What we learned in Park City about AI, consolidation, and the things technology can’t replace.
Last week, Method’s Managing Principal Jake Donaldson attended the Zweig AEC Elevate Conference in Park City, Utah. Here’s a recap from his time at the conference:
Method Architecture brought home bronze in the 2026 AEC Innovators Award at Zweig Group’s ElevateAEC Conference in Park City, Utah. The award recognized Modus, our internal AI platform, as one of the top three innovations in the industry this year.
Not bad for a Texas firm that only recently started building this thing. Every tool in Modus exists because someone on our team was willing to try something new, break it, and try again. This award belongs to them.
I also had the chance to join the “AI Gets Real” panel and co-lead a session with Craig Sizemore of STEPS Consulting on building an AI-powered firm one solution at a time. Between the sessions and the hallway conversations, I came home with a full notebook.
What I’m Bringing Home
This year’s theme was “Uncharted,” and it fit. Nobody in the room had a playbook for what’s coming. Four ideas stuck with me.
1. AI Has Left the Demo Stage
The firms pulling ahead aren’t chasing the flashiest tools. They’re stacking small, practical wins into processes that actually stick. The question has shifted from “should we use AI?” to “how do we roll it out without breaking what already works?”
That raises a harder question every firm is wrestling with: when do you build, and when do you wait for the subscription version? A custom tool can turn into an expensive duplicate of a feature your software vendor ships next quarter. For us, the answer has been clear. No off-the-shelf tool works exactly the way we do, from pricing to redlining to client experience, and that’s a good thing. We build custom when it sets us even further apart. Common tools lead to watered-down, mediocre outputs.
2. The Tech Gap Won’t Last Forever
This was the point I kept coming back to. Right now the disparity between firms on technology and AI is huge. Some are years ahead; some haven’t started. Give it a few years and that gap levels out. The tools get cheaper, easier, and more common.
When that happens, we’re all left with what mattered all along: our people, our relationships, our brand, and the experience we give our clients. Technology is a multiplier, not a substitute. Chase tools for tools’ sake and you risk neglecting the very things that will still set you apart once everyone has the same software.
KP Reddy’s keynote made this case better than I can, and I’m excited to dig into his book, Creating the Intangible Enterprise, which tackles exactly this idea. That’s why, no matter how many custom tools, workflows, or shiny AI things we chase, we’re determined to keep our people and our ego-free culture at the heart of it.
“When the tech gap closes, we’re all left with what mattered all along: our people, our relationships, and the experience we give our clients.”
3. Consolidation Isn’t Slowing Down
I only caught the tail end of the M&A Next Symposium, but the M&A conversation was hard to miss. Zweig’s own monthly deal tracker shows dozens of AEC transactions closing every month, with Texas among the busiest markets. Firms are buying capabilities, geography, and talent. Standing still is a strategy too, just rarely a winning one.
From where I sit, it’s also a good time to be a Texan. We’re seeing a lot of out-of-state firms and private equity groups looking to get a piece of the booming Texas Triangle. That interest says a lot about where the growth is, and it’s a market we know well.
4. The Business Model Is Up for Debate
Value-based pricing, nearshore talent, and even “why grow at all?” weren’t fringe topics. They were main-stage conversations. The hourly-billing, headcount-driven model is being questioned out loud, and that’s healthy.
Â
What It Means for Method and Our Clients
We built Modus to take the repetitive work off our team’s plate so they can spend more time on what clients actually hire us for: thinking, listening, and solving problems. That’s the whole point. The award is nice, but the real test is whether our clients feel the difference.
No playbook, plenty of opportunity. Thanks to Zweig Group for a great conference, to everyone who made the trip to Park City, and most of all to the Method team who made Modus real.
Want to compare notes on AI in your firm, or talk about what it could mean for your next project? Reach out. We’d love to hear what you’re building.
About Method Architecture
Method Architecture is an ego-free architecture firm serving industrial, commercial, and public clients across Texas, with offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Learn more at methodarchitecture.com.
