Industry Data
There's a conversation happening in boardrooms, principal meetings, and marketing departments across architecture, engineering, and construction firms right now. It goes something like this:
"We need to grow."
And the follow-up, almost universally, is some version of: "So let's hire another BD person" or "Let's go to more conferences" or "Let's refresh the website."
Those aren't bad ideas. But they're tactics without a strategy or data. You're essentially using
"an old model in a new era".
The AEC industry is one of the last professional services sectors to fully embrace data-driven business development and marketing. The firms that make this shift - intentionally, systematically - are not just winning incrementally more work.
They are fundamentally changing how they grow.
Why Modern BD/Marketing
Has Changed
AEC BD Has Been Running "On Gut Instinct"
Let's be honest. For decades, business development in this industry has been relationship-driven in the best possible way - and instinct-driven in a way that doesn't always serve firms well. Senior principals carry the relationships. BD staff chase RFPs. Marketing teams produce proposals and collateral. Everyone stays busy.
But busy is not the same as strategic.
What End-Users Tell Us That Firms Often Miss
Here's where it gets genuinely interesting - and where many AEC leaders are surprised. When you go directly to end users and clients - the people who actually run the buildings, use the infrastructure, and experience the outcomes of your work - their feedback rarely aligns with how firms are positioning themselves.
Our data tells us that the gap between how firms present themselves and what clients actually value - is a marketing and BD problem hiding in plain sight.
Where Our Data Comes From
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AIA Consensus Construction Forecast (Jan. 2026)
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AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (2025)
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AGC/Sage Contractor Survey (2025)
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AGC/NCCER Workforce Survey (2025)
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SMPS Foundation / FMI Consulting Emerging Trends Research (2025)
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Fusion BD 2025 End-User Survey
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ABM industry research (G2, WebFX, Marketing LTB, 2025–2026)
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Gartner. "Future of Sales 2025"
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Building Design + Construction."Top 130 Hospital Facility Architecture Firms for 2025.
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Moncur: "The Ultimate Guide to AEC Marketing." 2026.
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ZweigGroup. Ongoing AEC management consulting research
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Gartner: "Gartner Sales Survey Finds 61% of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Buying Experience
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Gartner. "Future of Sales 2025"
Our research comes from the latest studies by industry leaders such as AIA, SMPS, AGC, and others who polled AEC firm leadership including Principals, BD Directors, and CMO's.
We've combine that data with the first of it's kind survey taken directly from the buyers of AEC services; the VP's of Facilities, COO's, Directors Of Plant Operations, and other decision makers.
The findings challenge several common assumptions about what wins work in our industry. They reveal fundamental misalignments in how firms structure business development.
Principals need a clear, evidence-based framework for optimizing their BD/Marketing model. They need specific recommendations for role definition and resource allocation.
They need validation (or challenge) of their current approaches based on direct client feedback rather than “outdated” industry assumptions.
Explore The Latest Data
Now Leading
Modern Industry Practices
AEC business development has evolved from relationship-driven "rainmakers" to structured, data-informed, and integrated and aligned, marketing/BD teams, supporting BD efforts of principals/project leaders in revenue strategy.
Learn what the modern AEC firm needs to do
to succeed in today market.
A note on citation discipline. Where our data/analysis quotes or paraphrases a source, the citation is intended to be precise enough that an interested reader can locate the original. Where this data/analysis makes a claim that is not directly attributable to a third-party source, the claim is presented as Fusion BD's own view or research and is identified as such. This separation of attributed research and original analysis is a discipline
Fusion BD considers essential to credible AEC thought leadership.