spatial options, but headless C++ B-Rep microservices execute the exact solid modeling with sub-millimeter precision.

Scalability and Legacy C++ Refactoring

Microservices also unlock heterogeneous cloud scaling. When an agent generates 150 compliant floor plan options simultaneously—it offloads these tasks across cloud server clusters that auto-scale in seconds—a computational feat impossible on a single-threaded desktop monolith.

Furthermore, microservices allow Graphisoft to deploy local SLM microservices on an architect’s Apple Silicon Mac or Windows workstation for fast, private building-code checks, while offloading heavy structural matrix solves to cloud microservices.

Closing Reflections

Unlike early-stage BIM 2.0 startups building new geometry kernels from scratch, Graphisoft sits on 40 years of battle-tested C++ geometric math, B-Rep algorithms, and parametric solvers. Re-coding those millions of lines of complex geometric math for modern web canvases could take decades and introduce thousands of edge-case bugs.

Instead, as Márton Kiss confirmed, Archicad’s modular architecture lets Graphisoft systematically refactor its legacy C++ libraries and use them for its new cloud tools, wrapping the core math in modern, containerized cloud services.

Graphisoft is not rebuilding its geometric foundation from scratch for the agentic BIM era. It is leveraging decades of disciplined C++ code modularization—originally partly necessitated by its cross-platform support for both macOS and Windows—to deliver new cloud-based solutions like Nemetschek Creator. 

The post IGNITE 2026: Nemetschek Creator and the Agentic BIM Architectural Shift appeared first on Architosh.

Cinema 4D MCP Server

“The idea is simple: artists retain control while handing off any tasks they consider a chore. MCP support enables us to make Cinema 4D more powerful without taking the creative process away from the artist,” said David McGavran, CEO of Maxon. “There are countless small technical and repetitive tasks that artists deal with every day before they can get back to the part of the work that actually requires their taste and judgment. This gives them more freedom to explore, iterate, and take on greater creative complexity while preserving the craft and creative intent that only the artist can bring.”

Key Takeaways

• MCP Server is built into the latest Cinema 4D but turned off by default. It works with Claude and ChatGPT or Codex AI assistants
• Users use natural language text inside Claude, for example, to command Cinema 4D to execute various time-consuming tasks so they can focus on more creative work
• MCP server AI commands work through the Cinema 4D API, and the user can select which groups of Cinema 4D tools to allow AI automation to implement

Users can use natural-language instructions to direct Claude, ChatGPT, or Codex AI assistants securely within Cinema 4D workflows. Every action happens through Cinema 4D’s own tools, directly in an artist’s own scene, and on their machine under their control. And the results remain native Cinema 4D scene data, which means artists can fully inspect what has been created, refine or undo it, and continue building on the creative work itself inside Cinema 4D.

Maxon’s new Cinema 4D MCP Server will greatly streamline user workflows over time and offers many useful workflow benefits now.

Maxon’s MCP implementation supports procedural, iterative, and repetitive work, which aids artists in streamlining workflows by automating the tedious tasks inherent in 3D scene building. Some examples of what the user can do with this technology using AI automation include:

• organizing hundreds of imported objects into a consistent hierarchy
• creating object and material variations
• preparing multipass renders and organizing scenes
• handling basic 3D camera tracking, UV mapping, rigging, animation, and more

This gives Cinema 4D users a wide range of tasks to streamline with natural-language instructions to their AI assistant of choice.

MCP Guardrails, Security and Visibility

The MCP server is built directly into Cinema 4D and the connection runs locally on the artist’s computer with a separate opt-in required to work with other machines on your network. The MCP server is protected by an MCP adapter access token.

Users can select which groups of Cinema 4D tools their assistant can use, offering a scaled approach to testing AI automation. Users can also control Python execution, adding an extra safeguard for workflows that don’t require code execution.

All actions the AI assistant takes via the MCP server run through Cinema 4D’s API, and the application records all actions and commands in its Undo history. They also write to a local audit log, providing visibility into the actions the AI assistant has taken. The result is that you still end up with a standard Cinema 4D scene, not a flattened generated output.

For studios and enterprise teams, MCP adapter access tokens, configurable permissions, and audit logging provide the visibility and oversight needed to evaluate MCP use against established production and security requirements.

Availability and Notes

Just a few more notes on this. Cinema 4D’s built-in MCP server is off by default, so users must enable it. Maxon is serious about security and user control, and for studios and enterprise teams, MCP adapter access tokens, configurable permissions, and audit logging provide visibility and oversight needed to evaluate MCP use against established production and security requirements.

MCP support is available now in Cinema 4D 2026.4 or later on Windows and macOS versions. The MCP connection can be activated without the need for additional installs.

Artists can learn more about Cinema 4D MCP support, setup, security controls, and example workflows at https://www.maxon.net/cinema-4d/features/mcp.

The post What’s In Maxon’s New Cinema 4D MCP Server appeared first on Architosh.

For long-time Architosh readers tracking Nemetschek Group’s broader cloud architecture investments, a key highlight of this launch is the groundwork laid for Nemetschek Creator. Set for early-access availability in October, this cloud-native BIM 2.0 era tool directly continues and commercializes the initiative previously previewed as Project Aurora.

MORE: IGNITE 2026: Nemetschek Creator and the Agentic BIM Architectural Shift

Designed as an open, browser-accessible workspace, Nemetschek Creator connects early conceptual design, generative analysis, site feasibility, and sustainability metrics directly back to Archicad—ensuring early design intent transitions seamlessly into downstream BIM environments.

The new Nemetschek Creator showing Mass Creation features. This is a new cloud-native BIM 2.0 application previously previewed under the code name Project Aurora.

Below is a detailed summary of the primary technical and commercial announcements included in Graphisoft’s 2026 portfolio update.

New Products in Detail Summary

Archicad 30 Core Refinements

The core Archicad authoring platform sees targeted enhancements focused on daily drafting speed, UI modernization, and project navigation:

• User Interface & Visibility: Native Dark Mode for Windows has officially arrived, alongside improved multi-story wall visibility to streamline complex vertical modeling.
• Documentation & Data: Enhanced documentation controls provide increased flexibility for drawing outputs. The platform introduces modernized Project Info data management, customizable layout tree organization within the Navigator, and expanded, versatile drawing-label formatting options.
• Core Philosophy: According to Chief Product Officer Márton Kiss, these core enhancements focus on reducing administrative overhead, ensuring architects spend less time managing software state and more time designing.

Design Intelligence, AI Roadmap, and Protocol Architecture

Graphisoft is expanding its AI strategy beyond simple image generation, introducing structured knowledge management and open interoperability protocols:

• Model Context Protocol (MCP): Graphisoft is embedding planned MCP connectivity to establish a standardized communication architecture between BIM data structures and external AI agents or Large Language Models (LLMs).
• AI Assistant & Personalized Spaces: The integrated AI Assistant receives a structural update via AI Assistant Spaces. This feature lets practices train or ground the AI assistant in their proprietary office standards, detail libraries, and project documentation—creating a customized firm knowledge base.
• AI Visualizer Upgrades: The conceptual AI rendering pipeline now integrates next-generation image models, including Nano Banana Pro, offering refined artistic control and photorealistic conceptual output directly from BIM geometries.

Expansion of MEP Designer and DDScad

Graphisoft’s multidisciplinary design tools receive key feature and market availability updates:

• Global Expansion: MEP Designer is officially launching in 40+ new international markets, giving a much wider global user base access to integrated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing workflows within the Graphisoft environment. (MEP Designer is the only modern, macOS-native MEP software system of its kind).
• BIM Querying & AI: Both MEP Designer and DDScad receive upgraded spatial BIM querying tools, visualization improvements, refined discipline coordination workflows, and direct hooks into Graphisoft’s AI ecosystem.

Nemetschek Creator & Ecosystem Opportunities

Throughout October, Graphisoft is offering Archicad subscribers early access to expanded Nemetschek Group technology stacks:

• Nemetschek Creator (Project Aurora): Bridging early-stage ideation and BIM, this cloud-native platform brings together architects, real estate developers, urban planners, and municipal stakeholders in a unified cloud space for rapid iteration, preliminary cost/carbon analysis, and AI-assisted site design.
• Open Collaboration Platform & Maxon Redshift: Users gain access to the Nemetschek Open Collaboration Platform alongside high-performance GPU rendering via Maxon Redshift, providing production-grade visualization capabilities natively tied to Archicad models.

Restructured Subscription Tiers: Introducing Archicad Max

To align with varying practice scales and technological demands, Graphisoft has reorganized its software offerings into three distinct subscription tiers:

• Archicad Studio — Standard architectural drafting and core BIM modeling features for baseline practice needs.
• Archicad Collaborate — Designed for growing practices requiring enhanced cloud access, team collaboration, and elevated platform productivity tools.
• Archicad Max — New Flagship Tier. Tailored for large, innovative practices requiring high-complexity capabilities. Includes full access to advanced AI tools, Design Intelligence features, cloud workflows, and premium Nemetschek Group integrations (e.g., Redshift, Creator).

To learn more, readers should sign in to the Graphisoft IGNITE 2026 Global Virtual Event.

Graphisoft will present live demonstrations and technical deep dives during its IGNITE Global Virtual Event on October 13, 2026, at 2:00 PM CEST. The fast-paced session will feature executive leadership and product developers walking through the 2026 suite, live AI workflows, and the Nemetschek Creator integration.

MORE: IGNITE 2026: Nemetschek Creator and the Agentic BIM Architectural Shift

Free registration and localized subtitle replays (in nine languages) are available on Graphisoft’s official portal.

The post Graphisoft Unveils Archicad 30 & Nemetschek Creator appeared first on Architosh.

The primary vehicle for this transformation is a massive, multi-year overhaul of Autodesk Assistant. While the current, first-generation Assistant operates locally inside standalone applications, the next-generation iteration acts as a cross-platform, proactive orchestrator. It spans teams, data ecosystems, and tools to synthesize what the company brands as “project intelligence”. Slated to debut as an expanded standalone platform in 2027, the rollout signals a critical industry pivot: the era of entering prompts into a side panel is giving way to autonomous AI agents that quietly manage downstream engineering workflows in the background.

Orchestration, Personal Pulse, and Open Spaces

Three core operational pillars anchor Autodesk Assistant’s future direction, as the agentic AI technology gets more impactful across all workflows:

• What Needs Attention — A new feature called Personal Pulse acts as a personalized dashboard, proactively flagging design issues, clashes, or anomalies across projects. At the same time, Assistant Spaces establishes focused, shared sandboxes where project teams and AI agents can collaboratively isolate structural problems and run automatic impact analyses
• Act Across Workflows — Leveraging natural-language and voice interaction, the Assistant connects discrete design and engineering engines. It translates user intent directly into physics-validated, reviewable geometric outputs without forcing the user to manually switch software suites
• Your Own Intelligence — Crucially, an environment known as Assistant Builder allows enterprise clients to plug in proprietary AI models, internal databases, or third-party automated tools. These external agents can be commercialized and deployed via a dedicated “Design & Make Marketplace.”

