How AI Is Supercharging Design Software Start-ups

Architecture and design’s early forays into artificial intelligence (AI) were mostly confined to image generation and visualization, but in the past couple of years A&D tech insiders have blown the lid off. Below, Andrew Lane, cofounder of consultancy Digby (meetdigby.io), which partners with design and creative industry companies on business innovation, takes us behind the scenes at three revolutionary tech platforms that seek to transform design workflows. But he warns firms to stop “looking at AI only in terms of how it can evolve their design work and creative processes.” Instead, firms should also explore tools that will help them “streamline business processes across areas like marketing, operations, HR, and finance. It’s those who are looking at AI holistically as a business co-pilot who will empower their employees to build new skills, automate tedious tasks, liberate their own capacity and, as a result, raise the floor for the entire organization.” 

Baya: Data Sharing, from Design to Build 

John Derkach turned a walk with a friend into a mission to change the game for the architecture, engineering, and construction industries. 

A career architect with a penchant for all things tech, Derkach was frustrated with the challenges his colleagues faced in implementing simple 3D designs. After an inspiring conversation with a friend, that frustration became the catalyst for Baya, an effort to establish a seamless connection between designing and building. Not a small challenge. 

Derkach and his team put their early focus on innovating on top of existing tools (Revit and Rhino) and gaining direct access to manufacturers. This connection allowed the product to ensure that users had the most accurate sustainability data, shared in real time across various design applications. As Baya evolved, it strategically expanded the product’s reach to include general contractors and subcontractors, aiming to bridge gaps in data sharing among stakeholders to continue to evolve workflows, fostering the development of more sustainable and creative buildings. 

What sets Baya apart is its commitment to reimagining existing processes, not just digitizing bad habits. Currently in its final weeks in beta, Baya is set to formally launch this spring with a mission to continue driving the future of architectural technology practices in the virtual space. 

Canoa: Efficiency through Collaboration

Federico Negro has had a better vantage point than most to see the challenges in the world of design.

He began his career working in a firm but broke away to cofound a design-innovation and technology consultancy that was later acquired by a (then) small, early-stage start-up called WeWork. After leading that company’s global design team as it expanded to more than 1,000 employees and launched in more than 30 countries, Negro, along with some friends he’d met along the way, struck out on his own to try to solve new design challenges, with a continued focus on technology.

Canoa was born to address the biggest problem of the FF&E industry—inefficiency and waste fueled by data silos and workflow discontinuity. The team got to work answering a fundamental question: What if interior designers, furniture dealers, brands, and clients could collaborate seamlessly in one connected process? The result was their first product, Tether, an online collaborative design tool that eliminated disparate workflows and provided real-time cost analysis along with carbon emission insights. 

From there Canoa launched a robust cataloging tool in 2022, establishing a data link to over 200 brands, 25,000 furniture SKUs, and hundreds of millions of product combinations. In 2023 it introduced Canvas, a 1:1-scaled second-generation design environment that allows designers to create furniture layouts, product schedules, and presentations.