Project Intelligence, Autodesk Context, AI orchestration, and agentic workflows point toward a future where software selects the tools needed to complete design tasks.
Autodesk used Autodesk University 2026 to outline an AI strategy that extends beyond adding assistants to individual applications. Its broader vision, called Project Intelligence, centers on a connected Autodesk Assistant capable of understanding user intent, accessing project context, and coordinating tools and AI agents across Autodesk products, tells AEC Magazine.
A standalone, agent-first Assistant is expected next year. Rather than requiring users to decide whether a task belongs in Revit, Forma, Civil 3D, or another application, the Assistant would determine which products, services, and models are appropriate. Existing in-product assistants will continue to be developed.
Central to this strategy is Autodesk Context, which captures not only project data but also relationships among decisions, people, constraints, and workflow history. Assistant Builder extends this framework through Model Context Protocol connections, enabling companies to integrate internal data and third-party AI systems. Autodesk AI Orchestrator then selects models based on factors including accuracy, speed, security, and cost.
Autodesk is also developing Neural CAD models that reason directly about geometry and physics. Meanwhile, Project Quill explores multimodal interaction through sketches, speech, and AI, and future assistants could generate task-specific interfaces instead of forcing users through complex software menus.
AEC Magazine also highlights an alternative direction emerging around local AI. Demonstrations from HP, Dell, Nvidia, Lenovo, and others showed open-weight models controlling Revit, Fusion, and Civil 3D through MCP connections on local workstations. This approach could reduce cloud AI costs and give firms greater control over proprietary data.
The shift has implications for Autodesk’s traditional software model. Agents could eventually perform modeling, analysis, documentation, and coordination across multiple applications with limited interface interaction. Autodesk is already positioning Forma as Revit’s eventual successor, while AI-assisted annotation and documentation continue to advance inside Revit. The company’s larger bet is that project context and orchestration will become more valuable than any individual design application.