Powering this entire experience is the Autodesk AI Orchestrator. Instead of leaning on a singular, massive foundational model to solve every task, the Orchestrator acts as a traffic controller. It continuously evaluates smaller, specialized sub-models based on accuracy requirements, processing speed, security limitations, and cost, choosing the leanest tool for the job at hand.

Connecting the Dots on Autodesk’s AI Arc

Regular Architosh readers will find this development familiar. For years, our coverage of Autodesk’s structural evolution has tracked how the vendor has systematically dismantled legacy file-format silos in favor of granular, cloud-native data environments. When Autodesk initially rolled out Autodesk AI, the focus centered primarily on localized automation—such as automated rapid site studies within Forma or generative design constraints inside Fusion.

MORE: Autodesk Cloud-based Platforms and AI/ML Aim to Help Solve the Biggest Problems We Face

What we are witnessing at AU 2026 is the logical convergence of these isolated initiatives. Agentic AI requires fluid, non-proprietary data pipelines to function successfully. Autodesk’s multi-year engineering migration toward common cloud data schemas—especially the web-native backbone underneath Forma—was never just about real-time file sharing or replacing Revit’s file infrastructure. It was a long-term play to build a clean data foundation that an autonomous AI layer could read, reason through, and manipulate. By introducing an AI Orchestrator that connects these clouds, Autodesk is shifting the user paradigm. The software is evolving from a passive digital drafting board into an active, predictive participant in the studio workflow.

Why Agentic Matters and the Battle for Geometry

To evaluate this announcement critically, we must separate marketing buzzwords from architectural reality. The industry is currently experiencing some form of “AI fatigue.” As AI technologies rush into the industry, dozens of new software solutions put AI at their center, promising both automation and workflow speedups. Generative text and image models are notorious for producing hallucinations, which limits their utility in professional AEC environments. As Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost pointed out in the announcement, in the real world of bricks, steel, and tightly regulated building codes, being “probably right” equals a failure.

Autodesk Assistant in its upcoming iteration shown here.

General-purpose Large Language Models (LLMs) struggle with spatial reasoning because they understand tokens, not physical tolerances. Autodesk’s competitive defense strategy relies entirely on “grounding”. By anchoring their AI models within the explicit geometry, physical constraints, manufacturing processes, and deep histories of four decades of CAD metadata, they aim to build an intelligence layer that respects real-world physics. If a user requests a structural adjustment via the Assistant, the system doesn’t just sketch a visual revision; it evaluates downstream impacts on fabrication detailing, construction scheduling, project costs, and sequencing.

Legacy AI (First-Gen Chatbots)

Capability Dimension:

• Operational Boundaries = Restricted inside a single app (e.g., Revit/Forma)
• User Interaction = Reactive: Responds directly to explicit prompts
• Model Architecture = Single model processing
• Ecosystem Openness = Closed, vendor-controlled tools

Next-Gen Agentic AI (2027 Framework)

Capability Dimension:

• Operational Boundaries = Cross-product, cross-project, and cross-team orchestration
• User Interaction = Proactive: Surfaces issues via Personal Pulse
• Model Architecture = Multi-model routing via AI Orchestrator
• Ecosystem Openness = Open extensible framework via Assistant Builder

This architectural shift addresses a critical macroeconomic reality: the professional capacity crisis. Autodesk’s own 2027 State of Design & Make Report notes that 70% of industry leaders expect AI to mitigate staffing constraints by absorbing repetitive, administrative data management. Agentic AI directly targets this friction. By automating the mundane tasks of coordinating data between design phases, it frees up architects to focus on spatial judgment, material creativity, and client relationships.

Another image showing the new Autodesk Assistant in action.

However, the “Bring Your Own Intelligence” strategy is perhaps the most significant competitive maneuver here. By enabling firms to connect custom AI agents via the Assistant Builder, Autodesk is positioning itself as the operating system for design tech. Rather than fighting off nimble, AI-native AEC startups entering the market, Autodesk is building an infrastructure—complete with a marketplace—designed to absorb them.

Architosh Analysis & Commentary

While the vision displayed at AU 2026 is compelling, architectural firms must look closely at the implementation timeline. These advanced cross-cloud agentic capabilities are previews. Autodesk explicitly notes that the expanded next-generation experience is not yet generally available, with pricing models, regional rollouts, and exact licensing terms under wraps until 2027.

Furthermore, data privacy, security, and liability remain major question marks for firms handling sensitive client data. Autodesk’s commitment to publishing “AI Transparency Cards” to detail training origins and limitations is a step in the right direction. Yet, as autonomous agents begin modifying building geometry and checking code compliance in shared “Spaces,” firms will need to establish strict protocols regarding where the AI’s recommendation ends, and professional liability begins.

Ultimately, Autodesk has drawn a clear line in the sand for the future of CAD. The focus is no longer on making drawing tools faster—it is about orchestrating project data intelligently so that architects can solve complex spatial problems without being bogged down by the tools themselves.

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Six Finalist Categories

This year marks the 20th year of the Construction Computing Awards, which seek to showcase and reward the technology, tools, and solutions that are making a significant impact for AEC/O professionals in the construction industry—covering design, construction, and operations across all building and civil engineering sectors.

Vectorworks 2027 includes industry solutions, including Vectorworks Architect 2027, which is up for three awards.

“It’s an honor to see both Vectorworks and Morpholio recognized across these categories,” said Anna Kenoff, director of marketing – cloud and mobile at Vectorworks.

MORE: Vectorworks 2027 — A Look at What’s New

“These nominations reflect the creativity and impact of Morpholio’s design tools, while the recognition for the Vectorworks and Morpholio Trace integration highlights what becomes possible when designers can move more fluidly from early ideas to developed project information.”

Nominations this year include the following categories where Vectorworks solutions are contending:

• BIM Software of the Year 2026 – Vectorworks Architect
• Architectural Design Software 2026 – Vectorworks Architect
• Mobile Technology of the Year 2026 – Morpholio from Vectorworks – Morpholio Trace
• Product of the Year 2026 – Vectorworks Architect
• Company of the Year 2026 – Vectorworks
• Innovation of the Year 2026 – Vectorworks and Morpholio Trace Integration, released in Vectorworks 2026 Update 5

In addition to the official judged panel categories, users can also submit popular votes on the Construction Computing Awards website until 30 October 2026. The award ceremony will announce winners on 12 November 2026 at the Leonardo City Hotel in London.

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Architectural students generally understand the purpose and value of diagramming workflows in the architectural design process—helping them express and explain the key reasoning behind conceptual decisions in building designs, as well as the ability to communicate conceptual ideas that 3D renderings and technical construction drawings cannot.

Axogram

Axogram is a live diagramming tool that works alongside your CAD and BIM application. This includes Autodesk Revit, Graphisoft Archicad, and Trimble’s SketchUp (only Windows versions of Archicad and SketchUp, with macOS coming soon).

Lumion’s new Axogram is a dedicated plugin for architectural diagramming workflows that works inside Revit, Archicad, and SketchUp.

With Axogram, users can do all of the following:

• Explore different viewpoints and keep diagrams current as the project evolves
• Test conceptual styles without touching the original geometry or materials
• Add arrows, labels, zones, and styles directly around the model and in 3D
• Create, duplicate, organize, and revisit multiple diagram types in one project: basic, context, sequence, section, circulation, and presentation

Diagram types such as context help clarify a building’s wider context in which the design interacts, while sequence diagram types explain how the architect sees the project’s components flow from element to element. Circulation diagrams clarify how users move to and through a building project, and section diagrams clarify structure, building floors, and spatial dynamics.

A top-down view of a circulation type diagram in Axogram.

Axogram is free to use but is limited, with the user able to save up to five (5) diagram views. The solution is also available for USD 25.00 per month per user or USD 299 per year and removes the saved views limit, ups render image quality to 4K, and removes the watermark,

All plans include AI tools such as an image enhancer, upscaler, and material generator, plus Lumion’s cloud collaboration environment where users can compare versions, gain post-processing tools, manage versions and approvals, and organize and share content.

Architosh Analysis and Commentary

It is wonderful to see the emergence of this type of application, and it will speed up workflows that architects today use to generate diagrams. As someone who taught architectural diagramming at the Boston Architectural College in Boston over 25 years ago, I often utilized HTML technology to show diagrams that had dynamic components (on mouseover) or recorded into QuickTime animations. I see only the beginnings of what is truly possible with a dedicated architectural diagramming tool and hope to watch (and test out directly) Axogram. 

As for the lack of macOS support? Lumion today has support for macOS on the SketchUp version of Lumion View, which helps explain why only macOS support for Axogram for SketchUp is planned. 

The post Lumion intros Axogram—new architectural diagramming tool appeared first on Architosh.

One key development vector where Vectorworks tends to shine is in advancing underlying OS-based technologies utilizing the latest advancements in both macOS and Windows operating systems. Another development vector much anticipated is in the area of visualization technologies, both internal and external to the program. And because Vectorworks Architect is very much a true “hybrid CAD/BIM” application—meaning that it can go toe-to-toe with pure CAD-focused applications (ie: AutoCAD) in addition to being a competitive BIM app—watching its BIM maturity advance and its unique take on BIM is yet again another interesting development vector to watch. (More on this in Analysis and Commentary below).

Vectorworks 2027 product line annual update includes numerous development advancements, including UI/UX, BIM, Visualization, Performance, and more, as well as new features across its industry series products.

All three are yet again interesting to see in this latest update.

What is Vectorworks 2027

Vectorworks 2027 is actually a rather large product line across AEC and media and entertainment industries, almost a tiny microcosm of the Nemetschek Group itself, sans an engineering-facing product. On the pure AEC side of the product line, we have the following solutions:

• Vectorworks Architect 2027 — A full professional BIM environment combined with an extensive professional CAD environment for AEC pros.
• Vectorworks Landmark 2027 — The AEC industry’s leading BIM environment for landscape architects, urban design and planning professionals, and other landscape design professionals
• Vectorworks Fundamentals 2027 — A non-industry-specific 2D/3D CAD platform targeted at non-architectural 3D and 2D designers, drafters, makers, and fabricators.
• Vectorworks Design Suite 2027 — Bundles the features of Landmark and Spotlight with Architect and is therefore ideal for certain architectural professionals doing extensive site development work or urban design and planning, or M&D professionals who need a full BIM solution as part of their workflows.

