Rethinking organizational change for the AEC industry

From sustained M&A activity and private equity investment to the challenges of retaining top talent and operationalizing new technologies, the pace of change in the AEC industry is brisk. Managing change in this environment requires more than strict adherence to standard frameworks. It requires new ways of thinking about how we lead change in the AEC industry.

The standard framework problem. Most change management frameworks were developed decades ago for traditional corporate environments with rigid hierarchies and predictable workflows. When arbitrarily applied to organizational change in today’s dynamic AEC firms, these frameworks miss the mark.

Consider a typical technology implementation: standard change management might focus on training sessions, user guides, and leadership communication. But in our AEC context, success often depends on understanding how the new technology improves technical outcomes, fits into existing project workflows, and maintains quality standards, factors that generic top-down approaches rarely address.

Firms open to thinking outside the framework, drawing on core competencies, and creating built-for-purpose change strategies gain a powerful differentiator and a significant competitive advantage.

AEC firms are different. When organizational changes languish or fail in AEC firms, the problem often isn't lack of vision or investment. It’s a failure to understand that change in AEC differs from other industries. AEC leaders face the usual challenges: managing operational changes without impacting utilization or client delivery, balancing immediate project needs with long-term strategic priorities. But there are unique factors that make change in AEC particularly complex, notably:

Technical mindset matters.  Engineers and scientists approach change and transformation differently. For technical professionals trained to question and verify, trusting new data sources and embracing AI-enabled tools requires more than a product launch and a demo video. It requires early engagement and open conversation around data quality and governance.

Acknowledging the cultural shift required to build buy-in and acceptance is critical. Dismissing legitimate concerns as resistance undermines trust and confidence in leadership. Involving those closest to the work in early conversations about new technologies, listening to all views about their highest and best use, and establishing proof of concept and piloting processes to test and refine tools puts firms on a clearer path to successful adoption.

Dynamic project teams.  AEC firms are organized around dynamic project teams, not rigid hierarchies and predictable workflows. This introduces a level of complexity to change planning and requires much more than a standard top-down message “cascade” approach to communications. AEC’s matrix reporting lines and laddered P&L structures require leaders in times of change to truly understand how information and influence flow within teams.

Informal influencers outside of leadership are often relied on for information, context, insight, and advice. In times of change, they can be critical partners in building awareness, understanding, and acceptance. Empowering them by involving them in the change process early, soliciting their input and ideas, and engaging them in problem-solving and decision-making to co-create change can lead to clearer, faster, and more sustainable outcomes. It can also help to identify and elevate next generation leaders within the firm.

M&A considerations. Acquisitions can trigger a cascade of change: a new leadership team comes together, new market opportunities open up, a new strategy necessitates a reorganization, etc. Change in this environment is not a stand-alone project, but a new way of working. Planning for change at the portfolio level prioritizes and layers initiatives based on strategic importance, business value, and other key criteria like cost, benefit, resourcing, risk, timing, contingencies, and dependencies. Portfolio-level planning aligns action with strategy, maximizing impact and minimizing disruption.

These cycles of change create a complex map of internal stakeholders and distinct audiences. Employees are never a monolithic audience when it comes to communicating change, and that's especially true during M&A integration. Acquired teams aren’t integrated when their new email address is activated and their payroll cuts over. Employees who are part of acquired teams continue to experience a firm differently for months and sometimes years. It takes time to cultivate a true sense of belonging and legacy issues can affect that experience. Effective change planning in AEC firms requires a thorough understanding of internal audiences and their specific and evolving concerns.

Retaining top talent. Talent retention is a challenge, with work-life balance and career growth contributing to staff turnover and a “talent cliff” as experienced employees retire faster than they can be replaced. In the midst of these challenges, employees are closely watching how their leadership teams engage and make decisions. According to the 2025 Present and Future of Work in Engineering and Architecture Study released by ActionsProve and the Engineering Management Institute, a year-over-year trend shows ineffective leadership as an increasingly key driver in staff turnover. Engaging employees and navigating change well are high profile opportunities to lead with confidence and build trust.

Approaching change leadership through an AEC lens means leading with curiosity, leveraging technical thinking, respecting project dynamics, and embracing collaboration.

A natural aptitude. The upside is that AEC professionals already have the skills needed for effective change management. The similarities between change management best practices and the engineering design process, for example, are striking. There are clear throughlines: leading with curiosity and questions, applying systems thinking to break down complex problems into interconnected components, understanding how changes in one area affect the broader system, embracing a flexible and iterative improvement process.

Similarly, the co-creation approach to change is hardly a new concept. Our teams are kicking off projects and co-creating change with clients every day, bringing different voices to the table and working through solutions together. This familiarity with the co-creation process makes early and active engagement a natural approach to change in AEC firms, even change that would require a more top-down approach in other industries.

Early collaboration and change co-creation are especially critical for technology improvements in AEC because of the complexities involved. The civil engineer who'll be using new design software understands site constraints and regulatory requirements that those not as close to the work might overlook. Their input isn't just helpful, it's essential for successful implementation. 

The key is thinking beyond standard frameworks and drawing on AEC's core competencies. Approaching change leadership through an AEC lens means leading with curiosity, leveraging technical thinking, respecting project dynamics, and embracing collaboration.

AEC’s change advantage. These throughlines are the key to smart, confident change leadership in AEC. Firms open to thinking outside the framework, drawing on core competencies, and creating built-for-purpose change strategies gain a powerful differentiator and a significant competitive advantage. They adopt new technologies faster, adapt to market changes more effectively, and attract top talent and future leaders who value innovation and progress.