AI, Nex-Gen and Finding Pathways

Last week, jaw-dropping news hit the wire that the Chicago Sun-Times and some other major daily newspapers had mistakenly included 10 AI-generated, fake book titles in their 2025 recommended summer reading list. AI had paired real author names with plausible book titles... and no fact-checker had caught it!

Embarrassing examples like that are one reason why most journalists and many industries are still treading gingerly into the artificial intelligence revolution, even as AI seemingly gains more traction every day. And that trend certainly includes design and construction. On May 13, the new Deltek Clarity Architecture & Engineering Industry Study published its latest findings, based on responses from nearly 700 firms across the U.S. and Canada. A summary of its AI findings:

• AI adoption surged across the industry, with 53% of firms leveraging AI tools – up from 38% last year;
• Use cases include proposal development, project planning, business development and data analytics;
• However, a gap remains between intent and full integration, as many firms are still heavily reliant on manual processes for core functions like accounting and resource management;
• Digital maturity is among firms’ top tech priorities, with 38% now rating themselves as digitally mature or advanced, and 74% expecting to reach that stage within three years.

In our own May/June issue, contributor Nathan Kegel of IES Ltd. adds his insight. "AI has the potential to reshape how we design and operate buildings, but we are still in the early stages," he writes. "Right now, the most successful applications are narrow, well-defined, and paired with strong human oversight... Engineers should remain curious, but skeptical." So humans are still very much needed in this industry, and will be for quite some time.

Our cover story and June podcast dive into that next-generation talent pool with engineers Jennifer Leach and Keith Hammelman, who are each presenting this June at ASHRAE's annual conference in Phoenix. They both note that today's young engineers are a different bunch, shaped by many factors including environmental issues, human rights, and of course, technology.

"This latest generation is focused more on a work-life balance," says Leach, an associate principal at BR+A Consulting Engineers. "They aren't as motivated by money as the generation before them... I like to refer to them as 'modern hippies,' because they're very focused on rights, human rights and the environment, and things like that... This upcoming generation is more concerned about who they work with than what they do."

Adds Hammelman, a principal at Cannon Design, "[They want to know] what a company is doing that goes beyond. Will it allow them to grow in helping the environment? Or in social justice? Anything of that nature. It goes beyond just straight doing architecture and engineering now."

As the father of one child who is installing photovoltaic panels on a massive solar farm in downstate Illinois and another now monitoring greenhouse gas emissions for a building performance lab in New York City, I can relate. The next generation in and around this industry seems plugged into the bigger picture.

And taking that long view for many also involves more career planning, even if money isn't the biggest motivator now. Young engineers still want to see a pathway forward.

"When I started, I was told 'You're an engineer and you're just going to do engineering.' Well, in reality, there's a lot of different ways that things are done within a firm and you need to create those career pathways because not everyone is the same," says Hammelman.

For more insights from Leach and Hammelman, I encourage you to read our cover story and listen to our June episode of HPAC On The Air. Also check out our May episode, "Navigating Uncertainty, with economist Richard Branch."

There's a heck of a lot going on in and around our industry this spring and summer. Our goal is to try to keep you abreast of what's most important to your bottom line, whatever that might be.

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