Companies are making meaningful progress in their AI adoption journeys

Already, their companies are uncovering valuable, industry-specific AI applications—with uses ranging from automated transcription of meeting minutes to assistance laying out factory floors. In the future, leaders and experts predict that generative AI will increasingly help human workers to make crucial design decisions about physical products, buildings, and digital assets. 

Fifty-six percent say they are already approaching or have already achieved their goal of incorporating AI into their companies—a perhaps surprising number, given that generative AI is still an emerging technology. An even larger portion say that AI will enhance their industry and be “essential across the board” within two to three years. 

The response to Autodesk’s AI-powered tools indicates a similarly strong level of interest in the technology. The beta version of a Maya automation tool that helps artists manage their scene data saw a 60% increase in the number of users interested in the beta version compared to the average number of beta launch users, over the course of just a few months—a spike that is unprecedented in the history of the company’s beta launches. 

While much of the conversation about AI in design and make industries centers on generative design, companies are also exploring use cases that streamline or enhance back-office processes. “There are plenty of use cases for AI, especially when it comes to contracts, compliance, and risk assessment,” says Robert Grys, projects management advisor at Public Works Authority of Qatar (Ashghal). “In a construction project you could have AI to review the tender documents whether the scope of work is compliant with your corporate BIM standards. During evaluation stage, you could ask the AI to check whether the proposals are responding to the tender requirements like scope of services or required resources which the contractor needs to provide. Normally, you would need a human to read hundreds of pages of contracts.” 

Overall, the top use cases for AI today are increasing productivity and automating mundane, repetitive tasks.

Trust in AI is extraordinarily high, with 76% of respondents saying they trust the technology for their industry. However, this statistic is undercut by a vein of cautious skepticism running through interviews with business leaders and experts. Some express doubts that companies are going to be able to trust the technology enough to sign off on critical deliverables, noting that existing AI tools often present errors as facts. Others think that current levels of optimism will dim if bad actors misuse the technology. 

“We’ve not yet had cases where AI has done something really bad,” notes Severin Tenim, head of strategic projects & development at ALEC Engineering & Contracting, a leading tier one construction and contracting firm. “Once there are more events of AI impacting society negatively, or malicious use of AI, I think that trust level will come down.”

Respondents are nearly evenly split on whether they see AI as a threat to their industries and companies, with neither side garnering a majority.