It’s Coming Home: Building AI for AECO from the Ground Up – Mark Hirst – Lenovo

As the FIFA World Cup approaches, fans are caught between optimism and anxiety about what lies ahead. AEC firms find themselves in a similar moment with AI. This session explores how AECO organizations are building AI from the ground up, starting close to their data, teams, and tools. Instead of moving straight to cloud‑only models, leading firms are using workstations as the on‑ramp and sandbox for AI development, experimentation, and local inference. Framed through a football analogy, the workstation becomes the training ground where skills are developed and confidence is built before scaling to larger environments. Attendees will gain a practical view of how local AI is shaping innovation in AECO today and how, with the right tactics and tools, firms can deliver a world‑class performance.