The Present & Future of Work in Engineering & Architecture — 2026
The Profession Is Changing. Is Your Firm Ready?
What 300+ AEC professionals say about AI, work, and leadership — and what it all means for firms as they plan for a rapidly changing future.
Every year, we ask engineers and architects what’s really happening inside their firms — the engagement gaps, the career frustrations, the technology questions, and what it would actually take to make them stay.
This is the 6th annual edition. And this year, one finding stands above the rest.
AI has arrived in AEC. But unevenly. And largely without a plan.
What We Found
88%
of AEC professionals say they use AI tools at work.
21%
use them daily.
That gap — between adoption and consistent use — is where the real story lives.
In industries where AI is embedded into daily workflows, more than half of professionals use it every day. In AEC, that number sits around only one in five.
And the professionals whose work AI is most likely to transform? They’re using it least.
“Not a single survey respondent who uses AI less than daily reports transformational productivity gains. Among daily users, more than one in four do.”
Frequency isn’t a minor variable. It’s the variable.
WHAT'S INSIDE:
- AI Adoption — The Quiet Before the Storm. Why 88% adoption hasn't translated into real transformation, what the daily-user data reveals, and the policy gap leaving firms exposed.
- State of the Profession. Career path clarity (or the lack of it), training gaps widening where they matter most, and why burnout has climbed from 64% to 71% in a single year.
- Leadership Is the Make-or-Break Variable. Leaders and technical staff are not having the same experience at work. The data shows exactly how wide that gap is — and what it costs firms when it goes unaddressed.
- What Talent-First Firms Do Differently. Four characteristics distinguish firms where people stay, grow, and perform. Find out what these 4 factors are, what they look like, and how to cultivate them.
The Leadership Gap Is Real
- Leaders are nearly twice as likely to feel highly engaged at work compared to technical staff.
- They receive 60% more training time than the people whose skills are most at risk of disruption.
- And 77% of leaders say they wouldn’t consider leaving their firm for any opportunity — compared to just 41% of technical staff.
Same profession. Very different experience.
This report helps leaders see what their teams are actually going
through — and what to do about it.
Download the 2026 Report — Free
Get the full findings from 400+ engineers and architects on AI adoption, career development, leadership, and what it takes to build a firm where top talent stays.
The firms that will thrive in the next five years aren’t the ones reacting to change. They’re the ones already building for it.
This report shows you what that looks like — and where most firms still have work to do.
Authors
ANTHONY FASANO, P.E., AEC PM
Founder of The Engineering Management Institute
Engineering Management Institute helps consulting firms build professional development systems to attract, develop, and retain an engaged workforce, including people leadership and project management development programs. To learn more about their proven process, call 800-920-4007 or visit
EngineeringManagementInstitute.org.
PETER C. ATHERTON, P.E.
President and Founder of ActionsProve
ActionsProve serves the AEC industry through new-era-focused strategic firm design and planning, next-level leadership development, and outside board advisory. Learn more and check out the AEC Leadership Today podcast at www.ActionsProve.com.
ActionsProve and the Engineering Management Institute collaborated on a survey of engineers and architects to understand how these ongoing, tectonic shifts in the nature of work are affecting the industries that hire engineers and architects, and how individuals in these fields imagine their future careers given these shifts. The study will help employers rethink their current approach to talent sourcing and challenge them to build more strategic, agile, growth-oriented and recession-proof talent ecosystems moving forward.