AVAIL’s Confluence Podcast has concluded its second season, discussing pressing technology topics for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry with thought leaders like Thornton Tomasetti’s Robert Otani and Skema’s Richard Harpham, among others. Hosted by AVAIL CEO and Founder Randall Stevens and TRXL Media Director Evan Troxel, the Confluence Podcast explores how and why decisions are made in the creation of AEC software. We collected Season Two’s top insights for AEC technology leaders below.
Six Key Insights for AEC Technology Leaders:
- The Most Useful AI is Trained on AEC Industry and Firm Specifics
- Thornton Tomasetti’s CORE studio Prioritizes Collaboration
- Guiding Global Collaboration: The Cloud Cements Its Place in AEC
- What Leaders Can Do to Champion New AEC Technology
- Renderings in Action: AEC Innovators Ask More of 3D Models
- Innovate Differently: Think Outside the AEC Industry
All 12 Confluence Podcast Season Two Episodes are Now Available
For Season Two of the Confluence Podcast, AVAIL CEO and Founder Randall Stevens and TRXL Media Director Evan Troxel spoke to 12 of the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry’s top leaders.
The director’s commentary track for AEC industry software, the Confluence Podcast is hosted by TRXL Media Director Evan Troxel and AVAIL CEO and Founder Randall Stevens.
From world-renowned AEC industry firms, Charles Portelli of Perkins&Will, Robert Otani of Thornton Tomasetti, Rob Sinclair of Wade Trim, and John Cerone of SHoP Architects spoke with Randall and Evan about what is currently on their minds as technology leaders at their respective firms.
From leading AEC technology companies, Chris Parsons of Knowledge Architecture, Adrian Hatch of Sitelink, Carl Veillette of Newforma, Aaron Vorwerk of Egnyte, Richard Harpham of Skema, and Phillip Miller formerly of Chaos spoke to the pair about what software solutions their respective development teams are currently building and exploring for use at AEC firms.
Then, from outside the AEC industry, both professor Brent Seales and his colleague Christy Chapman of the University of Kentucky spoke with Randall and Evan about their lab’s groundbreaking work using AI and CT scanning to digitally unwrap ancient Herculaneum scrolls buried by Mount Vesuvius. These conversations challenge us to think outside the AEC industry while illustrating the power of AI and cross-functional communication.
From these insightful conversations, we have collected six of the season’s top insights for AEC technology leaders.
What is Confluence?
Confluence is a series of professional development events for AEC technology leaders. AVAIL’s Randall Stevens and TRXL’s Evan Troxel began the Confluence Podcast in 2023 to continue the conversation about pressing technology issues like AI and platform interoperativity in the AEC industry with a broader audience.
[1] The Most Useful AI is Trained on AEC Industry and Firm Specifics
AEC terminology and knowledge exceed the capacity of a large language model’s (LLM) normal abilities and functions, according to Christopher Parsons, CEO and Founder of Knowledge Architecture.
Christopher was the first to join the podcast this season, where he discussed bringing AI to Knowledge Architecture’s Synthesis intranet platform.
Even though they are built on powerful LLMs, AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini are unable to keep up with the complexity of AEC or firm-specific information, creating problems for firms who want to use AI to query and centralize information.
The team at Knowledge Architecture saw this gap and wanted to close it. “For a host of reasons this was the wrong architecture for us,” Christopher says to Evan and Randall about utilizing end-user facing LLMs. “The challenges are that it is prone to hallucinations just because of its data set. It’s got a problem with freshness: you train this model, and 9 or 12 months later it starts getting a gap. You’re holding onto old information too long or you’re not recognizing new stuff fast enough,” he adds.
Synthesis from Knowledge Architecture provides a solution to these issues by using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and machine learning (ML) to create company-specific chat models.
The solution has shown to decrease demands on firm legacy keepers and provides faster access to institutional firm knowledge.
When Perkins&Will’s Associate and Digital Innovation Strategist for I/O group Charles Portelli joined Evan and Randall for the third episode of Season Two, he discussed how the interdisciplinary, research-based architecture and design firm has tackled similar projects to streamline firm-wide access to information.
