Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the defining technology challenge across Design and Make industries. For the first time, technological advancement—including AI—has overtaken cost management as organizations’ top concern, rising from 31% in 2025 to 40% in 2027. The shift reflects more than growing interest in AI. It marks a change in executive priorities as organizations move from experimenting with AI to embedding it into everyday work.
Organizations are responding accordingly. Three-quarters plan to increase AI investment over the next three years. Already, 40% have integrated AI into design workflows, while 34% are implementing AI-driven automation. The question is no longer whether organizations will adopt AI, but how effectively they can put it to work.
“AI can tell you what changed on a project, but the harder problem is why the decision was made, when, and what it affects downstream,” says Autodesk EVP, Platform Services and Emerging Technologies, and CTO Raji Arasu. “That context doesn’t come from a prompt or a single system, but from understanding how a project’s data, people, and decisions relate to one another.”
of business leaders plan to increase AI investment, even as overall technology spending levels off
organizations say they are in the early or middle stages of their AI goals or have not started
of Pacesetters have dedicated AI teams driving implementation vs. 61% of mainstream orgs
Survey question: What are the top three challenges your company or organization faces today? Please select up to three. Percent selected.
– Jeff Kinder, Autodesk EVP, Product Development and Manufacturing Solutions
Survey question: Where is your company or organization in achieving its current artificial intelligence (AI) goals? 5-point scale. Percent selected. Numbers do not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Investment alone does not guarantee results. Only 40% of Design and Make organizations say they are approaching or have achieved their AI goals, while most remain earlier in their AI journeys. As AI capabilities continue evolving, organizations are also redefining what successful implementation looks like.
Putting AI to work requires more than deploying new tools. Organizations must connect AI to trusted data, embed it into everyday workflows, and equip employees with the skills to apply it effectively. The challenge is shifting from experimentation to execution.
– Sagar S. Gandhi, Head of Strategy & Business Excellence, Shapoorji Pallonji Engineering & Construction, an engineering and construction company based in Mumbai, India
MAIRE set out to make AI part of everyday engineering work rather than a stand-alone capability. Connecting AI to project data and embedding it into workflows reduced rework, accelerated information access, and improved decision-making across complex projects. MAIRE's experience shows AI creates its greatest value when connected to trusted data and integrated into the processes where work actually happens.
As organizations gain practical experience with AI, optimism is replacing uncertainty. Seventy-three percent believe AI will enhance their industry, 71% believe it will make their industry more creative, and 70% believe it will reduce repetitive work. At the same time, the share of leaders who believe AI will destabilize their industry has fallen from 48% in 2025 to 41% in 2027 organizations are becoming more confident not because AI is changing more slowly, but because they are becoming more familiar with how to apply it responsibly and effectively.
– Nathan Su, Co-Founder, Inferstudio, an architecture and computational design studio based in Los Angeles, CA, US
Survey question: When you think about artificial intelligence (AI) in your industry and company, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following? Top two = “somewhat agree” or “strongly agree.”
As AI becomes part of everyday work, organizations are placing greater emphasis on broad AI fluency than specialized technical expertise. Among organizations prioritizing AI skills, general AI knowledge ranks as the highest priority (37%), followed by practical experience using AI tools (22%), AI literacy (13%), and AI integration and implementation (11%).
These priorities suggest organizations increasingly expect AI to become a foundational business capability rather than the responsibility of a small group of specialists. As AI becomes embedded across more workflows, competitive advantage will depend on helping more employees use AI confidently and responsibly.
As Mary Hope McQuiston, VP, Autodesk Education Experiences, explains, "AI is most powerful when it amplifies what makes us human. It can automate repetitive work, but curiosity, judgment, creativity, empathy, and collaboration remain uniquely human strengths. The future isn't about becoming more like machines—it's about giving people more space to do what only people can do.”
Subset for those who answered, “AI skills and application” (31%, n = 3,073) to the question: In the next three years, what will be the TWO most important technical or digital skills for your company’s workforce? General AI = “strong AI skills,” “AI technology.” Percentages reflect share of total responses, not respondents; the question was open-text, so respondents could provide multiple answers.
The difference between Pacesetters and mainstream organizations isn't simply that they invest more in AI. They build the organizational capabilities needed to put AI to work.
Compared with mainstream organizations, Pacesetters are more likely to integrate AI into design workflows (57% vs. 38%), implement AI-driven automation (48% vs. 32%), and invest in AI training and development (52% vs. 39%). They also invest more heavily in the foundations that make AI effective, including data management and analytics (+23 percentage points); talent acquisition, training, and retention (+31 percentage points); and new products and services (+20 percentage points).
Those investments are reinforced by stronger organizational capabilities. Pacesetters are far more likely to have dedicated teams responsible for AI integration (94% vs. 61%), trusted data partners (92% vs. 65%), and connected systems that integrate information across the organization (91% vs. 60%).
As Mike Haley, Autodesk SVP, Research, observes, "AI is exceptionally good at separating signal from noise. It can sift through enormous amounts of information and help people focus on what matters most." Organizations that provide AI with trusted data, clear context, and connected workflows are better positioned to translate investment into measurable business value.