On the media and entertainment (M&E) side of the product, we have these solutions:

• Vectorworks Spotlight. 2027 — this is now the global industry standard solution for entertainment, lighting, and live event design professionals. It pairs with Braceworks for those professionals also responsible for designing rigging
• Vectorworks Design Suite 2027 — Again, a catch-all bundle as stated above
• Vectorworks Braceworks 2027 — acts as an engineering calculus engine that plugs directly into Vectorworks Spotlight workflows. While Spotlight lets you draw and model trusses, hang lights and audio arrays, Braceworks calculates real-world physics.
• Vectorworks ConnectCAD 2027 — this too is an add-on module to Vectorworks Spotlight and addresses advanced signal-flow and system integrations of A&V and lighting equipment used in the entertainment industry or by audiovisual integrators.

There is no need to place Vectorworks Fundamentals in the M&E category above, since Vectorworks Spotlight includes all the core features of Vectorworks Fundamentals.

New in Vectorworks 2027

We are going to highlight what is new in Vectorworks 2027 for AEC professionals, with a particular focus on architects. At the core product level Vectorworks 2027 features some excellent advancements in the area of visualization and graphics.

Vectorworks 2027’s newly upgraded graphics engine utilizes the latest Apple Metal and Vulkan APIs for Mac and Windows versions, respectively, delivering maxim GPU chip leverage in overall visual performance. With Apple’s stunning M5 and M6 chips, Vectorworks is easily one of the fastest BIM solutions on the market.

Vectorworks 2027 now includes a new modern PBR (physically-based rendering) system, alongside a redesigned Edit Texture dialog with live previews. This makes it easier for users to create stunning PBR material textures for their projects. With one click, old textures can be converted to modern PBR textures, and these can be sent forward to dedicated visualization tools like those from Chaos, D5, Maxon, and others.

MORE: What’s Driving Nemetschek Group’s Financial Performance

Also new this year is the modernization of the core Vectorworks graphics engine (VGM), leveraging Apple Metal on Mac and Vulkan on Windows. Hugues Tsafak, Vice President of Product Development at Vectorworks, says:

The company says in some cases, users can experience performance gains (FPS) of 15x to 35x in workflows like panning and zooming, and up to 50x faster multi-object selection. This new performance means navigating large 3D models and rendering complex projects at speeds that to many users previously seemed out of reach.

Other Core Features

Vectorworks has introduced The Exchange, a “trusted” hub where expertise and community knowledge can come together. Think SketchUp 3D Warehouse, but we believe this community library is more curated and guarded (Architosh to confirm in future report). Community-built assets can be any kind of Vectorworks model, from furniture, appliances, and various objects to textures, hatches, etc.

PRB texture creation with updated core features in Vectorworks 2027 make Vectorworks stronger for in-app renderings and to pushed out 3rd party renderers.

In Vectorworks 2027, you can now bring in AutoCAD dynamic blocks into Vectorworks and choose to convert each representation into editable Vectorworks Symbols or consolidate them into a single Dynamic Object with a type dropdown, so you can swap the graphic representations with a single click. This is another massive win for the Vectorworks global community in terms of globally available assets to bring in and leverage in Vectorworks.

For subscription customers, Vectorworks 2027 features Nano Banana AI visuals with various free, unlimited model renderings and limited Nana Banana Pro or 2 for sharper 2K AI rendering generation, with in-palette credit tracking so you can prevent overspending and running out of credits.

Vectorworks Architect 2027

As promised in its free roadmap, this year’s BIM improvements include better and faster modeling of doors and windows, including new pivot door capabilities. There is also a new Geolocation Setup Wizard that allows users to align surveys, point clouds, GIS layers, and bring in location imagery into Vectorworks. The imagery comes from Google Maps. Importantly for federated model reviews, users can easily toggle between true geospatial positions and local project coordinates.

A new multi-phasing system enables users to represent existing conditions and renovations across phases, and it includes an as-built layer. These features will be highly useful to European customers, who do more renovation work than customers in other parts of the world. And Vectorworks Architect 2027 can now deliver compliant area takeoffs meeting DIN 277, NED 2580, SIA 416 standards or custom rule sets.

Other Notable Items

In Landmark 2027, there is a new Volume Fill tool that can quantify site elements like retention basins, fills, and more.

For other improvements in the Vectorworks 2027 product line, visit here.

Analysis and Commentary

This year’s annual update seems oriented towards massive under-the-hood upgrades and quality-of-life optimizations rather than groundbreaking new features. This was expected based on both the public roadmap and the Nemetschek Group’s new synergistic, groupwide strategies. Architosh has covered the VGM (Vectorworks Graphics Module) technologies at length in the past, and so we look forward to diving in a bit deeper in both an upcoming product review and an interview article. The panning and zooming speeds of up to 35x are quite impressive numerically, especially given that on the latest Apple M-series chips (M5 and above), Vectorworks performs strongly thanks to Apple’s industry-leading chip performance. 

We mentioned that this program is a bit more exciting to see updated every year than most BIMs. The balance between OS-specific updates, performance, and groundbreaking new features tends to set that up, but this year, without groundbreaking new features, it feels muted. However, the Exchange community asset new feature set will no doubt be an exciting development for existing users, as will the PBR texture improvements, DWG Dynamic Block features, and visualization and graphics performance. 

Perhaps the most noteworthy news with Vectorworks 2027 is the features that enable users to benefit from already created elements—an important aspect as Vectorworks’s third-party tools, resources, and assets lag behind stronger BIM communities like sister application Graphisoft Architect and industry heavyweight Autodesk Revit. The use of dynamic blocks from the DWG (AutoCAD) world, improved Revit Family support, and the new Exchange all contribute significantly to this aspect. 

The post Vectorworks 2027 — A Look at What’s New appeared first on Architosh.

The Forma Platform

This year at AU2026, Autodesk is showing just how much more mature the Forma cloud platform and ecosystem have become in a few short years. Essentially all of Autodesk’s previously disparate and scattered product-named cloud applications have been rebranded under new Forma brand names, helping to unify the significance of Forma for the global AEC/O industry.

Key Takeaways

• Infrastructure Integration — Civil 3D is officially now a Forma Connected Client, and Autodesk introduced Forma Street Design (Beta)
• Next-Gen AI Agents — Autodesk introduces practical AI features across Revit and Forma
• Pre-Construction Forma Advancements — with Forma Bid (integrating BuildingsConnected) and mobile tools like Daily Log Agent convert spoken field updates into structured data

Autodesk has emphasized that commodity AI solutions, while useful in some respects, lack the capacity to serve the AEC industry the way artificial intelligence ought to. Saying in its press release, “the built world sets a high bar,” Autodesk is making the smart point that “AI for the built environment needs the right data, project context, and industry expertise to understand the site, design intent, schedule, requirements, and decisions that shape a project.”

Forma to Replace Revit?

Curiously, Autodesk’s official AU press release asks the rhetorical question of whether Forma is to replace Revit. This is a big subject area of expertise here at Architosh, and one can find a bounty of exclusive reports, interviews, and analysis on this question. Let’s quote Autodesk itself, and then we can add our analysis layer.

Forma Street Design (Beta) is the latest Forma-branded product and is aimed at early-stage civil design work.

“Over time, yes,” says Autodesk about Forma replacing Revit. “More and more of the work that happens in Revit today will happen directly in Forma,” says Autodesk.

In practical terms, Autodesk Forma Site Design and Forma Building Design are cloud-based solutions designed to support the early phases of a building design project and transfer that data into the desktop (and Windows-dependent) Revit solution everyone knows today. Autodesk is being clear about something, though, and this is critical for its customers to understand:

Autodesk continues, “We will continue investing in Revit to give customers a practical path toward that future.”

New AI Capabilities

Autodesk is introducing a range of practical AI features across Revit and Forma, such as Autocomplete Room Elements, Optimized Annotations, and Automated Documentation, framing its AI technologies and features around high-context “Project Intelligence” rather than generic commodity AI.

Drawing Compliance uses AI to surface drawing information for possible issues, such as walls too close to adjacent walls, missing wall dimensions, etc. Users can also add rules for design standards, owner requirements, and cross-disciplinary coordination.

Autodesk Assistant (an AI) can search inside drawings and take users directly to relevant sheets, while Drawing Change Analysis (new) helps teams identify meaningful differences between different versions of drawings (revisions).

MORE: Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) is now Autodesk Forma

Drawing Compliance Review surfaces potential issues so teams can resolve critical, major, or minor project issues faster. (see image above) Users can build rule sets that instruct the AI to surface drawing information for specific types of issues, such as owner requirements or cross-disciplinary issues.

Forma For Construction

Autodesk is also aiming to make a more connected future for AEC with Forma, linking design phase teams more strongly with building phase and occupancy phase teams and stakeholders. As Autodesk argues in its press release, “Better continuity gives architects more time for design choices, engineers a clearer picture of real-world conditions, and construction teams an earlier view of issues that could affect delivery.”

Autodesk says that over time more work will happen directly in Forma, with project information remaining connected across the AEC lifecycle as noted above. To that end, at AU 2026, Autodesk is previewing the next-generation Autodesk Assistant (AI agent), which brings together specialized AI agents, Autodesk tools, and project information to deliver better outcomes.

Meanwhile, Forma Bid brings BuildingsConnected bidding workflows into Forma. This lets contractors manage invitations, level bids, compare pricing with estimates, and find scope gaps. Forma Bid is available today as a beta.

And in an effort to capitalize on the popularity of AI products like Pocket, Autodesk has unveiled Autodesk Daily Log Agent, which runs on mobile and can turn a superintendent’s spoken update into a structured daily log while the details are still fresh, reducing manual, typed-in daily entry.

This is our first of many upcoming AU 2026 news and feature reports. Stay tuned as we release special items available only to members of the press who attended AU2026.

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In addition to major updates to Maxon One, some of the updates to individual products will be some of the biggest product advancements in years.

What’s New and Coming

So readers must be curious about what all the excitement is about. So Architosh will go through what’s new and what’s next with Maxon’s product line and technologies. Here is a high-level breakdown per product:

Cinema 4D — More Ways to Build, Simulate and Create

Cinema 4D has been a 3D industry mainstay for decades, and recent developments have expanded its capabilities and day-to-day workflows, from simulation and modeling to UVs and production tools.

• A completely modernized UV workflow: Cinema 4D’s redesigned UV Editor brought professional unwrapping, packing, seam editing, texel density tools and UDIM support directly into the application, keeping the production workflow in one place.

• More precise MoGraph workflows: New Cloner distribution options, including Edge, Rivet and UV Projection modes, give artists more direct control over how objects are placed and animated without complex workarounds.

• More intuitive simulation-powered modeling: Fabric Brush uses Cinema 4D’s simulation system to let artists shape soft materials directly in the viewport, creating folds, draping and deformation without complex rigs.

• Coming next: At IBC, Maxon will preview the next major evolution of Cinema 4D, with substantial new capabilities that continue expanding how artists build, populate and simulate complex 3D worlds.

ZBrush — Create Anywhere with Smoother Sculpting Workflows

ZBrush continues expanding professional sculpting workflows across desktop and iPad, giving artists more flexibility in how and where they work, while reducing friction across the entire production pipeline.

• More places to create: Native Windows on Arm support expands where artists can sculpt.

• Stronger pipeline connections: Direct Substance Painter integration streamlines texturing workflows.

• Continued workflow refinement: ZModeler and pipeline improvements keep everyday work moving faster.

• Coming next: At IBC, Maxon will preview how ZBrush is becoming a more complete end-to-end sculpting workflow across desktop and iPad, with improvements designed to minimize app-switching and keep artists in the creative flow.

Redshift — See Changes Faster, Stay in the Creative Flow

Redshift continues to improve in speed and responsiveness of the rendering experience, and the latest updates will please users, including tighter integrations with Cinema 4D.

• Faster interactivity: Redshift responds more quickly as artists adjust lights and materials.

• Smarter memory use: A new memory architecture improves efficiency across a wider range of hardware.

• Tighter Cinema 4D integration: Streamlined material workflows reduce steps and keep artists in the flow.

• Coming next: At IBC, Maxon will preview major Redshift improvements in performance and interactivity, plus new creative capabilities including procedural fur and more cinematic color workflows.

Red Giant — More Creative Power, Better Performance

Red Giant continues to expand what motion designers and VFX artists can create while improving the speed, responsiveness, and capability of the tools across Maxon workflows.

• Faster Universe effects: Core tools like Glow, Chromatic Aberration and RGB Separation are being modernized for major performance gains.

• More Maxon inside Red Giant: Maxon Noise brings Cinema 4D’s versatile procedural noises into Universe.

• Deeper integration in Autograph: More Red Giant tools and capabilities are being incorporated into Autograph workflows.

• Coming next: At IBC, Maxon will preview new creative tools including AI-powered relighting with Scene Light, designed to make complex lighting changes faster while keeping artists in control.

Autograph — A Modern 2D/3D Motion Graphics Workflow

Since its return earlier this year, Autograph has continued to expand as a free professional motion graphics and compositing application, with ongoing developments focused on stronger performance, broader creative workflows, and deeper integration across the Maxon ecosystem.

• Maxon Studio integration: Autograph now offers native access to Red Giant effects, plus full OpenFX support for third-party plugins.

• Stronger typography tools: Vertical text and CJK support expand multilingual motion design and text animation workflows.

• Unified 2D and 3D workflows: A USD-powered 3D workspace brings extruded text and shapes, textures and multi-pass compositing into one environment.

• Coming next: At IBC, Maxon will preview the next stage of Autograph’s evolution, with continued improvements to performance and stability and deeper integration with Maxon tools.

These latest developments, taken together, reflect how Maxon is advancing its tools and technologies for 3D artists across disciplines and industries.

IBC 2026 Details

“We’re constantly listening to artists and building on the technology underneath our products so that each release opens up more creative possibilities,” said David McGavran, CEO of Maxon. “A lot happens between the big momentous releases; we’re building a technology stack that will continuously enable more creativity, so artists can do something today that they couldn’t do a year ago. IBC is a chance to come see what we’ve been building, experience the latest updates, and get a show-only preview of what’s coming next.”

Maxon at IBC 2026: The Nemetschek Group company will show off major advancements.

From 11 – 14 September 2026 at RAI Amsterdam, visitors to Maxon’s booth 7.B24 in Hall 7 can grab a sneak peek at the upcoming capabilities across the Maxon product lines.

In addition, there will be artists’ presentations, workflow demonstrations, and opportunities to meet directly with the teams developing the tools.

And because discovering new tools is better with good company, Maxon is making plenty of time to hang out with the creative community:

• Friday, September 11: Maxon Cocktail Hour, 4:30-6:30 p.m., booth 7.B24

• Saturday, September 12: Maxon and Lenovo community meetup at Aloha Amsterdam following the show – register here

• Sunday, September 13: Maxon Cocktail Hour, 4:00-6:00 p.m., booth 7.B24

Again, the exhibit details are:

Maxon will be exhibiting at IBC2026, September 11-14 at RAI Amsterdam, booth 7.B24 in Hall 7. Complimentary visitor registration is available using Maxon customer code IBC5151.

The post IBC2026: Maxon Brings Exclusive Fall Innovation Preview appeared first on Architosh.

Ichi Features

Ichi analyzes typical architectural drawing sets, specifications, and construction documents to catch missing information, scope gaps, cross-sheet and cross-document discrepancies, and internal conflicts. The aim is for architects to use tools like Ichi—which benefits from AI models—to find all such issues before they are eventually discovered in the field at the construction site, where their cost impact can be detrimental to project success.

Architects are already using AI tools, including Bluebeam’s new Bluebeam Max suite, to analyze and pore over architects’ drawings to identify discrepancies, scope gaps, and missing information. Clients that feature paid consultants functioning as construction managers (CMs), a type of watchdog role in the construction industry, are especially interested in such new AI tools because this kind of tool is precisely what they have never had at their disposal.

Ichi is a leading new AI-QA/QC and CA tool for the AEC industry.

Ichi therefore helps architects discover issues before documents are released to clients and their consultants, forming a tighter set of documentation and a more highly resolved technical design.

Ichi uses AI to analyze drawing sets against a massive library of ICC-licensed building codes (including IBC, IECC, and ADA) along with local regional amendments. Ichi says its AI models are not like generic AI models (eg: ChatGPT) but instead operate collaboratively within a “walled garden” workspace. Using AI tools to rapidly check for code compliance was the hot new focus at AIA26 this year, as we have noted several times on Architosh. However, AI isn’t just great at code and zoning.

The CA Phase

Ichi also speeds up the construction administration phase. And it can capture and distribute firm knowledge from these interactions so staff architects gain future insights and benefits in the next or current projects. And Ichie isn’t just built for architects or engineers, but also for jurisdictions and professional reviewers.

But back to CA. Ichi analyzes submittals, RFIs, and construction documents and surfaces the information at scale to determine that things are conforming, identify what is missing, and highlight what needs attention.

Ichi can also pull submittals from Procore to work on. For RFI analysis, Ichi automates the context-gathering phase of addressing RFIs, including the history of responses to previous RFIs.

Ichi begins by having users upload all of their documents or link to these documents in Procore. Once complete, Ichi can run deep analyses of all documents—from construction drawing sets to specifications to project manuals and other industry or office standards.

Closing Comments

I like that all such AI QA/QC tools don’t remove the professional obligations of licensed architects and engineers. The tool accelerates those workflows via AI automation and helps professionals become not just faster but possibly more thorough. To learn more, visit them here.

Architosh Analysis and Commentary

AI tools that operate on uploaded PDF documents are in a separate class from tools that perform QA/QC directly within design and documentation authoring systems, such as BIM programs and CAD tools. Within this different class of QA/QC tools, the possible selections are fewer. We have already written about Kestrel Labs and its award-winning (see: Architosh, “AIA26: Architosh 12th ‘BEST of SHOW’ honors for digital technologies at AIA San Diego,” 22 Jun 2026) plugin for Revit and future integration with Trimble solutions. We are also aware of VitruAI and its plugin for QA/QC and general compliance workflows in Revit, which we mentioned here (see: Architosh, “AIA26: Expo Show Floor Report 7—Layer, Arcol, Egnite, and more.” 13 Aug 2026). 

These two solutions function differently from Ichi and its kind. They do, or have the capacity to do, this QA/QC work directly within Revit. At the same time, one must acknowledge that not all AEC professionals use Revit. Thousands of firms and professionals work with competitor tools from Bentley, Trimble, and Nemetschek. Moreover, jurisdictions, consultants, CMs, and the like don’t know Revit and will prefer solutions that work with uploaded PDF drawing sets. So there is a need in the industry for both in-app hosted QA/QC solutions and external QA/QC solutions like Ichi. 

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More AI Software

ArchiBoost AI

ArchiBoost AI is another AI-powered QA/QC compliance software, but also a tool that functions as a knowledge hub for your firm. As their website says, “Every project depends on two types of intelligence: what your firm already knows — and what this project uniquely requires.”

ArchiBoost AI works to bind these two together, linking the first knowledge layer (Firm Intelligence) to the second layer (Project Intelligence). That first layer is about what you reuse, including BIM execution plans, documentation standards, QA/QC checklists, internal best practices, specifications, and master spec templates, etc.

The second layer is about what the project demands uniquely across standard data and documents.

As we noted in reports twice now, using AI software for scanning and reviewing plans and models was the hot big thing at AIA26 this year in San Diego. Suddenly, QA/QC (quality assurance and quality control) is all the rage. And while many new firms were showcasing such technology, other important leaders in this segment were not at AIA26, like VitruAI, which has truly ambitious plans for agentic AI in AEC.

ArchiBoost AI image showing its knowledge hub structure. A firm’s best details shouldn’t disappear into archival folders. ArchiBoost extracts metadata from a firm’s past projects and builds a living, searchable library that evolves with your firm.

There is an interesting differentiator between these new AI-powered QA/QC software systems. Some work with the PDF output only, while others work with the actual BIM models. In the case of Architosh AIA26 BEST of SHOW winner Kestrel Labs, their solution works inside of Revit via a plugin. It also works in a web browser as a general code compliance system to help architects understand requirements on a project before they even have BIM models. Kestral Labs’ system is designed for the duration of the project from inception to post-occupancy. And Kestrel Labs is aiming to work not just on Revit but also soon on SketchUp models. That part has us excited because we believe that is quite challenging to do.

MORE: AIA26: Kestrel Labs — Native BIM Compliance Platform

At the same time, VitruAI, like Kestrel Labs, works inside Revit as a plugin. But VitruAI is an agentic AI production system, not just a QA/QC platform. Their plans are grander and more ambitious. They are starting with codes, compliance regulations, office standards, and project requirements, but they have AI agents planned for much more within their VitruAI Labs, including AI agents for structural sizing, MEP routing, and a document-parsing AI agent. And their roadmap for agentic AI is even larger. Plus, they are looking at integrations between VitruAI and Solibri, SketchUp, Rhino and Grasshopper, and IFC. We bring this up about VitruAI to point out that developers are looking at the entire architectural process as being served by AI agents at every step, across more tools than just Revit.