To easily scope a project of a particular type, the Perkins&Will team chats with models to answer broad questions about project commonalities, like how many bathrooms are in a hospital of a certain size.
This type of AI usage reduces overreliance on the firm’s team as well as time spent researching, which improves overall time efficiency.
Explore the episodes:
Bringing AI to the Synthesis Intranet Platform
AI in Architectural Practice
Charles Portelli, Associate and Digital Innovation Strategist for I/O group at Perkins&Will, joined the Confluence Podcast this season to talk about the application of AI and machine learning in architectural practice following his session at Confluence Lexington 2024.
[2] Thornton Tomasetti’s CORE studio Prioritizes Collaboration
Collaboration in the AEC industry is a must, which is why global AEC firm Thornton Tomasetti prioritizes technology projects that bring teams together through CORE studio—the firm’s in-house applications development, advanced computational modeling, and R&D group.
Robert Otani—Thornton Tomasetti CTO and Managing Principal, as well as CORE studio founder—joined Evan and Randall on the podcast this season to discuss the importance of computational design and the impact of AI and ML in the engineering and architecture industries.
The CORE team creates tools, plug-ins, and applications to help architects and engineers solve foundational issues. Software produced in the CORE studio has been able to:
- Quickly share information amongst team members
- Maintain a centralized source of data
- Encourage partnership
- Provide universally needed tools
For example, the Spotlight tool produced by the CORE studio centralizes data, improves collaboration, and standardizes workflows.
“Every project that we do has been done before,” Robert says of Thornton Tomasetti’s design work. “So, why are we spending months, sometimes years, redoing almost the same thing?” Robert asks in conversation with Randall and Evan.
“That’s the promise of machine learning, you aggregate those solutions to get recommendations for a particular project if they need it, as opposed to reinventing the wheel every time,” he adds.
Machine learning uncovers patterns, automates routine tasks, and enhances decision making. AEC innovators like the team at Thornton Tomasetti have used these advancements to improve collaboration and drive efficiency.
Explore the episode:
The Evolution of Computational Design and AI in Structural Engineering
Join the conversation at Confluence Lexington 2025
AEC Platforms: Elevating the Dialog
Within AEC firms, technology platforms all too often exist as disparate silos of information. Confluence Lexington 2025 will explore how we can increase the dialog between various platforms, reducing redundancy and bringing the silos together in new ways.
[3] Guiding Global Collaboration: The Cloud Cements Its Place in AEC
The development of cloud platforms has massively increased collaboration in the AEC industry.
A leader in the AEC industry and beyond, Egnyte’s intelligent content platform has used the cloud to centralize content, making collaboration easy. The company provides high-security storage, allowing users to safely manage content on the cloud from anywhere
“It’s not just about the storage,” Egnyte’s AEC Practice Leader, Architects + Owners Aaron Vorwerk says in his conversation with Evan and Randall. “Being able to be on any device, anywhere in the world: it’s one global office,” Aaron adds.
The cloud has also been key to Newforma’s innovation, especially in its integration with BIM Track. Chief Product Officer Carl Veillette spoke to Randall and Evan about the resulting cloud-hosted Konekt Project Information Management platform. Through the cloud, project documents and content are made easily accessible for real-time collaboration and quick information retrieval.
The use of the cloud in the AEC industry boomed during the pandemic, but, even with many firms now back at the office, the industry has not shifted back to its old ways. Due to its proven ability through tools like Egnyte and Newforma to increase efficiency and collaboration across global firms, the cloud has cemented itself as a pillar for AEC innovation.
Explore the episodes:
Data Governance and the Cloud in AEC
Bringing Newforma to the Cloud
Collaboration in Action: AVAIL’s Integration with Egnyte
In Spring 2025, AVAIL announced the soon-to-be-released AVAIL Stream for Egnyte integration which will intelligently monitor Egnyte and publish updates to Egnyte.
[4] What Leaders Can Do to Champion New AEC Technology
Even though innovation is constant, new technology is often met with skepticism by professionals in the AEC industry. This was explored by Evan and Randall during their conversation with Skema’s Chief Revenue Officer and Co-Founder Richard Harpham.
“Total skepticism is typically the first reaction that you get to just about anything, especially in the technology space,” Evan says.
