The short version: Of the 36 finalists for Bentley Systems’ 2026 Year in Infrastructure Awards, 24 reported using AI in some form. The finalists were chosen from more than 300 submissions in 53 countries, and winners are named at Bentley’s Year in Infrastructure event in Singapore on October 6 and 7, 2026.
Where AI showed up
The awards cover 12 categories, from transportation and water to energy and construction. Bentley said 22 of the finalists also showed strong evidence of a connected digital foundation, meaning project data lives in shared models rather than scattered files. A few examples from the list:
- Transmission: APD Global used AI-enabled digital delivery on Australia’s Clean Energy Link North project.
- Geotechnical risk: Aboitiz Renewables in the Philippines applied geospatial intelligence to predict landslide risk.
- Utilities: NV5 mapped risk across 17,600 miles of power grid.
The share keeps climbing. At Bentley’s 2025 conference, the company said nearly a third of its Going Digital Awards submissions and almost half of finalists used AI. This year it is two in three finalists.
The tools behind it
Bentley’s own AI push started with OpenSite+, a generative AI tool for civil site design that the company says can produce site layouts up to 10 times faster. It has been in limited availability. Bentley also said its Copilot would be added to OpenRoads Designer and OpenRail Designer in early 2026, bringing AI help into road and rail design that many civil engineers use every day. CEO Nicholas Cumins has framed the goal as AI that supports infrastructure engineers, not one that replaces them, and has named engineering capacity as the biggest constraint on building better infrastructure.
What changes in the day-to-day work
Civil and infrastructure engineering has a lot of work that is repetitive but cannot be skipped: testing site layouts against grading and drainage rules, producing plan sheets, checking models against standards, and pulling data from scattered files. The finalist projects show AI being used across that range, from design to risk analysis to asset management.
- Site design. Generative tools can try many layouts for lots, parking, pads and grading in the time it takes to draw one by hand, so engineers spend more time comparing options and less time drafting them.
- Drawing production. Automating plan sheets and annotation frees up designers and technicians for model quality and coordination.
- Risk and condition analysis. Projects like landslide prediction and grid risk mapping use AI on large geospatial datasets that would be impractical to review manually.
- Connected data. The finalists that scored well on connected data keep project information in shared models, which is what makes the AI useful in the first place.
What does not change is liability. A professional engineer still stamps the drawings, and agencies still review submittals against their own standards. AI can speed up the path to a design, but the engineer of record answers for it.
Who should pay attention
Site development and land development firms, transportation and DOT consultants, utilities managing large networks, and water and geotechnical engineering teams. Firms already on Bentley software will see these tools first, but the shift toward AI-assisted design is happening across the civil software market.
What to watch next
Bentley’s Year in Infrastructure event in Singapore is where the company has announced new AI features in past years, including OpenSite+ in 2024 and its Copilot plans and Infrastructure AI Co-Innovation Initiative in 2025. Watch for updates on how far those tools have rolled out and whether more of Bentley’s design applications get AI help.
The bigger signal is the jump in AI use among finalists. When most of the best-regarded projects in an industry use a tool, it stops being an experiment and becomes an expectation. Owners and DOTs will start asking consultants how they use AI, and firms will start asking candidates the same question.
What it means for hiring
AI is not shrinking civil teams. Firms are using it to take on more work with the engineers they have, which keeps demand high for people who can run modern design tools.
- OpenRoads, OpenRail and Civil 3D experience paired with comfort using AI assistants is a growing ask in site and transportation roles.
- Engineers who keep project data organized in shared models make AI tools far more useful. Ask about it.
- Licensed PEs who review AI-generated layouts remain the bottleneck, so stamping authority is still the scarcest skill.
Hiring civil or structural engineers? See our civil engineering recruiters page or browse our engineering talent maps.
Interview questions for civil engineers using AI tools
- If a generative tool gives you ten site layouts, how do you pick one and defend it to a client or reviewer?
- Which design software do you use daily, and how do you keep project data organized across the team?
- Tell me about a time you caught an error in automated output before it went out.
- How would you check an AI-produced plan set against a DOT or municipal standard?
Frequently asked questions
How many Bentley YII 2026 finalists used AI?
Bentley reported that 24 of its 36 finalists for the 2026 Year in Infrastructure Awards used AI in some form. The finalists came from more than 300 submissions in 53 countries.
What is OpenSite+?
OpenSite+ is Bentley’s generative AI application for civil site design. Bentley says it can produce site designs up to 10 times faster than traditional methods, and it has been in limited availability.
Is AI reducing demand for civil engineers?
Bentley’s own leadership points to engineering capacity as the main limit on infrastructure work. Firms are using AI to get more done with the people they have, and licensed engineers are still needed to review and stamp the work.
More stories like this are on our AI for Engineers hub.