Arcol

Arcol won the AIA Architosh BEST of SHOW award for the BIM category two years in a row this year. The well-funded BIM 2.0 industry darling has won over numerous top architecture firms and since last year added marquee US large construction firms to its client roster.

Arcol is showing its new integration of spreadsheets that can be bi-directionally synced with Excel files.

This momentum is driven by continuous innovative development, adding useful features to its easy-to-use UI and UX. The latest is the bidirectional bridge between Rhino 3D geometry and Arcol. As senior associate editor Architosh Pete Evans, AIA, remarks:

Arcol had already added Boards to its BIM 2.0 program in the summer of 2025, but recently they added sophisticated table linking so that Arcol model data can be linked into other table applications or worksheets such as those for pricing data.

Arcol firmly believes that agentic AI will power Arcol along with human architects in the near future.

While agentic AI is being plumbed into Arcol today, a distinguishing feature of Arcol is its Figma-style multiplayer engine that allows multiple architects, owners, builders, and others to click a link and enter the same model (file) and simultaneously edit geometry in real time without file locking, manual syncing, or lag. As you work, you can see your teammates’ cursors moving around the user interface. In the near future, instead of seeing your human teammates’ cursors in the UI, human architects will also see the cursors of AI agents working in the model as well. That is the vision of the future!

Egnyte

Egnyte is a leading platform for secure file sharing, content management, and governance. Unlike enterprise cloud storage offerings from Dropbox, Box, Microsoft and others, Egnyte is specifically tailored for industries with heavy data loads, complex file types, and strict compliance needs—such as AEC, life sciences, and legal.

Egnyte is a hybrid cloud architecture platform and virtual appliances that run on a local office server or a network-attached storage (NAS) computer and mirror the Egnyte cloud data. Dropbox and similar offerings, instead, are direct-to-cloud syncing platforms. Clients individually link to the cloud and sync directly to files whose masters are stored on the Dropbox cloud.

One powerful advantage of Egnyte is performance and data file protection. Since the appliance server syncs to the Egnyte cloud rather than to an architect’s own computer while sitting in the office, the architect can work swiftly, opening a 2 GB AutoCAD, Revit, or Archicad file and working at local gigabit network speeds (near instantaneous). Egnyte quietly syncs changes slowly in the background (the work happens between the Egnyte appliance and the cloud)

The other advantage is true file locking. Folks who use Dropbox and similar cloud services know that if two people try to open the same file at the same time, it is possible, and users only get soft warnings. But they can also get, in some cases, “conflicted copies,” which create a mess for IT and BIM managers, not to mention end users.

With Egnyte, you can use the platform as a cloud service, or you can deploy a NAS or appliance on your network in your offices (yes, offices as in plural). Egnyte can sync multiple appliances across offices worldwide. Having the hybrid architecture helps with large-file access and write speeds on local LANs within offices, particularly for very large files.

A newer feature in Egnyte is secure AI (artificial intelligence). You can turn files within an organization into “firm-wide knowledge” to power both collaboration and governance. Using Anthropic’s MCP technology, users working across a myriad of applications can use Egnyte’s AI chat box to ask questions about projects and teams, and the AI accesses data from email and other applications.

Egnyte AI MCP connectors today include Gmail, Jira, Confluence, Procore, Slack, and others, plus a growing library of other apps. The AI can draft responses, like for email, and then send the draft back to Gmail as a draft after you approve it. This essentially turns Egnyte into a central intelligence hub.

In addition to the performance and data security benefits, Egnyte has specific AEC-only features, including XREF and path preservation (for DWG/AutoCAD files), smart cache SMB collaboration for single-site Revit Co-Editing, and integrations with Autodesk Forma Cloud, Procore, and Bluebeam Studio.

Layer

In 2019, the innovative mobile-cloud-first application Layer won Architosh AIA BEST of SHOW in the Mobile + Cloud category. Since then, the application has continued to evolve. Layer was not shown in a booth at AIA that year but was a major feature in a large, well-attended educational session that Architosh attended.

Layer 4 is the current version of this innovative app that refers to itself as a “workflow platform for buildings.” Being mobile-cloud-first, Layer is very strong in the field capture of data and photos and the management of the same in the field on your mobile device.

Layer 4 is the latest version of this award-winning app for architects. The modern platform helps architects work smarter with data records, getting data away from inefficient spreadsheets and into Layer. Layer has a flexible UI/UX and can be configured in infinite ways. It is ideal for collecting survey data of existing buildings, FF&E management, field reports, Room Data Sheets, CMMS, and more.

For those of you old enough to recall the FileMaker Pro solutions built for the architecture industry back in the 1990s, Layer shares one common aspect with that legendary relationship database tool—the ability to easily customize the data fields in the UI/UX and the reports the application can spit out. On some level, Layer is the heir apparent to FileMaker Pro in AEC since that application and the company behind it (Apple, of all things) have largely turned their backs on AEC.

Layer 4 is designed to reduce your firm’s use of spreadsheets like Excel or Google Sheets. It’s not that spreadsheets are evil, but that spreadsheets are horrible to work with in the field on mobile devices. And they are also horrible to work with as a way to store data records of things like furniture, equipment, appliances, and all manner of objects that are placed in buildings.

These are just a sampling of the pre-build templates for managing this kind of data inside Layer 4.

Layer 4 works with Revit so you can link Revit to your Layer data fields. Layer has captured the attention of leading architecture firms, including POPULOUS, AECOM, DMA, Leo A Daly, SmithGroup, and others.

Bimbeats

BIMbeats is an analytics platform for architecture firms. The firm says, “We automate data collection and visualization so you can understand how your team really works, what’s helping, what’s slowing you down, and where to focus next.”

BIMbeats is software that helps practices right-size computing equipment and software. From this perspective alone, the software can more than pay for itself by helping to find performance bottlenecks and underutilization of powerful equipment.

What BIMbeats does is integrate with leading industry tools like Revit, AutoCAD, Bluebeam Revu, Tally, Rhino, Grasshopper, Adobe, Navis, Enscape, and many others. It gathers data about these tools and their utilization by staff, the sizes of files, and how the hardware in your firm is running these applications. From this data it can surface patterns and provide insight about them, like file size warnings on projects, in-place Revit Families, total sheets, views, etc.

BIMbeats showing the hardware monitoring charts in its interface.

Hardware monitoring is useful so firms can better plan for future hardware based on their equipment is actually used. This can help firms reduce over-spec’ing computer equipment when users actually don’t fully push such equipment to the max or are not using apps that require that level of power. It can also show the opposite and reveal bottlenecks.

Other Show Reports

AIA26: Expo Show Report 1 — Autodesk

AIA26: Expo Show Report 2 — Nemetschek Group

AIA26: Expo Show Report 3 — Trimble and SketchUp

AIA26: Expo Show Report 4 — Chaos 

AIA26: Expo Show Report 5 — neoBIM, and other AI apps

AIA26: Expo Show Report 6 — xFigura, CODii, others

AIA26: Expo Show Report 7 — Layer, Arcol, Egnyte and more…

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The company was founded recently in 2020 and is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As a six-year-old AEC software firm, the company has grown from a niche startup to a venture-backed software platform after early pilots with over 100 leading architecture firms. In terms of their funding, prominent VC firms Graphite Ventures and the 519 Growth Fund helped PART 3 secure a major USD 2.8 million seed round.

A screenshot of PART 3 from their website showing part of their interface. PART 3 can hold all construction drawings, specs, and manuals as your single source of truth and can handle automatic sheet number numbering, ordering, and linking. It also does versioning.

The company has three co-founders: Jack Sadler, Jessica Luczycki, and Corey Stanford. Each of them has a different background, but Jessica’s background has involved years of working in construction administration.

PART 3 Is Different

What is immediately important to say about PART 3 is that the software platform has been developed for architects or whoever is the prime consultant on a construction job. It is the prime consultant who acquires and pays for the PART 3 platform, while all other stakeholders (general and subcontractors, clerk of the works, owner’s reps, the owner, and MEP and structural engineers) work as “collaborators” in the system for free.

Key Takeways

• PART 3 has been developed for architects because they deserve better tools for the CA phase of projects. 
• Only the prime consultant (usually the architect) pays for PART 3, while project “collaborators,” including engineers, contractors, owners, and reps, are free members of the system.
• PART 3 fully integrates with Procore so that if the general contractor uses Procore as their common data environment (CDE), the two systems work well together across various construction-stage workflows. 

PART 3 has a full suite of CA phase workflows and tools—from addressing the RFI and Submittals processes to managing and addressing Tasks and Assignments and Field Reports.

It also addresses project files like the construction drawings, so there is a single source of truth (SSoT) for the entire project team. The system can also handle version control, and users can also upload project manuals and specifications. To help organize things, there is a flexible folder structure in PART 3’s system.

View of PART 3’s UI when looking at the Overview screen. 

The ProjectFiles system also allows markup tools for drawings, submittals, RFI packages, and product cut sheets. PART 3 also notes that the reason why architects should want to manage their drawings inside of PART 3 rather than Procore when working on a Procore project is for complete control and visibility of the single source of truth.

On Procore integrated projects, RFIs and Submittals are automatically imported into PART 3, and you prepare your responses to both in PART 3, and those get sent to Procore.

Mobile and AI

PART 3 doesn’t have dedicated mobile apps that you download from the Apple or Google Store; instead, it operates as a Progressive Web App (PWA). Users load their browser on the mobile smartphone and go to app.part3.ca and tap the three dots in the top right and select Install App or Add to Home Screen. PART 3 is designed specifically for architectural site visits and fieldwork, and there is an offline mode so you can continue working. You can drop pins for issue locations, take field notes, log observations, and snap photos to go with. And you can distribute firm-branded PDF field reports directly from the smartphone app right from the job site.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is embedded in PART 3, where it powers the Submittal Assistant, surfacing issues before you begin your review.

Architosh Analysis and Commentary

One of the most critical things about AE professionals using the general contractor’s CDE solutions for project and CA phase management is the “disconnection factor” that typically comes down the line. At some point, the architect loses access to Procore or some other rival platform CDE. So PART 3 is fundamentally addressing that by delivering a CA platform for the architect first and foremost. All the critical work, like RFIs and submittals, happens in PART 3, and all that data remains there, even though copies are pushed to Procore. 

In a quick review of the product walk-through online, we also like PART 3’s simplified user interface and UX. This system seems very approachable, and for architects, especially those in the high-end residential market, who may not be managing all aspects of the CA phase, the critical elements they always must address—RFIs and Submittals and a single source of truth for construction drawings—appear to be managed extremely well in this system. 

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The multi-year commitment encompasses a complete overhaul of Newforma’s technology stack—spanning its flagship Newforma Project Center and native SaaS Newforma Konekt platforms—while laying the compliance groundwork for FedRAMP readiness to serve highly regulated public-sector clients.

