Within AEC industry firms, technology platforms all too often exist as disparate silos of information. At AVAIL’s Confluence Seattle 2026 event in April, a group of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) technology leaders gathered to discuss how we can increase the dialog between various platforms, reduce redundancy, and bring silos together in new ways. We’ve put together key takeaways from each presentation below. Our next event, Confluence Chicago, is May 20, 2026.
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AVAIL is passionate about leveraging technology advancements to improve our content management solutions and started hosting our signature professional development Confluence Lexington events in 2019 as a way to explore what architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry firms are needing, wanting, and thinking around technology.
To bring these important, timely conversations to a wider audience, we started to organize single-day regional events in 2023. Confluence Seattle took place April 2, 2026, and Confluence Chicago is planned for May 20, 2026.
Exploring how AEC platforms can move from disconnected tools to truly connected systems, Confluence Seattle speakers included Scott Davidson from design software company (Rhino) Robert McNeel & Associates, Corey Rubadue from visualization technology company ArchVision, and Marlene Chen and Gavin Argo from global design firm Olson Kundig. Additionally, Michael Jansen from AI and digital twin technology company TwinMaster led a panel discussion featuring his colleague Dr. Prasanta Bose alongside Simon Manning from design firm NBBJ, Alex Woodhouse from design firm LMN Architects, and Tomás Méndez Echenagucia from University of Washington.
Explore the key insights from our Seattle sessions.
Key Insights
“Many firms seem to be drowning in data,” Scott said. Instead of transferring all the data embedded in each file type as the project moves through the stages of design and construction, Scott reframes platform success, asking, “What's the minimal amount of information you can pass on in the next stage?”
True integration between design tools goes beyond just file format interoperability. Instead, Scott advocates for deeper integration where tools like Rhino.Inside can directly access and operate on other tools’ data and objects, allowing for a more seamless and efficient exchange of information across the design and construction workflow.
Following programming sessions, the Confluence Seattle group walked together to a social gathering at Olson Kundig’s stunning Seattle office.
Key Insights
Efforts like USD and glTF aim to improve the portability and interoperability of 3D assets, but adoption and implementation across different software tools is still fragmented and inconsistent. “They’re just not penetrating,” Corey said.
ArchVision has developed FOVEA, an RPC-based platform that allows for more seamless sharing and reuse of 3D assets across different tools and workflows.
Key Insights
Giving teams space to explore tools builds confidence and engagement.
At 300 people, Olson Kundig emphasizes documentation and knowledge sharing. “If it gets siloed in one person's head, it's not going to work very well," Gavin said. “We are giving people the guardrails, guidelines, and safety net to experiment, test the tools, and refine the process in a way that they feel safe, secure, supported, and actually can do it.”
Beyond accepting the use of AI and supporting it in your team, the leadership team rolling up their sleeves to experiment and play with the tools, as well, makes a huge difference culturally. During their session, Gavin and Marlene shared stories of Olson Kundig owners following their curiosities with AI tools like mnml.ai and ChatGPT in front of and with their teammates. The goal of leadership is to celebrate the individuals playing and building these guides for the rest of their team. “All of us want to do better, and these processes and tools can help people do the best work that they want to do,” Marlene said.
The day closed with a panel curated by Michael Jansen, Chief Business Officer at TwinMaster. He brought together perspectives from practice with NBBJ’s Design Technology Integration Leader Simon Manning and LMN Architects’ Design Technologist, Tech Studio Alex Woodhouse, alongside education-minded Tomás Méndez Echenagucia, Associate Professor from the University of Washington’ Department of Architecture, and Michael’s TwinMaster colleague, CEO and CTO Dr. Prasanta Bose. “We have more AI tools than at any point in history and less clarity than ever about what’s actually working,” Michael said. What is working, and what’s next?
“A lot of the tools in their current state are great at the schematic and conceptual design phase, but as they move more into documentation and process of drawing buildings to deliver, that's where AI struggles,” Simon from NBBJ said.
Automation isn’t the issue — validation is: NBBJ, for example, hasn’t explored a lot of AI automation tools because it is challenging to validate the output. “In fact, we're building out a whole governance committee in our firm for vetting and validating all of our data,” Simon said.
Trusting the tools themselves to remain available in a certain form is also difficult for firms like LMN Architects, Alex said. “You don't know how long this company's going to be relevant. The models, for instance, they've changed so rapidly,” he said.
Structured, usable data and a level of nimbleness to shift tools will bring competitive advantages to firms in the future.
To sum up the day’s conversation: dialog between AEC technology platforms is improving, but it’s still a work in progress. Themes that kept popping up in discussions included:
Platforms are only as strong as the connections between them
Data is abundant — but not always usable
AI is powerful — but not yet fully trusted
Progress depends as much on culture as it does on technology
To explore these themes further, be sure to join us at our upcoming events, listed below.
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Also centered around the theme AEC Platforms: Elevating the Dialog, Confluence Chicago’s programming will take place at SOM’s Chicago office and feature leaders from TwinMaster, HOK, EXP, Gensler, and AIA Chicago TAP, among others. Tickets for Confluence Chicago are currently on sale and available to anyone who would like to attend.
Get tickets to Confluence Chicago
Thursday, October 8- Saturday, October 10, 2026
New this year, Confluence Lexington 2026’s programming theme will be selected by a panel of Confluence Ambassadors made up of past attendees from the industry’s top firms. Confluence Lexington 2026 is invite-only, but you can register interest below.
Register interest in Confluence Lexington
Confluence Seattle 2026 was hosted by AVAIL in partnership with ArchVision, TRXL, Olson Kundig, TwinMaster, and Robert McNeel & Associates (Rhino).
Hosted by software company AVAIL, Confluence is a series of architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry professional development events that bring design technology and product management leaders together in collaborative discourse. Its signature conference, Confluence Lexington, is a three-day, invite-only event themed around a pressing industry technology issue and held in the fall every year. In 2023, regional, one-day events were added, as well as a podcast hosted by AVAIL CEO and Founder Randall Stevens and TRXL Media Director Evan Troxel.
Founded in 2016 as a solution for architecture and engineering firms to find the information they need faster, AVAIL creates software for the global architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. AVAIL’s content management system (CMS) platform and Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D application tools help designers and engineers take control of their intricate network of files in one visual, streamlined solution. AVAIL’s customers include industry leaders Gensler, Perkins&Will, IMEG, LEO A DALY, and Populous.