Blueprints, Bots & Beyond: How Tech is Rewriting the Future of Design — On Earth and Beyond

Presentation by Dr. Luca Frattari, VP-Global Business Development AEC at Altair as part of the ATCx AEC 2025 conference.

The AEC industry has come a long way—from pencils and paper to cloud platforms, BIM models, and now the age of AI. But with every leap forward, new questions emerge: Are we driving the technology, or is it driving us? In this keynote, we'll take a fast-paced journey through the digital evolution of architecture, engineering, and construction—looking at how technology has transformed the way we imagine, design, and build. We'll dive into the current excitement and anxiety around artificial intelligence: Will it empower creativity or automate it away? How do we balance efficiency with ethics, and innovation with impact?

Most importantly, we'll zoom out to the bigger picture—how the buildings we design today don’t just shape cities, but can shape ecosystems, communities, and even future life on other planets. This is a call to the dreamers, the doers, and the designers of tomorrow: The future is under construction. What will you build?