CD NOTES

  1. What If We Never Built Another New Building?

    Great example of the Pause scenario today from Reasons to be Cheerful: If [architect Barbara Buser] were in charge, “I would stop every project,” she says emphatically, “then review them all through the lens of sustainability. If a project cannot meet strict carbon targets, it shouldn’t be built.” Instead of measuring success in Swiss francs, she argues, “the currency should be CO2.” There’s a new film about her work coming soon. *GL-8/24/26

  2. ProCore invests in Reality Capture to the Tune of $845M

    AEC heavyweight ProCore PCOR dropped serious coin on a drone-based reality capture company in a cash transaction. The data DroneDeploy comes with includes 20 trillion (!!!) square feet of site imagery alone, giving the parent company more fuel for training their AI. “DroneDeploy CEO Mike Winn said the acquisition reflects what customers have consistently asked for, that reality capture should be a native part of how they work rather than a separate tool.” This is showing how Fast Forward is disproportionately available to those with access to capital – product-based businesses and only the the largest of professional services firms. *BB-7/30/26

  3. McKinsey is Betting on Fast Forward

    McKinsey dropped a new report titled “How AI is reshaping the future of the AEC industry” that lines up pretty nicely with our Fast Forward thesis. Included in their recommendations is a suggestion to focus on workflows or domains rather than tasks. This speaks to the capabilities of AI as much as it does the discoordination challenges natural to the AECO sector.

    Here’s a battle coming for leaders of Fast Forward firms:

    “Vendor data rights are another advantage that AEC leaders consistently underestimate. As AI capabilities improve, technology vendors are pushing harder to access project data and the rights to learn from it and reuse it to create new products, or to put guardrails around how their products or software can be used to train proprietary models. They are also increasingly competing to control workflows, learning loops, and business opportunities built on top of project data. Firms that overlook the details of vendor agreements risk giving away too much control and long-term advantage.” *BB-7/16/26