As technology disruption continues to accelerate in our industry, this is likely being discussed in boardrooms around the world. Design firms and construction companies absolutely should become technology companies, but becoming a tech company is much different than becoming a software company.
Technology has always disrupted engineering. Consider the shift from bumwad to computer-aided design (CAD), and from CAD to building information modeling (BIM) and geospatial information systems (GIS). The difference today is that the changes are happening faster, at a pace that upskilling and behavioral adaptation can’t maintain.