Top 5 Proposal Trends in AEC: What Global Firms Are Experiencing
AEC firms are entering a new era of pursuit and proposal management. As infrastructure investment rises and client expectations grow more sophisticated, proposal teams face a difficult reality: more RFPs, tighter timelines, and flatter resources.
At the same time, technology, AI, and data are redefining what it means to “win work.” The firms that thrive are those modernizing how they capture knowledge, measure efficiency, and align people, process, and technology around a smarter pursuit engine.
Here are the five trends defining that evolution — and how leading firms are responding.
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The Scale Problem: More Bids, Same Resources
Across the industry, pursuit volume is climbing while headcount remains flat. Global engineering and design firms now manage thousands of proposals each year — stretching both technical experts and proposal teams to capacity.
The result is burnout, bottlenecks, and inconsistent quality.
To compete at scale, firms are automating repetitive tasks such as resume formatting, project sheet updates, and boilerplate creation. AI-powered co-authoring tools like ikaun’s help teams generate compliant, client-ready content in minutes — freeing valuable time for strategy, storytelling, and differentiation.
Trend takeaway: The future belongs to firms that scale their pursuit capacity without scaling their workload.
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Breaking Down Silos: Centralizing Knowledge for Speed and Accuracy
AEC organizations often operate through regional business units, each with its own systems and standards. The result? Valuable experience and expertise trapped in silos.
Leading firms are moving toward centralized expertise platforms that bring together people, projects, and past performance into one living knowledge base. Instead of chasing spreadsheets or outdated templates, pursuit teams can instantly search by sector, geography, or skillset — ensuring every submission reflects the firm’s full capability.
Trend takeaway: Centralizing data isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about unlocking your firm’s competitive intelligence.
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The ROI Imperative: Proposal Efficiency as a Business Metric
Once viewed as a cost center, proposal teams are now being evaluated on return on investment. Reducing the time to first draft, first review, or submission translates directly into measurable savings — often in the millions.
The smartest AEC firms are building business cases for automation, showing leadership how better pursuit processes can reduce bid costs, improve utilization, and reallocate staff time to high-value pursuits.
ikaun’s smart templates, standardized modules, and governance workflows allow teams to quantify their impact — turning “time saved” into real financial ROI.
Trend takeaway: Efficiency is no longer subjective — it’s a line item on the balance sheet.
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Culture-Driven Change: Adoption Starts with People
Technology only works when people use it. Firms that succeed in transforming their proposal processes treat change management as a cultural initiative, not a software rollout.
Some leading AEC firms have even tied system engagement to performance goals — embedding content updates and profile refreshes into annual appraisals. The result: cleaner data, better compliance, and a stronger sense of ownership across teams.
ikaun supports this with fully managed implementation and training programs designed for the unique dynamics of AEC delivery — where collaboration often spans regions, disciplines, and joint ventures.
Trend takeaway: Digital transformation in AEC isn’t about technology; it’s about people adopting new habits of working and sharing knowledge.
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AI: Pragmatic Today, Transformative Tomorrow
AI is already delivering value in proposal management — automating boilerplate responses, pre-populating templates, and detecting missing data. But the real potential lies ahead: using AI to score bid opportunities, recommend pursuit strategies, and benchmark pricing or delivery models.
ikaun’s coordinated Agentic AI system is designed for exactly this kind of intelligent automation — helping pursuit teams identify fit, strengthen compliance, and even surface relationship insights before the proposal is written.
Trend takeaway: The firms that invest in AI today are laying the groundwork for tomorrow’s predictive, insight-driven proposal engines.
Competing Differently in 2025
AEC pursuit leaders share a common goal: to compete smarter, not harder. By addressing scale, breaking silos, proving ROI, fostering cultural adoption, and embracing AI, firms are turning their pursuit operations into true growth engines.
Whether you’re an engineering giant or a growing consultancy, one principle holds true: the way you manage proposals determines the way you win work.
Learn More
Explore how ikaun helps AEC firms modernize pursuit and proposal operations — or connect with Brian Powell to see how your team can turn data, expertise, and AI into a measurable competitive advantage.