Bentley Systems, Incorporated, a leading infrastructure engineering software provider, has unveiled advanced AI capabilities at its Year in Infrastructure conference. Alongside this announcement, Bentley launched an Infrastructure AI Co-Innovation Initiative, inviting engineering firms and asset owners to collaborate on shaping the next generation of AI-driven workflows.

“AI is poised to transform infrastructure,” said Bentley CEO Nicholas Cumins. “At Bentley, our vision is for AI to empower infrastructure engineers not replace them. Trustworthy AI, built on infrastructure context, can improve engineering productivity and transform workflows across project and asset lifecycles.”

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AI Adoption Accelerates Across Infrastructure Projects

Bentley annually recognizes top infrastructure organizations with its Going Digital Awards, celebrating excellence in project delivery and asset performance through digital innovation. This year, nearly one-third of submissions and almost half of finalists incorporated AI in their projects, reflecting the growing influence of AI in the sector.

These trends align with a global survey of infrastructure professionals conducted by Bentley in collaboration with Pinsent Masons, Mott MacDonald, and Turner & Townsend. The survey revealed that about half of respondents are either piloting AI or have already implemented it, with plans to scale its use. Key areas of focus include boosting design and engineering productivity and automating documentation processes.

“The greatest challenge to delivering better and more resilient infrastructure is engineering capacity,” Cumins said. “The reality is, there simply aren’t enough engineers in the world to do all the work that needs to be done. AI promises a step change in productivity that can help close this capacity gap.”

Next-Generation AI Applications Across Bentley Products

Building on last year’s launch of OpenSite+ for civil site design, Bentley introduced new AI-powered applications for substation design and construction management. Francois Valois, senior vice president of Bentley Open Applications, emphasized, “They show what’s possible when AI is built for real infrastructure workflows and tailored to the needs of engineers.”

The new applications include Bentley Copilot, a context-aware AI assistant guiding workflows and surfacing relevant documents:

  • OpenSite+ enables generative AI for civil site design, accelerating projects up to 10 times without sacrificing accuracy. “OpenSite+ is going to open a lot of doors for us to move faster, get better answers, and really be better engineers,” said Brianne Belschner, Model-Based Design Lead, VHB.
  • OpenUtilities Substation+ allows collaborative substation design, reducing errors and rework. It will be available via early access in November.
  • SYNCHRO+, an AI-powered construction application, streamlines planning and coordination while integrating Cesium for geospatial context. Early access begins in December 2025.

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Existing applications, including OpenRoads Designer and OpenRail Designer, will receive AI enhancements such as automated drawing annotation in November 2025, with Bentley Copilot integration planned for early 2026.

ProjectWise also gains AI-powered search, reducing time spent searching for information and delivering instant, contextualized summaries, with early access in December 2025 and general availability in 2026.

Commitment to Trustworthy AI

Bentley underscores its commitment to data stewardship, ensuring users control their data for AI training. Cumins said, “Our users are in control of their data. They decide if it is used for AI training, and to what extent. Our users’ data is their data, always.” Bentley introduced a Data Agreement Registry to maintain transparency around AI model training.

Shaping Infrastructure’s Future with AI

Bentley’s Infrastructure AI Co-Innovation Initiative invites users to collaborate on AI workflows, explore new commercial models, and refine Bentley APIs for AI-driven applications. Cumins remarked, “This is a pivotal moment. The opportunity to shape the future of infrastructure is in front of us and we’re incredibly excited to collaborate with our users in this new way.”

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