AI in Architectural Practice: TAP Symposium

Architecture is in the middle of a technological shift that will change how we design, how we deliver, and what clients value us for. Most conversations about AI in our industry stay at one of two extremes: tool demos with no larger context, or speculation with nothing practical behind it. This event covers both.

Speakers will show real case studies from practice, describe how frontier AI systems are being built and where they're going, and look critically at what this means for the profession. Expect concrete examples you can use on immediately, and bigger questions you'll still be thinking about next year. The afternoon ends with an open conversation among the speakers and the audience, followed by a happy hour.

The event is for architects, designers, technologists, owners, contractors, and others who want to move past the headlines and talk seriously about where practice is going.

Hosted in collaboration with AIASF Knowledge Community - Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

(3.5 LUS - pending approval)

1. Describe current applications of AI in architectural practice, using case studies from live projects at both a large multidisciplinary firm and a small practice;
2. Explain how large language models are built and trained, and identify the capabilities and limitations that affect their reliability in professional work;
3. Compare approaches to adopting AI tools across firms of different sizes and resource levels, and identify workflows where AI can speed up design and project delivery; and
4. Analyze the social and economic forces reshaping the AEC industry, and plan strategic responses firms can take to adapt their practice.

AGENDA:

10:30AM - 12:00 PM ·Optional presentation by Arkance - register here

12:00  – 1:00 PM  ·  Check-In and Lunch provided by Arkance

1:00 – 1:10 PM · Welcome & Opening Remarks

1:10 – 1:50 PM · AI in Practice: Today and Tomorrow
Brendan Mullins, Design Computing Leader, Stantec
How AI is being used in a large multidisciplinary practice now, with case studies from live projects and a look at what’s coming next.

1:50 – 2:20 PM · Small Firm, Full Speed (working title)
Vadim Podrobinok, Founder, VP Architect
How a small practice is using AI across its work to move faster, and what that looks like day to day without a dedicated tech team.

2:20 – 2:30 PM · Technology Partner Showcase

2:30 – 3:15 PM · The View from the Lab: LLMs 101
Jelle Vanhorenbeke, Member of Technical Staff, Frontier AI Lab
How frontier AI systems are built, what they can and can’t do, and where the technology is headed.

3:15 – 3:25 PM · Technology Partner Showcase

3:25 – 3:45 PM · Break

3:45 – 4:35 PM · Shifting Ground: AI and the Future of Practice
Eric Cesal, Professor and Author, Harvard
The social and economic forces reshaping the ground beneath AEC, what they mean for the profession, and how firms can begin to respond.

4:35 – 4:45 PM · Technology Partner Showcase

4:45 – 5:00 PM · Closing Remarks

5:00 PM · Happy Hour

SPEAKERS:

Brendan Mullins, AIA
Design Computing Leader, Stantec
AI in Practice: Today and Tomorrow
How AI is being used in a large multidisciplinary practice now, with case studies from live projects and a look at what’s coming next. 

Brendan Mullins is a Principal and Design Computing Lead at Stantec, where he built the firm’s Design Computing team from the ground up and serves on the Buildings operating unit leadership team. Trained as an architect, he spent years as a project architect on complex, high-profile work, including the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, before moving into design technology. He chairs San Francisco’s Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP).

Vadim Podrobinok
Founder, VP Architect
Small Firm, Full Speed
How a small practice is using AI across its work to move faster, and what that looks like day to day without a dedicated tech team. 

Vadim Podrobinok, AIA is principal of VP Architect, a San Francisco practice serving public, healthcare and commercial clients, and is licensed in California and Hawaii. He runs his small firm without a tech team, using AI tools he built himself, including Mies, an AI assistant for Revit, and co-chairs AIASF Professional Practice Committee.

Jelle Vanhorenbeke
Member of Technical Staff, Frontier AI Lab
The View from the Lab: LLMs 101
How frontier AI systems are built, what they can and can’t do, and where the technology is headed.

Jelle Vanhorenbeke is a Member of Technical Staff at an AI Lab where he leads several teams focused on data ingestion and information retrieval.

Eric Cesal
Professor and Author, Harvard
Shifting Ground: AI and the Future of Practice
The social and economic forces reshaping the ground beneath AEC, what they mean for the profession, and how firms can begin to respond.

Eric J. Cesal is an AI thought leader, designer, educator, writer, and noted post-disaster expert, having led on-the-ground reconstruction programs after the Haiti earthquake, the Great East Japan Tsunami, and Superstorm Sandy. Cesal’s formal training is as an architect, with international development, economics and design futurism among his areas of expertise.