Global design firm Arcadis announced an expanded partnership with tech giant Autodesk on September 28 to promote the use of artificial intelligence, connected data and digital workflows in Arcadis projects and to jointly develop AI assistants for architectural and engineering design.
The partnership will see Arcadis architects and engineers expand their use of Autodesk Assistant, an AI tool built to work with geometry, engineering intent and project history.
Arcadis has outlined in its AI and Data and Knowledge strategy how it will use tools such as Autodesk Assistant to help the company bring its own information, standards and customer experience to digital workflows where project decisions are made.
Arcadis also connects its own Model Context Protocol (MCP) capabilities to Autodesk Assistant. This approach will allow Arcadis datasets to be used in AI-driven workflows while retaining full ownership of what you build with them. MCP is an open standard created by AI developer Anthropic that creates secure, two-way connections between large AI language models and external data sources or tools. Autodesk already has several MCPs that work with Anthropic’s boundary models. Other tech companies are already promoting their own AI agents, but they often exist within the design tool itself, rather than one connected externally via MCP.
For Arcadis’ clients, the firm said the partnership is designed to make AI and digital delivery more practical, consistent and valuable on complex projects. Arcadis said it will apply the asset knowledge, judgment, customer standards and industry expertise needed to use digital and AI tools to address real-world challenges.
Arcadis said in its press release that the work of developing and promoting AI workflows will be carried out on the Autodesk platform. The firm clarified that it includes Autodesk design tools it already uses, such as Revit and Civil3D, in addition to cloud platforms such as Forma. Arcadis CEO Heather Polinsky said Arcadis designers will continue to be in charge of project decisions, and “by working with Autodesk, we’re bringing that knowledge directly into the workflows where our teams design and decide. By combining our expertise with AI, data and digital capabilities, we can help our teams work smarter, more efficiently and more accurately, giving them more time to focus on the complex challenges our customers need.”
Autodesk has partnerships with other software vendors such as Esri and Microsoft, but this is the first specific agreement to develop AI tools with a global design company.
“[Arcadis and its leadership team] understand that AI creates the most value when it’s built on deep industry expertise, reliable data and real-world context,” Autodesk CEO and President Andrew Anagnost said in a statement. “This is how artificial intelligence becomes project intelligence, helping people make better decisions and deliver better results for customers.”
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