AI finally entering into AEC?
Whilst slightly late to the party, AI seems to have finally found its footing within AEC.
AI tools have become all the rage across the world in the last few years, and there's hardly been an industry or a role type that hasn't altered its way of working to incorporate it in some way. But, for a long while at least, this wasn't the case in AEC. There just wasn't an AI solution that seemed to pique the interest of those in the space.
Until now, thanks to the rise of vision-language models (VLMs). The natural evolution of large language models (LLMs) they can now add images into their consideration when outputting a response, and extends its interpretation and reasoning capabilities. The rise of VLMs has, in essence, brought the LLM land into 2026 (and beyond!)
If you want more information on how VLMs are impacting the industry, then check out this article that was the catalyst for this blog - https://www.scalevp.com/blog/vlms-are-finally-giving-aec-its-ai-will-change-everything-moment.
Whilst there's lots to say about VLMs themselves, I think it's best that I focus on something I have a fair bit more authority on: recruitment, of course. So, how is the increased uptake of AI solutions going to impact recruitment within the AEC sector?
Increased demand for 'hybrid' talent
No, that's not hybrid in the location sense.
Previous experience has always been important - particularly in the Contech space - to hiring teams when they're looking for someone to fill a role. It's long been seen as essential for roles where the successful candidate needs to make a near-immediate impact in their position (we actually wrote a whole blog about this last year, if you want a more full run-down on the topic).
Whilst industry experience will always continue to remain important, we think people with a combination of AEC experience and technology experience will be the hottest prospects in the labour market. Think Architects who have used generative design tools, or an Engineer that can analyse and implement data from AI simulation tools. These are the combinations that will truly be the most sought after in the industry, and what we mean by 'hybrid'.
Understandably, there aren't too many candidates in the market that fit this very niche specification right now, so expect to pay a pretty penny if you want to secure one of these people.
New job roles on the horizon?
The greater introduction of AI into industry workflows is already creating new job roles that we've not seen in AEC before. This creates an interesting prospect for hiring managers as they are likely to have to find candidates from further afield as there simply won't be enough candidates in the industry to fill the number of new roles being created. Knowing where to look to find the skills you need could, therefore, be a major advantage to your company.
I'm not going to leave you in the dark about what those industries could be, so here's a shortlist of adjacent industries that are a little further along with AI adoption, and could house talent with the AI skills you need:
• PropTech: Property technology is maybe the most similar, with heavy use of IoT, predictive analysis, and smart building data, as well as experience with digital twins.
• Logistics & Supply Chain: AI has been used for years within this industry and analysing real-time data is the bread and butter for engineers in this space.
• Energy & Utilities: This is definitely the most relevant for sustainability-driven projects, where AI is used for asset monitoring and grid optimisation.
• Gaming & Simulation: Whilst not the most aligned in terms of what each industry builds towards, the skills are certainly a match. 3D environments and physics simulation lend themselves strongly to working with digital twins and construction simulations.
Skills-based hiring more important
VLMs look to be a revolutionary step forward for the industry, but they will require technical people with a strong grasp of concepts and skillsets to push them to its full capacity. Traditional experience and credentials are less important when looking to bring AI skills into your team. The important thing to understand in a recruitment process is whether a candidate can showcase the demonstrable skills they'd need to be successful in the role. Enter skills-based hiring.
It's a trend we've noticed picking up steam in recent years, so if you haven't given skills-based hiring a go yet, now is the perfect time to give it a go. I won't dive into the details of how it works here, but read this blog we put out earlier in the year if you want a bit more information on how to go about a skills-based hiring approach: https://www.fmctalent.com/article/skills-based-hiring-is-it-here-to-stay
To specifically test for AI skills you can bring in a task that involves AI simulation software to assess capabilities, or a task that requires effective AI prompting. Tasks such as these will be the most effective ways to test both general understanding and practical skills.
The AI-era for AEC looks set to be a fascinating age for the industry with a lot of positive change to move it forward. If you want to chat more about what you're seeing or are interested in bringing these skills into your team, feel free to reach out to me on grace.fuller@fmctalent.com.