Infrastructure AI moves from pilots to practice: What it means for real estate and construction
Bentley Systems introduced new AI-driven applications and a co-innovation program at its Year in Infrastructure 2025 conference. The focus is clear: use trustworthy, context-aware AI to boost engineering output without sacrificing accuracy.
For owners, developers, and contractors, this is about compressing timelines, reducing rework, and making better calls earlier in design and construction. As one executive put it, AI is poised to transform infrastructure. The tools announced here start to make that practical.
Why this matters now
A sizable share of award entries at the event already use AI, and a global survey shows about half of infrastructure teams are piloting or deploying it with plans to scale. Top targets: design productivity and document automation.
The elephant in the room is capacity. There aren't enough engineers for the workload. AI can multiply output across the lifecycle-design, construction, and operations-if it's grounded in real project context.
What's new from Bentley
- OpenSite+ for civil site design: Generative AI accelerates site iterations and decisions, with reports of up to 10x faster throughput while maintaining accuracy. Ideal for feasibility studies, early grading options, and cost-sensitive land planning.
- OpenUtilities Substation+: Digital twin and AI features for substation design with real-time multi-user editing in one model. This reduces handoffs, coordination clashes, and downstream rework during construction.
- SYNCHRO+ in Bentley Infrastructure Cloud: A data-centric evolution of 4D construction management. Integrates Cesium for rich geospatial context and uses AI to explore build sequences with more speed and depth for planning and coordination.
- AI in OpenRoads Designer and OpenRail Designer: An AI agent to automate drawing annotations-one of the most time-consuming tasks in road and rail design.
- ProjectWise AI search: Contextual search with instant summaries, so teams spend less time hunting through files and more time executing.
Availability and key dates
- OpenSite+: Limited availability now.
- OpenUtilities Substation+: Early access in November 2025.
- SYNCHRO+: Early access in December 2025.
- OpenRoads/OpenRail AI annotation: General availability in November 2025. Bentley Copilot integration in early 2026.
- ProjectWise AI search: Early access in December 2025; general availability in 2026.
Practical wins for developers, GCs, and owners
- Faster site selection and due diligence: Run more site options in less time. Get stable grading concepts, preliminary quantities, and constraints flagged early.
- Fewer coordination clashes: Multi-user substation design in one model cuts errors and reduces late-stage changes that burn schedules and budgets.
- Better construction planning: Data-centric 4D with AI-generated sequence insights helps align trades, logistics, and cash flow with fewer surprises.
- Hours back from admin work: AI-assisted annotation and ProjectWise summaries reduce manual markup and document digging.
- Validated performance at scale: One cited energy project used AI with GPU-accelerated simulation to compress a five-year plan into one year and cut costs by more than 75%, testing millions of scenarios in days.
Data control, IP, and governance
Bentley reiterates that users control whether their data is used for AI training-and to what extent. Only data explicitly licensed or purchased for model training is included.
Organizations can fine-tune Bentley models with their own data for exclusive internal use. A new Data Agreement Registry provides auditing and transparency on how data contributes to AI models. This is critical for contract risk, IP protection, and client trust.
How to act in the next 90 days
- Pick two pilot use cases: Example-site feasibility with OpenSite+ and 4D planning with SYNCHRO+.
- Prep your data: Standardize folder structures, naming conventions, and model metadata to improve AI results.
- Align legal and IT: Document your stance on data opt-in/opt-out and internal fine-tuning. Use the Data Agreement Registry for auditability.
- Apply for early access: Get hands-on with Substation+, SYNCHRO+, and ProjectWise AI search to quantify time savings.
- Join the Infrastructure AI Co-Innovation Initiative: Collaborate on workflows, APIs, and commercial models that reflect AI-human division of work.
- Upskill your team: Focus on prompt skills, data practices, and AI-assisted workflows for construction. See curated options by job role at Complete AI Training.
Related links
Bottom line
AI is becoming part of standard delivery across design and construction. The firms that set data policies, run targeted pilots, and plug into these early access tracks will bank the productivity gains first-and win bids with faster, clearer answers.
Your membership also unlocks:
