Technology in Architectural Practice

What's one task you've successfully automated in your workflow?

What's one task you've handed off to a script or tool, and how did it change your process? Share your automation win (or fail).

I'm not surprised no one has responded. My guess is because most of us look at automation as a complex system we don't have the time or patients to build, which I often fall into this category. Or it also could be because the stuff that we think can be automated is already being automated by the tools we use daily (ie Revit - auditing, clash detection reports, schedules; Calendars - reminders, Document Apps which tag photos or auto-populate the basic stuff; etc..). 
There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about or read about automation in some form or another. Although these may be different topics completely, I like to think of Automation as a form of Idea/Information Management. With that being said, my wins (which mostly consist of daily fails) are working towards a system to manage and automate the ideas of our clients (which as we all know can come in all shapes, sizes and budgets... and are subject to change). 

-Marc Robert, AIA

What's one task you've successfully automated in your workflow?

What's one task you've handed off to a script or tool, and how did it change your process? Share your automation win (or fail).

I'm not surprised no one has responded. My guess is because most of us look at automation as a complex system we don't have the time or patients to build, which I often fall into this category. Or it also could be because the stuff that we think can be automated is already being automated by the tools we use daily (ie Revit - auditing, clash detection reports, schedules; Calendars - reminders, Document Apps which tag photos or auto-populate the basic stuff; etc..). 
There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about or read about automation in some form or another. Although these may be different topics completely, I like to think of Automation as a form of Idea/Information Management. With that being said, my wins (which mostly consist of daily fails) are working towards a system to manage and automate the ideas of our clients (which as we all know can come in all shapes, sizes and budgets... and are subject to change). 

-Marc Robert, AIA

What's one task you've successfully automated in your workflow?

What's one task you've handed off to a script or tool, and how did it change your process? Share your automation win (or fail).

What's one task you've successfully automated in your workflow?

What's one task you've handed off to a script or tool, and how did it change your process? Share your automation win (or fail).

What's one task you've successfully automated in your workflow?

What's one task you've handed off to a script or tool, and how did it change your process? Share your automation win (or fail).

------------------------------
Thesla Collier
HNTB
------------------------------

I appreciate Marc's response, which resonates with me because I find myself investing more time into recording workflows. This often takes the form of spreadsheets and other docs with links and references creating a network of connected ideas and process management. This builds on top of my firm's standards, best-practices and checklists (such as which drawings to have in what drawings packages, for which municipalities, or what level of detail is appropriate for which stage of the contract, etc) but can further be refined to relate to project categories, link to list of similar projects or those that may share reference details, product specs, or for specific clients that we often work with. Google Gemini is often helping in sorting data and compiling in these spreadsheets.  These then are useful for building institutional knowledge beyond the individual that can be used for training junior staff, or for handing over to another team.

But going back to the original question, I recently am having success deploying a newly-developed agent that will review a set of documents and perform both QA/QC and compliance plan check (for entitlements, site development, as well as building permit review). We just upload the PDF set, select the municipality/jurisdiction, and fill in some key information. The agent is able to read the documents, including raster and vector inputs, and will generate detailed reports designating which items pass, and which may lack enough information or show something non-compliant, and in the report has live links to the specific code as well as linking to references in the drawings. There is still a need for human interaction and judgement about when to override false positives, etc, but is getting more refined and requiring less oversight by the month. Is anyone else having success or other experiences with these types of agents?

Best,

------------------------------
Daniel Prostak, PLA, ASLA
Ann Arbor MI  |  Porto, Portugal  |  San Francisco, CA

Original Message:
Sent: 11-20-2025 05:08 PM
From: Thesla Collier, Intl. Assoc. AIA
Subject: Automate or Delegate?

What's one task you've successfully automated in your workflow?

What's one task you've handed off to a script or tool, and how did it change your process? Share your automation win (or fail).

------------------------------
Thesla Collier
HNTB
------------------------------