From tool to assistant
Today we open a specialist application, navigate through menus, learn workflows – and call that working. Tomorrow we describe what we want, and an AI assistant carries it out. Directly. Without detours. This shift has already begun.
When an AI company announced it was integrating legal expertise directly into its assistant, the share prices of leading software vendors fell. Not because of poor results, but because of one question: if law, why not design?
“Investors are not pricing where AI is today. They are pricing where capability appears to be heading – and how fast it could scale.” – AEC Magazine, February 2026
What is already changing
Value is shifting to data structure
Many software licences are paid today to support human-led processes. As AI takes over these processes, the value proposition of the software breaks down – not the software itself, but what it is worth.
Practices are building their own tools
With AI support, practices can now build workflows and tools that previously required software developers. Dependence on standard software is declining.
Start-ups are targeting core tasks
New providers are aiming directly at the highest-value tasks: clash detection, optimisation, regulatory compliance. Not at the edges – but at the heart of existing software logic.
Expertise is migrating into systems
The pattern recognition of the experienced coordinator, the institutional knowledge of the specification writer – both are trainable. The question is not whether, but when.
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