AEC Magazine

Illoca, an AI startup based in San Ramon, California, has launched the beta of Plamo, a browser-based agentic 3D modelling workspace that turns sketches, reference images, drawings and natural language into editable geometry. Plamo is the company’s second product, following Tracing Paper, an AI-assisted workspace for rapid architectural prototyping that converts sketches, mark-ups and prompts into editable plans, massing studies and design documentation.

Sherpa, an AI rendering tool that works image-to-image on a snapshot of the user’s own design rather than text-to-image, is now available for SketchUp, allowing architects and interior designers to render straight from the SketchUp viewport. With Sherpa, everything that would normally go into a prompt is instead a control: luminosity, time of day, colour temperature, artificial lights, whether people appear, styling level, and named per-surface materials.

PlanRadar has added a series of “AI Agents” to its construction-focused documentation, reality capture, communication, and reporting platform that can complete actions automatically, without having to wait for an approval, helping projects move forward faster. The Response agent, for example, reads an incoming Request for Information (RFI), searches the project’s documents, and creates a reply with the exact source named, cutting the time to a first response from hours to minutes.

Buildots has added laser scanning to its construction intelligence platform through a partnership with reality-capture specialist NavVis, bringing survey-grade precision to the system for the first time. The company is positioning the capability at mission-critical and mega-projects — data centres, semiconductor fabs and hospitals among them — where dimensional tolerances are tight and as-built accuracy has to be verified rather than assumed.

Arcadis has made a strategic investment in Nomic, an AI platform built specifically for architecture, engineering and construction workflows, and entered into a long-term commercial partnership with the company. Financial terms were not disclosed. The investment follows a six-month trial involving around 150 Arcadis engineers across multiple disciplines, sectors and countries.

Trimble has confirmed that its Dimensions user conference will take place from 9 to 11 November 2026 at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. The event, which serves as Trimble‘s flagship gathering for its user base across architecture, engineering, construction and surveying, will feature more than 700 sessions including workshops and certified training courses.

Endra, a Stockholm-based AI company focused on mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering, has opened offices in New York, San Francisco and London as it begins scaling outside its home market. The expansion follows a $50 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz earlier this year.

Procore Technologies has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire DroneDeploy, the reality capture and visual intelligence platform, for approximately $845 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approvals. DroneDeploy’s platform spans drone, ground robot, mobile, fixed and wearable camera capture, processing imagery into three-dimensional site documentation.

Procore Technologies has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire DroneDeploy, the reality capture and visual intelligence platform, for approximately $845 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approvals. DroneDeploy’s platform spans drone, ground robot, mobile, fixed and wearable camera capture, processing imagery into three-dimensional site documentation.

Revizto has launched a set of integration capabilities designed to let architecture, engineering, construction and operations teams connect external AI platforms directly to structured project data held within the Revizto environment. The release comprises three components: a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, a Model and Object Properties API, and a Developer Portal for managing integrations.