AI is kicking up a storm. Marc Nezet, chief strategy officer & chief division officer of the Operate & Manage Division, Nemetschek Group, explains why the group’s introduction of an AI Innovation Hub will restore calm to the AEC/O sector
November 2023 was a notable date in the evolution of Artificial Intelligence. At the AI Safety Summit meeting hosted at the world-famous Bletchley Park in the UK, leading AI nations, technology companies, researchers, and civil society groups gathered to fast-track guidelines on the safe and responsible development of AI around the world.
The meeting’s urgency was accelerated by the growing concerns around the pace at which AI development is evolving without any precautionary guardrails in place to control it, and by how AI can be manipulated by ‘bad actors’ to deceive, harm or dupe innocent people.
Since that meeting, the eyes of the world have been focused on the development of AI. Academics, researchers and technology companies are now acutely aware of their responsibility to ensure that AI delivers on its promise to be ‘tech for good’.
While no industry lobby or pressure group can guarantee that AI is only used to create positive change, it is encouraging to see global joint action and collaboration over such a transformational technology.
Innovation in AI
With that in mind, the Nemetschek Group, a leading software provider for the AEC/O and media industries, recently announced the introduction of an AI Innovation Hub.
The hub aims to bundle the existing AI activities in the group and accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence in the architecture, engineering, construction and operations (AEC/O), and media and entertainment industries.
We’re especially excited that the hub will be led by two top AI leaders, who are joining the group from Google. They are Charles Sheridan, chief AI and data officer, and Julian Geiger, vice-president AI product and transformation.
With their technology experience and expertise in AI, they bring the credibility and vision needed to make the hub a respected centre of excellence, while ensuring that internal processes as well as customers and partners will benefit from increased productivity and efficiency.
Charles will lead the global AI Innovation Hub, driving the seamless integration of AI technologies across the company’s diverse portfolio of software, as well as deploying the internal adoption of AI.
In more than 25 years of his international industry experience, Charles has focused on addressing critical technology challenges in the cyber-physical world.
Before joining Nemetschek, he held key roles at large tech companies including Google, Intel and Huawei, where he spearheaded the development of next-generation cloud, AI, data and IoT solutions.
Having significant experience within the EU commissions and university communities, he bridges the gap between industry and academia, while also advocating for collaboration and open collaborative research ecosystems.
Julian, meanwhile, will lead the development and adoption of AI capabilities across the Nemetschek Group to drive customer value and increase internal productivity.
With over 16 years at the forefront of technology strategy and product management, Julian brings experience from previous roles at Google, Boston Consulting Group and BMW.
In his past roles, he was responsible for transformative business strategies, delivering software products and nurturing transformational partnerships. Julian has a deep knowledge in applied AI, data foundation design and analytics.
Responsible use of technology is in our DNA
But let’s return to issue that we opened with. As we have established, ethics, trust and sustainability are essential dimensions to develop and deploy AI responsibly.
The core goal of this hub is to ensure that AI technologies benefit individuals, organisations and society as a whole, while minimising potential risks and negative impacts.
This approach is deeply rooted in the group, and to goes way back to the principles established by founder Professor Georg Nemetschek and encompasses all Nemetschek brands.
The AI Innovation Hub will tailor AI solutions and products for customer needs along the entire building lifecycle and for the media and entertainment industry.
Our partners, alliances, and customers will benefit from the AI Innovation Hub’s main focus on driving AI initiatives across the brand portfolio. This will be reflected in accelerated product development, as well as the testing and exploring of deploying AI tools such as AI Visualizer (a new feature in Archicad, Allplan and Vectorworks), 3D Drawings (part of Bluebeam Cloud) and the dTwin platform to help users increase productivity and sustainability in their processes.
Our goal, therefore, is to launch ethical and trustworthy AI-based services for customers and partners. With the expert guidance of Charles and Julian, we believe this hub will position the Nemetschek Group as an AI-driven, yet human-centric, software leader in the AEC/O and media and entertainment industries.
This ties in well with the group’s mission, which has always been to lead the way in innovation, especially in AEC/O and media and entertainment industries, and the AI Innovation Hub will take us a step further.
AI deployed ethically will protect both creativity and intellectual property rights, and encourage sustainable and responsible design and build processes, which is in line with the objectives presented at the AI Safety Summit in November.
Building a secure path to future success
In the six months that have passed since the landmark summit, the ripples it created are starting to be felt across multiple industries.
We’re proud to be among the first in the AEC/O industry to proactively embrace the spirit of the meeting and reflect it in our AI Innovation Hub as we continue to responsibly support the global customers and markets we serve.
By working together, we can all ensure that AI is used for ‘good’ – and delivers on its promise.
