Waves of Digital Are Rewriting Our Industry
What if the most significant advancements in our industry weren’t defined by the technology itself, but by the waves of confidence and
momentum that each leap ignited.
Last week, at a roundtable with Engineers Australia, a simple question caught me off guard: ‘How many digital advancements have you actually witnessed in your career?’ It wasn’t the list that surprised me, it was the realisation that I’d never paused to see the pattern from a distance. Which is a little odd for this questioning brain of mine. What wasn’t odd was how that question echoed through every conversation
that followed… yep, I just laughed at myself. Of course I kept thinking about it. Surprise surprise, the more I thought about it the more I started to think about the pattern as waves. They’re distinct, yet connected, and each wave carrying us further, faster, and with more foresight.
Wave 1: Foundational Digital (1998–2010)
This was the digital Big Bang for AEC: the leap from flat 2D drafting to intelligent, object-based 3D modelling. Kind of like a universe suddenly alive with data. Hmm… when was the Matrix released?! In all seriousness, I remember sitting at a sustainability conference in the late 90s as the US government announced funding for green digital tech. That wave of public investment set the stage for what was coming, parametric modelling, the rise of Autodesk Revit, and the reimagining of design as a living, data-rich process.
In infrastructure it was Bentley’s MicroStation, InRoads, and GEOPAK that didn’t just digitise drawings, they systematised the way we
delivered roads and rail, while ProjectWise made real-time, multi-team document control a reality before the cloud was the cloud. Don’t get me started on the 6-months I spent trying to reduce the micromanagement of Revit Master files in ProjectWise with Bentley, thank goodness Autodesk got onto better tools and processes to make rail projects run more smoothly.
However, a detail that often gets missed is oil & gas and mining were already well ahead of the curve. In the 1970s and 80s they had embraced tools like Aveva PDMS, and Intergraph PDS. They were object-based, data-driven, and ruthlessly outcomes-focused. No over designing it costs too much, design was 95% focused to enhance the outcome. The lesson for me working in a multinational multidisciplined firm was the seeds of future innovation are often sown at the edges. Those edges being the industries that operate in a similar manner to those in AEC.
Wave 1’s legacy: Data became as vital as drawings, and our definition of ‘design’ significantly changed.
Wave 2: Integration & Collaboration (2010–2016)
Now the challenge wasn’t just digital modelling, it was digital connection.
Model federation, cloud-based team spaces, and early BIM coordination changed the rules of engagement. Autodesk BIM 360, launched in
2012, brought multidisciplinary teams into a common cloud playground. Clash detection, field management, and coordinated design became contract requirements not technical luxuries.
Revizto emerged as a visual communication catalyst, breaking down silos and broadening model access beyond technical leads. It had to,
right?! It was built on a gaming engine after all. Bentley began its transformation of InRoads into OpenRoads, establishing unified civil design. Meanwhile, Unreal Engine tiptoed in from the gaming world, enabling immersive, real-time AEC visualisation for stakeholder buy-in and scenario planning.
But the most dramatic shift was cultural:
- BIM Managers and Coordinators became standard on every bid.
- Common Data Environments (CDEs) appeared in every contract.
- ISO 19650 started creeping into project briefs, setting the ground rules for digital accountability.
Wave 2’s legacy: It wasn’t just about connecting models, it was about connecting minds, processes, and ultimately, ambitions.
Wave 3: Data-Driven Strategy & Early AI (2017–2023)
In this era, digital stopped being a delivery tool and became a strategic lever.
During this wave owners asked not just what you’d build, but what data you’d deliver to help them from operational readiness through to maintenance. Suddenly, project value was measured in actionable insights, not just the concrete poured.
Bentley’s OpenRoads Designer CONNECT Edition (2018) unified roads, rail, and civil into a true model-based practice, integrating with the iTwin platform for asset synchronisation. Autodesk Construction Cloud (2020–2021) consolidated BIM 360, PlanGrid, and Assemble, shifting toward a lifecycle platform. Revizto transformed into a central coordination hub. Unreal Engine became a staple for digital twins and immersive engagement.
Most notably, AI crept in not as a distant promise, but as a working reality:
- Computer vision to monitor wildlife on infrastructure sites
- NLP to clean and deduplicate messy asset registers
- AI rulesets to catch subtle inconsistencies buried in design data
These weren’t pilot projects. They scaled whilst quietly driving value in real-world projects.
Wave 3’s legacy: Digital became the backbone of enterprise strategy, not just a set of tools, but an organisational capability.
Wave 4: AI-Enabled Foresight (2023–Present)
Now we’re surfing a new kind of wave where AI is native, not an add-on.
Bentley’s Infrastructure Cloud, built on iTwin, deploys AI for everything from data quality assurance to predictive maintenance. Autodesk
Construction Cloud layers in AI copilots: risk detection, automated classification, design extraction, and deliverable summarisation. Revizto
embeds AI for issue summaries and trend reporting. Unreal Engine links real-time environments with sensor data, exploring AI-driven simulation.
But the real game-changer is the way technical leaders and executives alike are embracing a new mindset:
- Project leads using AI agents for real-time risk reviews
- Graduates automating terrain modelling in OpenRoads or Civil 3D
- Bid teams summarising RFPs in minutes, not days
- Coordinators visualising model trends with AI-driven dashboards
Wave 4’s legacy isn’t about piling on tech, it’s about frictionless, confident decision-making at every level.
Confidence to Capability
If you’ve worked in a multinational, you know real change is like moving a beast it’s slow until suddenly, it isn’t. When digital confidence takes, when teams own the change, not just survive it, everything accelerates.
I’ve watched it happen:
- When Revit displaced 2D CAD drafting
- When BIM 360 united remote teams overnight
- When OpenRoads embedded engineering logic into every design
- And now, as AI is prompting decisions, not just documents
The impact is confidence creates momentum and momentum delivers transformation. That’s collective intelligence at work!!
Where We Go Next
I think this fourth wave is an inflection point. We’re not just delivering models we’re delivering foresight. AI is woven into every layer of our platforms, from main vendors like Autodesk, Bentley and ESRI, through to bespoke vendors. But let’s be clear, success won’t be written by algorithms alone. It’ll come from people who:
- Ask sharper questions
- Share lessons across disciplines, markets, and industries
- Create a culture where digital confidence can flourish
Transformation starts with clarity, spreads with confidence, and endures when people and business move forward together.
Let’s keep building smarter, together. The next wave is already forming. Will you ride it, or be left behind?