Richard agrees, noting technology suspicion is common in the AEC industry, and that specialized ways of thinking are integral to the mind of an AEC professional. “Architects have a particular style and way they like to consume information which is very different from others,” Richard says. “It’s hard to sell efficiency to an architect.”
In the startup phase at Revit—where he was an early hire—Richard says the team was successful by using an alternative to traditional marketing language to discuss their software solution. Instead, they let early adopters take the stage, showcasing what they were doing with the software to teach their peers. This fresh approach resonated with how architects prefer to learn and likely drove early Revit adoption.
To combat skepticism inside firms, leaders might follow the example of Confluence guest Rob Sinclair, Wade Trim’s Corporate Technology Lead. The engineering firm with over 20 offices in nine states has formed a specialized team, the AI Task Force, to assist in adoption around AI-driven tools. The AI Task Force helps communicate the advancements and benefits of new technologies to Wade Trim’s broader team.
Explore the episodes:
Navigating the Evolution of AEC Tech
Innovating with AI in Civil Engineering
[5] Renderings in Action: AEC Innovators Ask More of 3D Models
Advancements in three-dimensional (3D) modeling and digital twins are enabling AEC industry firms like SHoP Architects to streamline construction, reduce costs, and deliver more efficiently.
Principal John Cerone leads SHoP Architects’ model-based technology efforts with the goal of making 3D digital models actionable. They are enhancing models to communicate with contractors and facilitate the execution of the project better.
For example, SHoP Architects has introduced concepts like wireframe modeling to plan design intent, which can make quantity takeoffs and performance simulations more accurate.
“We should be able to have creativity in design and—in real time—understand the implications of the things we’re proposing,” John says in his discussion with Randall and Evan. He asks that if the design team desires a certain type of stone, they should know in real time what vendors can provide, how it is sourced, and its labor and environmental impacts.
An example of advanced visualization technology bringing 3D models onto real-life construction sites is Sitelink.
Sitelink's COO Adrian Hatch and former CEO Jesse Vander Does also joined Randall and Evan this season, and discussed how Sitelink uses augmented reality to layer BIM models into position on-site and check for accuracy.
With folks like John, Jesse, and Adrian reimagining how AEC industry professionals interact with 3D models, visualizing projects from design to construction has never been easier.
Explore the episodes:
An Aspiration and Appetite to Innovate
AR for Construction with Sitelink
After attending Confluence Lexington 2024, SHoP Architects’ John Cerone—pictured here with his fellow speakers Robert Otani and Kenton Grant—joined Randall and Evan on the Confluence Podcast to continue the conversation about the firm’s applications of AI and ML.
[6] Innovate Differently: Think Outside the AEC Industry
Sometimes the best way to innovate an industry is to think beyond it. Randall and Evan’s conversations with Brent Seales—a researcher at the University of Kentucky—and his colleague Christy Chapman, can encourage just that.
In Brent’s attempt to decode the Herculaneum papyri, a collection of scrolls which were buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy in 79 AD, Brent had to utilize technologies from other fields like CT scans from the medical field and collaborate with archeologists, museum curators, and more to successfully then utilize his AI and ML techniques to decipher the scrolls.
It is an incredible story, and the episodes are certainly worth listening to in the way they encourage us all to think outside our very-specific worlds of architecture, engineering, and construction. Sometimes exploring and collaborating with industries outside our norm is what is needed to enable advancements in our own industries.
Explore the episodes:
Unlocking Ancient Secrets with AI
Audacity, Antiquity, and AI
Continuing the Conversation
We’ve highlighted the top insights from Season Two, but Season One is also worth revisiting with guests like Paul Aubin and YegaTech’s Sam Zolfagharian. And, of course, be on the lookout for Season Three!
Plus, there is the event that started it all, Confluence Lexington! The signature, three-day, invite-only event will be held in October this year and explore the dialog between AEC technology platforms.
Register interest in joining us.
Practical Applications for AI in AEC
Get a taste of Confluence programming in this recap from Confluence San Francisco held in April 2025
About Confluence
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 the last few years, regional, one-day events have also been added, as well as a podcast hosted by AVAIL CEO and Founder Randall Stevens and TRXL Podcast host Evan Troxel.
About AVAIL
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 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.
