If the exhibitor lineup for NXT BLD 2026 (London 13-14 May) tells us anything, it’s that the AEC technology market is in the middle of a genuine inflection point. With budgets under pressure and new AI-driven capabilities reshaping workflows, firms are re-evaluating their software stacks and the assumptions behind them
AI is no longer a feature bolted onto existing tools — it is increasingly the architecture of the products themselves. From BIM 2.0 and autonomous engineering design to natural language model interrogation and AI development platforms, the show floor maps an industry in rapid transition.
BIM 2.0: the new generation
NXT BLD is the only place where you can see the new wave of BIM 2.0 startups side by side.
Arcol will showcase its cloud-based platform for real-time, multi-user collaboration, targeting fragmentation across project teams.
Qonic focuses on digital construction, with a high-performance platform that opens complex models in seconds, detects clashes automatically, and generates drawing sets at scale.
Motif will demonstrate its dynamic design workspace — an “infinite canvas” where teams can sketch, annotate, organise, and present in 2D and 3D, all connected to live project data.
Meanwhile, Snaptrude will showcase its AI BIM platform, featuring a suite of agents for zoning, site analysis, massing, floor planning, and early-stage design exploration.
Alongside these core platforms, a new layer of tools is emerging to augment established BIM workflows. Skema focuses on improving the quality and reliability of BIM models generated from schematic design.
TwinMaster uses domain-specific agents to deliver real-time feedback on sustainability, cost, daylight, and zoning compliance.
Graebert will demonstrate its AI-driven AutoDrawings technology, automatically generating and updating 2D documentation for Revit and IFC workflows at scale.
Meanwhile, Endra will put the spotlight on autonomous MEP design, combining AI with physics-based engineering to generate models, size systems, and produce schedules within a single connected environment.
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The big platforms: foundation and scale
The major platform vendors arrive with a sense of broad ambition. Autodesk and Bentley Systems are among the headline exhibitors, building on decades of investment in design and infrastructure software while pushing further into AI, cloud platforms, data schemas, and generative workflows.
Graphisoft will also be present, showcasing its OpenBIM approach through Archicad, alongside MEP Designer for integrated building systems modelling.
From the manufacturing world, software leaders bring industrial-scale thinking into AEC. Siemens will demonstrate how organisations can connect design, fabrication, construction, and operations, while Dassault Systèmes will showcase its 3DExperience platform, used by firms including Bouygues Construction.
Boosting tools and platforms
A parallel theme is the focus on getting more from existing systems. DiRoots will present its Revit productivity toolkit, alongside bespoke development services spanning Autodesk Platform Services (APS), web, and cloud applications.
Graitec will showcase Ideate Software, helping teams unlock greater value from Revit data, as well as File Sync for secure project data management.
From data control to digital trust
A recurring thread across the exhibition is the drive to bring clarity, control, and intelligence to AEC data environments.
Egnyte combines cloud content management, data security, and AI to help teams manage and extract more value from project information.
Tektome focuses on making model data smarter and more trustworthy, allowing users to interrogate models in plain language, validate them without coding, and run reusable checks across projects — essentially bringing institutional knowledge to bear on model QA automatically.
Speckle provides an open data layer connecting fragmented BIM tools, enabling change control, automation, and analytics across silos.
Kenesto delivers a cloud platform for engineers and designers to store, share, view, version, and collaborate on CAD and other project documents.
ITI brings expertise in interoperability and model integrity across the AEC enterprise.
Waterstons covers cyber security, data, advisory, development, and systems integration.
HSO will demonstrate how AI, cloud, data, and business applications can be combined for end-to-end transformation.
Building the software ecosystem
The exhibition also reflects growing momentum around software development.
Tech Soft 3D supplies SDK-level building blocks behind many AEC applications on display, while AMC Bridge will showcase software development services for digital construction.
Visual intelligence
Chaos remains a leader in BIM-integrated and high-end architectural visualisation, while newer entrant Visoid will demonstrate AI-driven rendering directly from design models, producing high-quality visuals in minutes.
xFigura focuses on early-stage ideation, accelerating the journey from concept to communicable design.
The workstation layer
For practices evaluating how and where these tools run, NXT BLD provides a hands-on view of next-generation compute.
Delegates will be among the first to experience a new Lenovo workstation built specifically for AEC professionals, launching at the event. Lenovo, alongside partners Nvidia and AMD, will showcase mobile and desktop systems optimised for BIM, visualisation, and local AI development and inference.
Remote and hosted environments will also feature prominently. Lenovo will demonstrate Lenovo Access, while IMSCAD Services will present hosted workstation and VDI solutions for graphics-intensive applications.
Creative ITC will show how AEC firms can benefit from a fully managed digital workspace and cloud services.
From geospatial to Germany
Finally, Esri will reinforce the growing role of location intelligence and geospatial analysis in design and urban decision-making.
Mervisoft sits at the heart of Germany’s AEC ecosystem, providing distribution, development, and marketing support tailored to regional industry needs.