AI Roadmap & Key

To execute the technical transformation, Newforma has partnered with zeb, an AWS Premier Tier Partner specializing in AI and cloud engineering. The collaboration focuses on four pivotal operational areas:

• Generative AI via Amazon Bedrock: Development of intelligent, automated tools for compliance tracking, contract administration, and complex document review.
• Platform Modernization: Upgrading legacy and on-premises cloud bridges in Newforma Project Center while continuing the cloud-native evolution of Newforma Konekt.
• FedRAMP Compliance: Preparing Newforma’s cloud infrastructure to meet strict federal security standards, enabling broader enterprise adoption among defense and infrastructure contractors.
• Enterprise Scalability: Improving speed, uptime, and cross-platform performance across complex architectural and engineering datasets.

“This collaboration marks an important milestone for Newforma and our customers,” said Peter Cannone, Chief Executive Officer of Newforma. “We’ve spent years helping AECO firms embrace digital transformation through both on-prem and cloud solutions that improve collaboration and project delivery. By deepening our relationship with AWS, we’re investing in the next generation of our platform, giving customers greater flexibility, stronger security, faster innovation, and a foundation for the AI-powered workflows that shape the future of our industry.”

Mal Vivek, CEO of zeb, stated:

“Newforma’s work with AWS will unlock powerful AI capabilities for AECO firms, from generative AI through Amazon Bedrock to scalable cloud infrastructure built for their most demanding workloads,” said Rich Geraffo, Vice President & Managing Director, AWS North America. “We’re proud to help the industry that builds our world shape its digital future.”

Newforma Preparedness

“This is much more than an infrastructure initiative,” said Ben Bazso, Chief Technology Officer of Newforma. “We’re strengthening the technology platform that powers Newforma today while creating the flexibility to deliver new AI capabilities, deeper integrations, and continuous innovation for years to come. Working alongside AWS and zeb allows us to further optimize our cloud platforms and accelerate our AI roadmap, providing customers with greater performance, resilience, and choice as their technology needs continue to evolve.”

Architosh Analysis & Commentary

Newforma is committed to moving beyond its on-premise heritage. For two decades, Newforma Project Center has served as the backbone of document control, email indexing, and administrative tracking for leading architecture and engineering firms. However, its historical reliance on local server infrastructure often presented modern hybrid firms with deployment challenges.

This seven-year commitment with AWS signals Newforma’s definitive shift toward a unified, cloud-first ecosystem—pairing the deep submittal/RFI search powers of Project Center with the modern web-based issue tracking of Newforma Konekt.

By choosing Amazon Bedrock as its generative AI engine, Newforma gains access to leading foundation models without exposing proprietary firm data or project records. In an industry where unstructured data—specifically decades of email correspondence, spec books, and drawing sets—causes significant administrative friction, applying AI to automate document review and compliance could save AECO project managers hundreds of hours per year.

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As artificial intelligence adoption accelerates across the architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO) sector, technology leaders face a growing paradox: teams are eagerly experimenting with AI, but they are doing so in fragmented, localized silos. Disconnected datasets, proprietary formats, and isolated spreadsheets continue to create duplicate effort rather than actionable intelligence—all while amplifying data governance and security risks for enterprise CIOs.

Key Takeaways

• Revizto adds new Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, which converts Revizto project data into an AI-queryable format.
• Revizto users can now use natural language prompts inside their preferred LLM (Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT, etc) and ask natural language queries.
• Adds Model & Object Properties API — provides real-time access to model and object data including material types, systems, fire ratings, quantities, and more, without opening the Revizto application.

Revizto’s latest update tackles this head-on by establishing a unified, open, and secure data intelligence layer, letting firms leverage custom AI agents and BI tools against live project models without sacrificing control over their intellectual property.

Tackling Tech Bloat in AEC/O

The release arrives on the heels of Revizto’s Bridging the Gap Report 2026, which highlighted critical industry bottlenecks:

• Bandwidth & Training Deficit: For the second consecutive year, 32% of construction leaders cited a lack of time and capacity as their primary barrier to adopting new software.
• Sovereignty Concerns: A staggering 96% of organizations expressed anxiety regarding data ownership and control when deploying emerging technologies.
• Stack Consolidation: Rather than adopting niche, single-purpose apps, 39% of firms are actively planning to simplify their technology stacks in favor of multi-functional, connected platforms.

Revizto’s Bridging the Gap Report 2026 concludes: “AEC organizations are prioritizing tech consolidation, favoring connected platforms that deliver great value with less operational complexity.”

Technical Summary

At the heart of Revizto’s release are three distinct technology components that streamline data access across cross-platform AEC environments (macOS, Windows, iPadOS, and Web):

• Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server —  Technical Role = Bridges Revizto project data with LLMs and AI agents; Primary Use Case = Natural language querying (e.g., “Find unresolved Level 3 clashes”)
• Model & Object Properties API — Technical Role = Real-time headless access to model/object metadata; Primary Use Case = Automated QTO, carbon tracking, procurement, and FM handovers
• Developer Portal (OAuth 2.0) — Technical Role = Enterprise-grade access control & app registration; Primary Use Case = Streamlined developer workflows, API updates, and role management

MCP Server

Instead of requiring complex, custom-built integrations to parse proprietary BIM schemas, the new MCP Server converts rich Revizto project data into an AI-queryable format. Project managers can use natural language prompts inside their preferred LLM—asking natural queries such as:

• “Which fire doors are currently missing certification documents?”
• “What are the top five unresolved structural-to-MEP clashes on Level 3?”

The system returns context-aware answers in seconds, drastically reducing manual audits and static spreadsheet reports.

Model & Object Properties API

This headless API grants real-time programmatic access to granular BIM metadata—including material assemblies, fire ratings, system classifications, and spatial quantities—without needing to open the native Revizto desktop app. This enables automated workflows for:

• Live Quantity Take-Offs (QTO) and cost estimation engines.
• Embodied Carbon Dashboards reading live material specs.
• Digital Handover & FM Systems populating asset management databases downstream.

The possibilities for connections and use cases are much wider than the good but obvious choices shown above.

Modernized Developer Portal

Replacing legacy, manual access-code management, the new portal introduces industry-standard OAuth 2.0 app registration. Account admins and enterprise software developers now have self-serve controls to register applications, handle security permissions, and receive direct updates as Revizto’s API infrastructure evolves.

To learn more about Revizto, click here.

Architosh Analysis & Commentary

Revizto has built its reputation as one of the fastest, most reliable issue tracking and 3D coordination environments in the AEC industry—particularly revered for its high-performance hybrid engine across both Apple macOS and Microsoft Windows environments.

With this update, Revizto is strategically repositioning itself from a coordination viewer into a centralized project data hub.

The decision to embrace the Model Context Protocol (MCP) standard is a shrewd move. Rather than building a closed, proprietary “Revizto AI” chatbot that locks customers into a single LLM vendor, Revizto is providing the pipe. IT directors can connect their own private, enterprise-governed AI instances (whether OpenAI, Anthropic, or custom local models) directly to live model data. This directly addresses the 96% data sovereignty concern highlighted in their report: your data stays in your cloud, accessed only by your AI tools.

A final point from their industry report is that AEC organizations are frustrated with tech stack inflation and subscription fatigue. Reaching this tipping point, software vendors must either become extensible platforms or risk being consolidated out of customer tech stacks. 

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AI Compliance

CODii

This company was completely new to us at AIA this year and focuses on using AI technologies to streamline project requirements. Essentially, users link folders to the systems, and CODii does the rest. These folders can live in systems like SharePoint or Google Drive, and CODii automatically classifies every connected document as a requirement or deliverable.

CODii is a new compliance AI tool that works on your own project data as organized in linked folders. Do AI inference on your project’s complete data.

The goal here is to have one searchable source of truth regarding every project obligation you, as an architect, need to meet. It also addresses deliverables, be they drawings and specifications or reports and calculations. Essentially, this gives you and your firm team the ability to ask natural language questions against your project documents. You are doing AI inference against your data to perform quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC).

CodeComply.AI

Nothing was more thematic at AIA26 this year than using artificial intelligence (AI) to perform code reviews on your documents and models. Unlike Architosh’s BEST of SHOW winner Kestrel Labs, CodeComply.AI works with uploaded plan sets. The company says, “CodeComply turns your plan set into a live, code-aware workspace—run jurisdiction-specific checks, test design alternatives, and produce cited documentation in the same tool you use to validate your drawings.”

CodeComply.AI in action. The UI is in white with shades of pink and gray, with tools on the left and a dialog box panel on the right.

CodeComply.AI has a nice workflow and UI/UX for a tool working with plan sets alone. However, the limitation of tools that work with plan sets alone is that your code review process still needs to return to your authoring BIM solution. For many architects, this may not be a big deal. CodeComply also has a feature called VersionVue, which allows the user to compare plan versions, highlighting every change. This is again using AI technologies to compare your document versions. You can use smart filters to focus on only what matters most in the comparison. Like Bluebeam’s Compare features, color coding is used to show the original plan and what’s new.

Back to codes, this application works with IBC, IPC, IMC, NFPA 101, ADA, FHA, state-amended building and residential codes, and custom jurisdictions can be easily added. It works on any building type.

Other AI Software

xFigura.Ai

xFigura.AI has some notable world-class architecture firms listed as customers on its homepage. The AI platform offers over 45 AI models, and they are curated for the architectural process. These include abilities such as text-to-render, render enhancement, image-to-render, sketch-to-render, image-to-video, image-to-3D, rendering relighting, InPainting, design boards, and more.

xFigura AI uses a node-based system for linking various functions and data. This takes place on an infinite canvas.

With xFigura, the canvas is an infinite board where you build, connect, and generate. Everything done in Figura lives on the canvas. There are no tabs, just one vast canvas which is your creative space. On the canvas, you can create and organize nodes. The node interface will instantly feel familiar to Grasshopper users, but Figura isn’t like Grasshopper. This is not an advanced algorithm-aided design (AAD) software. It is much easier than that.

Visualization Software

D5 Render

D5 Render was at AIA26 and enjoyed excellent traffic from North American architects curious to learn how real-time visualization works and how it differs from the competition. In Architosh’s view, D5 is highly competitive with the best real-time interactive renderers in the global market across a range of metrics, including visual quality and feature set.

An image of D5 Render at AIA26 in San Diego on the show floor.

Realized not long after AIA26, D5 Render version 3.1 was released, with a shift in focus toward supporting interaction in collaboration workflows. Architosh covered version 3.1 in detail, which you can read here. (see: Architosh, “D5 Render 3.1: The Future of Architectural Design Reviews,” 17 Jun 2026).

Architosh Analysis: While D5 has been historically Windows-only due to a reliance on Windows DirectX 12 and DXR ray-tracing, the rendering company has announced this year that D5 Render is officially coming to the Mac. The D5 Render Engine is a proprietary real-time rendering engine built from the ground up by D5 specifically for the field of architecture. Unlike game industry rendering engines like Unreal (used in Twinmotion), the D5 Engine is optimized to handle the massive architectural datasets and complex lighting with a high degree of efficiency. 

D5 leverages full path tracing, a higher form of ray tracing, and is built with a custom shader architecture that provides native optimal support on both Windows (DX12) and macOS (Metal). For those Mac users clamoring to get a Mac version, there is an official D5 Render Mac Waitlist here. Importantly, on M3 and higher, Apple Silicon supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing, so Mac users may need to update their systems once this native macOS version ships. For the D5 Mac curious who cannot wait, their Mac-native options include Twinmotion, Enscape, Blender, and the new Maxon Redshift Render for AEC. 

Lumion

Lumion was arguably the premier real-time, interactive renderer when such rendering applications first emerged a decade ago. Despite its visual benefits, the software has long been noted for being resource-intensive and Windows-only. As Mac computers continue to gain market share worldwide and within architecture programs in college, this Windows-only posture is starting to change.

Lumion View is Mac-native and works with the latest macOS versions of SketchUp. This is a lightweight real-time rendering plugin that functions as a design companion, offers conceptual-style preset render settings (like clay, wood, etc.), supports customized artificial lights (point, spot, area), and provides quick 4K rendered output. However, the Mac version uses rasterization, as the developer’s native ray tracing and dynamic sky-cloud environments are still in development on the Mac.

Meanwhile, the latest Lumion 2026.1 update supports ray-traced panoramas, a new pattern editor, parallax interiors, and more.

Financial Software

Factor A/E

Factor A/E is financial software for the architect or designer’s practice. This includes all time-keeping, project financial planning and performance tracking, reporting, resource scheduling, and billing. The company says it is the most adaptable platform in the AE industry and thus is flexible enough for how various firms work and charge.

Factor A/E has firms covered with detailed and comprehensive financial dashboards.

Factor A/E is touted as more customizable than Monograph, particularly for invoices. As for fee-type billing, for firms that bill simply by hourly or a fixed fee, both Monograph and Factor A/E have you covered. However, for firms that charge a percentage of construction costs as their fee, these solutions stand apart. Factor A/E handles percentage of construction cost billing as a simplified Fixed Fee workaround. Mapping a percentage contract to Fixed Fee this way isn’t ideal, and that is where BQE, with its built-in Percentage contract rules, shines.

Monograph

The initial distinguishing feature of Monograph is its gorgeous user-interface graphics and information clarity. Monograph shines above its nearest competitors, Factor A/E and BQE, in this regard. Touted as “firm management software for architects and engineers,” Monograph is trusted by over 16,000 architects and engineers.

Monograph does full project accounting, builds budgets, assigns staff, forecasts performance, and handles billing and payments. Both Monograph, Factor A/E, and BQE offer compelling features and benefits, and all of them offer detailed pre-flight onboarding experiences as part of considering the software for adoption.

You can visit them online here:  Factor A/E, Monograph, and BQE.

Other Show Reports

AIA26: Expo Show Report 1 — Autodesk

AIA26: Expo Show Report 2 — Nemetschek Group

AIA26: Expo Show Report 3 — Trimble and SketchUp

AIA26: Expo Show Report 4 — Chaos 

AIA26: Expo Show Report 5 — neoBIM, and other AI apps

AIA26: Expo Show Report 6 — xFigura, CODii, others

AIA26: Expo Show Report 7 — Layer, Arcol, Egnyte and more…

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The Group legally closed its largest company acquisition to date, Heavy Construction Systems Specialists, LLC (HCSS), on 1 July 2026. The launch of Bluebeam Max as the Group’s first comprehensive agentic AI solution for the construction industry has been a significant milestone for the company as part of its broad AI strategy.

Financial Results:

In general, the Nemetschek Group’s earnings have grown by more than 10% over the past five years (on average), while the past year has seen growth of more than triple that. Here is a summary of its recent financials:

• Q2 (2026) revenue of EUR 327.7 million (+14.5%)
• Q2 EBITDA (currency-adjusted) is EUR 98.6 million (+15.8%)
• Q2 Net Income is EUR 66 million (25.4%)
• +25.3% growth in earnings per share to EUR 0.57 in Q2
• Q2 EBITDA margin reported at 30.1% (adjusted for acquisition-related one-off costs at 31.0%

Group revenue for H1, 2026 increased to EUR 640.7 million (USD 736.2 million), representing a constant-currency growth rate of 15.7% (reported: 11.9%).

Nemetschek Group – Q2 and H1 2026.

“The first half of 2026 was characterized by continued very strong operational performance and important strategic milestones for the Nemetschek Group,” says Yves Padrines, CEO of the Nemetschek Group. “With the successful closing of the HCSS acquisition, the largest acquisition in the company’s history, we are strengthening our market position in the infrastructure and heavy civil construction sector, which offers very attractive long-term growth prospects. At the same time, we consistently continue to execute our AI strategy. The successful market launch of our agentic AI suite, Bluebeam Max, together with the further expansion of Group-wide AI solutions, sets new standards for the integration of AI across our industries. The combination of strong organic growth, strategic investments and a clear AI strategy provide an excellent foundation for sustained profitable growth and long-term value creation for our customers, partners and shareholders.”

Looking at Segments

The Nemetschek Group positions all of its products into market segments for the two primary industries it serves. Here are some notes on those:

• Design Segment — this segment reached Q2 revenue of EUR 142.9 million (growth of 9.9%). Margin in this segment was 22.7%. The main brands in this segment include Graphisoft, Allplan and Vectorworks (all BIM and CAD platforms). Engineering design solution companies are also in this segment, including Frilo and RISA.
• Build Segment — this segment reached Q2 revenue of EUR 142.9 million (growth of 22.4%). Margin in this segment reached 40.1%, a substantially higher level than the design segment. The main brands in this segment include Bluebeam, Nevaris, and GoCanvas. HCSS will also be in this segment.
• Manage Segment — this segment reached Q2 revenue of 13.1 million (4.6% growth). Margin was 5.1%. The primary brands in this segment are Crem Solutions and dTwin.
• Media Segment — this segment reached revenues of EUR 29.4 million (flat to slightly down, YoY). Margin was 27.7%. The primary brand is Maxon, with recent acquisitions in this segment consolidating into Maxon.

For the full year in 2026, the Group expects currency-adjusted organic revenue growth in the range of 14 – 15% for the financial year in 2026. For those who want a deeper dive or for AEC industry investors, read our deeper analysis below.

Architosh Analysis and Commentary

The HCSS acquisition will impact the Group’s top and bottom lines next quarter. HCSS alone had annual 2025 revenues of over USD 215 million. Prior to the acquisition, HCSS’s annual revenue growth rate was over 21%, making it twice as strong (in growth) as the Design segment’s average organic growth rate and close to the Build segment’s. Architosh sees the Build segment accelerating growth due to multiple factors, including Bluebeam Max (a premium-tier AI-centric Bluebeam offering), HCSS’s organic rate, plus synergies within the segment, including those with GoCanvas. 

A more troubling aspect of Group is its Media segment (Maxon). Flat revenue growth is always a concern, and this may explain why Maxon began to pivot more aggressively towards the AEC visualization space over the past year, introducing real-time, interactive rendering solutions for authoring tools, beginning with Vectorworks and then Revit. The company must resist discounting those solutions to the point of projecting lower value to the market than its chief competitors in Chaos, Lumion, and D5. Instead, the Maxon solution needs to demonstrate unique value-add in the offering itself. 

Nemetschek’s forward PE Ratio is currently 24.1, which is a bit lower than its main rivals but notably low by its five-year history (see chart below).

The Nemetschek Group is doing well financially, but its stock price is down for the year, as are those of its chief rivals (Autodesk, Bentley, and Trimble). With broad real estate slowdowns and a cooling construction industry, the entire sector’s stocks are down for the year (approximately 26% for Nemetschek and Autodesk and 32% for Trimble). However, these financial results reported yesterday have seen the stock (ETRA:NEM) shoot up dramatically. 

This five-year view of the PE ratio for Nemetschek clearly shows that through most of the past five years, the PE ratio has been over 30, reflecting the company’s strong earnings growth and free cash flow generation.

Looking forward, Nemetschek is currently undervalued by most analysts. Simply Wall Street has it at 40%+ undervalued. Using the Rule of 40, with 15% ± revenue growth plus 25 – 30% ± margins (= 40+), the company deserves a premium multiple (30-40PE). With HSCC’s revenue and margin contribution, the Nemetschek Group is currently a very attractive stock buy. Adding further optimism are the company’s broader AI strategy, the Bluebeam Max rollout, and AI in general. 

Nemetschek Earnings Growth forecasts and recent history show clear strength and upward momentum.

Architosh sees the AEC/O industry finding new paths to higher revenue as agentic AI solutions drive clear value in automating the mundane and tedious in AEC workflows. Bluebeam Max’s implementation is a crystal-clear indicator of what AI success looks like for revenue expansion. Take a product that is already a standard on a subscription customer base and offer a higher-tier offering that offers highly attractive benefits. With the broad construction industry stalled or cooling, the take-up for more premium AI offerings will be slower than if the construction industry were doing well, but the take-up will still manifest for products with clear ROI. 

Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial, investment, or legal advice. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Always conduct your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

[Editor’s Note] In the Analysis section, HCSS was incorrectly written HSCC, and this has been corrected. 17 Sep 2026. 

The post What’s Driving Nemetschek Group’s Financial Performance appeared first on Architosh.

Zeus Platform

Bolt Graphics is based in Sunnyvale, California, and is an emerging semiconductor startup. They design graphics processing units (GPUs) tailored specifically for four key industries:  (1) Architecture & Design, (2) Film and Television, (3) HPC, and (4) Gaming.

Founder, CEO, and CTO Darwesh Singh teamed up with an interior designer to build a brand-new GPU architecture from scratch, and the company officially launched in 2020, securing funding rounds in 2021-2022 and revealing its patent-pending ray-tracing architecture in 2023-2024. The “Zeus” chip architecture was introduced in early 2026.

Bolt Graphics’ upcoming Zeus GPU architecture will come in multiple configurations and setups, including cloud and server options.

Zeus utilizes a RISC-V command processor and an in-house designed SIMD layout. Notably, the company shuns AI upscaling shortcuts, focusing purely on raw path-tracing silicon power to cut rendering costs by up to 17x.

The company completed its first physical tape-out of its first 12nm Zeus test chip in April 2026, and they were prominently at SIGGRAPH 2026 touting their new GPU.

Performance and Details

The Zeus architecture utilizes path tracing, a more advanced form of ray tracing that more accurately simulates light. Path tracing is computationally more expensive than ray tracing but needs more rays to converge on clean results (reduce noise). Today’s GPUs don’t have enough performance to compute enough rays for real-time path tracing. That is Bolt Graphics’ consensus.

Bolt Graphics claims that one needs 28 Zeus GPUs to achieve real-time path tracing, compared to 280 Nvidia RTX 5090 GPUs. The Nvidia RTX 5090 is Bolt’s reference card. So the Zeus 1C is 2.5x faster than the 5090 in path tracing performance, while the Zeus 2C is 5x faster, and Zeus 4C is 10x faster.

The Zeus GPU comes in three different versions, including other stats:

• Process: 12nm
• Bolt Zeus 1C, 2C and 4C
• Board Power: 120W, 250W, and 500W, respectively
• FP64: 5, 10, 20 TFLOPS
• FP16 Vector: 20, 40, 80 TFLOPS
• On-Chip Memory: 128, 256, 512 MB
• Memory: 32-160 GB, 64-384 GB, 256-2,304 GB
• Path Tracing: 77, 154, and 307 gigarays

Bolt Graphics notes that currently adding ray or path tracing features in real-time applications (games, real-time renderers, metaverse experiences, etc) lowers performance by more than half. Games without ray or path tracing enable achieving greater than 60 FPS, but the same game goes to less than 30 FPS when ray-traced shadows and reflections are turned on.

Bolt Graphics’ Zeus architecture with Glowstick real-time path tracing technology.

Glowstick is Bolt’s real-time path tracer and is aiming to provide that technology inside the viewports of Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, SketchUp, Houdini, and others.

Of course, we haven’t written about other technical issues, like material textures, USD integration (which Bolt’s Zeus has), and how programmable the Glowstick shading pipeline is (quite programmable, indeed). On the platform development side, support for tooling on x86, RISC-V, ARM, and Windows (coming soon) is all noted in Bolt’s literature.

To learn more, you can visit their website here.

Architosh Analysis and Commentary

Bolt Graphics is an exciting development, especially given the difficulty the rendering and animation professional communities have had over the past few years with the rise of general AI and the demand-side pressure that has driven up the cost of GPUs and now memory. Bolt’s Zeus GPU architecture promises substantial performance-per-dollar metrics over what AMD and Nvidia are currently delivering. But it is also about power, with substantial performance per watt differentiation, a story akin to Apple’s M-series processor advantages in the general computer market. 

Again, we learned about Zeus from SIGGRAPH this year and hope to have much to share about the GPU market in the creative industries of DCC and AEC in an upcoming report. Just to be clear, Bolt Graphics is targeting the Architecture industry with its own page on workflows, with software integrations focused on common architecture tools like SketchUp, Revit, AutoCAD, and Unreal Engine (used in Twinmotion). It goes without saying that we are quite excited to see this development. 

Initial hardware delivery for Bolt Graphics Zeus GPUs is targeted for December 2027, so we are more than a year and a half away, and that is after the work of porting its architecture to the TSCM 5nm process node. 

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A Curated Selection

What follows is a non-alphabetically ordered curated selection of companies we were introduced to on the show floor, heard about from various sources, or researched before and after our attendance. Many of these we already know, while quite a few are newcomers. We will start with the newcomers and those that really interested us the most.

neoBIM GmbH

This relatively new AEC software company is based in Germany, and its founder and CEO, Moritz Luck, was the co-founder of the award-winning Enscape real-time, interactive rendering program. Its chief product officer (CPO) is also a former CEO of one of the Nemetschek Group’s major daughter companies. So if we want to think about this as a music band, two leaders of this new German software company have hit albums that have gone platinum status—sticking with the music analogy for a moment.

So what does neoBIM do? What do they make?

At AIA26 we had a chance to see their products (including ones under development) up close. Their current shipping products include a series of digital tools under the buildOS moniker. These are “AEC tools, built from the AI up.” That is a bit of a moniker for them.

Each tool solves a real bottleneck, and each tool can be used by itself or together on newBIM’s buildOS platform.

An image of Gen, by neoBIM GmbH of Germany. (Image: neoBIM)

Tool one is called Gen. This looked and felt like TestFit but with a twist and a bit supercharged. You select your plot (building site), and Gen drafts up every code-compliant build the site can hold. You can select a solution and then start manipulating it. The process is a four-step one: Enter an address. See what you can build. Know if it pays. And finally, take over time. It’s at this last step that you can begin to move, resize, redraw, and manipulate any of the building solutions directly.

At the same time, all the numerical data you need to test sites with real buildings and real programs is given to you in real time as you manipulate the model. Finding out what a project is worth (what it pays): Gen works with buildable GFA and unit mix, then with GDV, yield, cost per sq ft, and net return, using local market data.

Another image of Gen, from neoBIM GmbH. At AIA26, Gen was making some noise and the cognoscenti of digital tools in AEC were whispering about it. (Image: neoBIM)

Once you are done working out sites and a solution in neoBIM’s Gen tool, you export 3D Revit or IFC models, PDFs of plans and views, etc.

Other tools this company now has include Insider (which reads every council meeting in 250+ German municipalities), zoning changes, design competitions, etc. This is about winning the work. Tender is their third tool, and it manages the Tendering phase process.

Finally, we got a sneak peek at this company’s brand new AI-first oriented BIM authoring application under development. It is important to note that today’s BIM authoring tools (all the desktop-era ones) require substantial re-architecting at the data and metadata levels to be best-fit for the agentic AI era.

This image shows neoBIM’s AEC industry-first BIM tool, written from the ground up for agentic AI. The move from today’s BIMs to the future of agentic AI BIMs means moving from a database schema that is strictly deterministic versus data structures that natively support “probabilistic multi-states”

Desktop-era models are saved in large, proprietary relational databases. An agentic AI-native BIM tool replaces static, monolithic files with dynamic, semantic data streams designed for machine comprehension and real-time collaboration. The real-time part is already part of the BIM 2.0 definition this publication—and AEC Magazine principly—have solidly defined and written about. But BIM 2.0 emerged prior to OpenAI’s groundbreaking ChatGPT and Anthropic’s model context protocol (MCP server model). That means tools like neeBIM’s new BIM engine represent true agentic AI-first platform technology for the AI era.

Architosh Analysis and Commentary

A completely brand new BIM platform engine that is agentic-AI-centric is an exciting new prospect in the AEC market, and this company was getting a lot of attention and discussion on the show floor by other digital tools providers. That alone says quite a bit. This is a company that we intend to watch very closely, and we encourage Architosh readers to explore their technology and solutions. 

Archistar Inc.

Archistar is from Australia, and we have written about the company a few times inside our Xpresso newsletter, where we focus on emTech (emerging technologies) in AEC/O. From the earliest years, we have been impressed with Archistar but wondered how this Australian software company was going to grow globally or to the US.

Initially, Archistar launched as a platform aimed at property finding and planning workflows, recognizing that historically architects and developers spent weeks digesting zoning codes and regulations impacting what you could do with a given property. Interestingly, this is the kind of thing that is now partially automated with the Gen tool we just wrote about above from neoBIM GmbH.

Archistar eCheck is an AI PreCheck plan review application.

Archistar would allow users to select a plot of land and instantly generate thousands of compliant 3D building concepts on it (from apartments, mixed-use, townhomes, etc), all tailored to local building and zoning limitations. This is still a great pain point to solve, by the way, but the Australian company did a major pivot and now offers an AI PreCheck application (formerly eCheck).

Today, Archistar is an AI plan review platform, and using AI technology to review for compliance was a very hot topic this year at AIA26. What makes Archistar different from, say, Kestrel Labs’ compliance platform is the target audience. Archistar is built for local governments. The software can read CAD, PDF, and BIM files and evaluate them automatically against compliance regulations (zoning, building codes, etc).

Another interesting pivot is the North American one. With capital raises of USD 22 million in 2022, the Australian firm opened offices in Los Angeles and Vancouver. The platform is now used by over 30 major North American cities, including LA County, the City of Austin, and New York City.

Archistar still offers its earlier generative design solutions. There is a free Archistar to Autodesk Forma integration.

MeltPlan 

This is another well-funded (to the tune of USD 14 million) AI-native planning engine for pre-construction. MeltPlan handles building code, cost, scheduling, and value planning. These activities are addressed through Melt Code, Melt Takeoff, and Melt Bid.

For architects, MeltPlan offers instant, expert-grade compliance research to guide design decisions. This is not a black-box AI system that doesn’t reveal its AI methodologies and knowledge paths. MeltPlan says its system is trained to understand building industry knowledge, including codes and standards, AEC ontologies, building elements and assemblies, quantities and scopes. And every result comes with clear reasoning explained. There is even a visualization created. (see image below).

MeltPlan can produce 3D visuals that can illustrate code review analysis results.

Then there is Melt Bid, to “level bids in minutes, not hours,” as their tagline suggests. This solution works in the cloud or in Excel and helps professionals level bids up to 10x faster than traditional workflows. Using AI, the system generates a full comparison of uploaded bids based on your template in minutes, not hours. To learn more about MeltPlan, visit them online.

Mosaic

Finally, Mosaic is another new company to us, and it’s a project resource planning, management, and forecasting application. This is a solution aimed at larger organizations, and the general philosophy is simple—when work is planned, everything goes better downstream, schedules stabilize, utilization rates rise, and profitability follows.

A view of Mosaic on an iPad at AIA26 inside their booth.

Mosaic’s AI technology automatically generates work assignments and decides based on who has the skills needed and their schedule availability. Of course, even well-laid plans change, and Mosaic has patented technology that automatically adjusts schedules smartly based on these changes.

Mosaic can generate and manage demand, utilization, profitability, and workloads and can determine things like when it is time to hire and for what roles and skills to hire for. The system can even predict (forecast) workload, profitability, and revenue. This kind of data and knowledge is presented smartly in live dashboards, variance reporting, and AI operational briefs so managers and leaders can see where time, budget, and schedule are tracking while there is still time to act. To learn more, visit here.

Other Show Reports

AIA26: Expo Show Report 1 — Autodesk

AIA26: Expo Show Report 2 — Nemetschek Group

AIA26: Expo Show Report 3 — Trimble and SketchUp

AIA26: Expo Show Report 4 — Chaos 

AIA26: Expo Show Report 5 — neoBIM, and other AI apps

AIA26: Expo Show Report 6 — xFigura, CODii, others

AIA26: Expo Show Report 7 — Layer, Arcol, Egnyte and more…

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