Trimble has launched a new “Open and extensible” agentic AI platform, a collection of core services, security frameworks, and tools allow Trimble to build and deploy agentic AI systems.

The company’s vision is to enable partners and customers develop AI agents and multi-agent workflows across Trimble’s suite of construction solutions. Trimble is currently piloting the platform, Trimble Agent Studio, with select customers.

“As agentic AI use cases multiply, there is a growing need for common infrastructure that allows creators to rapidly and responsibly develop, deploy, monitor, and maintain high-value AI agents at scale,” said Mark Schwartz, senior vice president of AECO software at Trimble.

“We see the platform as the engine that will help Trimble, its partners, and its customers extract more value from both our solutions and their data.”

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According to Trimble, its agentic AI platform and other AI capabilities are currently being used to help users learn and navigate Trimble software more efficiently. AI is also being used to eliminate many of the manual steps traditionally required to model from scratch, allowing users to generate 3D objects simply by describing what they want to create.

Trimble’s AI can also convert voice memos into field documents, capture status updates from crews, and reduce the time teams spend in front of computer screens back at the office. Beyond design, Trimble’s AI accelerates access to data and streamlines asset maintenance and permitting workflows.

“We are building an industry ecosystem aimed at breaking down data silos and empowering our customers to make smarter decisions, collaborate effectively and work faster,” said Rob Painter, Trimble CEO.

“By embedding AI into our solutions and enabling improved data flow, we’re taking the next steps towards unlocking the power of connected data.”

Trimble is making several AI tools available through Trimble Labs (Labs), a pre-release, early engagement program that enables customers to test new features and provide user feedback.

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Trimble has announced ProjectSight 360 Capture a new tool designed to give contractors better visibility into site progress by applying AI to 360-degree images, captured while walking the construction site.

ProjectSight 360 Capture, which is built into Trimble’s ProjectSight project management software, enables construction teams to conduct virtual jobsite walkthroughs, track progress and resolve issues collaboratively.

A cloud-based AI algorithm automatically processes the 360-degree images, identifies key locations, and links them to project drawings to, enabling comparison of as-built conditions over time or against the design. AI-powered privacy filtering also blurs faces on the jobsite, protecting individual privacy.

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Project managers can connect these images directly to workflows — such as change orders or RFIs — by embedding captures within requests. Through Trimble Connect’s common data environment, all imagery is shared and accessed in one centralised location.

“Traditional methods of capturing and communicating project status are typically time consuming, complex and incomplete, making it difficult for contractors to collaborate, quickly correct problems and keep projects on budget and on schedule,” said Lawrence Smith, vice president and general manager of construction management solutions at Trimble. “Directly pairing critical project management tasks with 360-degree image captures gives users a clear picture of actual conditions and status on job sites, helping turn data into effective decision making.

“ProjectSight 360 Capture makes real-world data easy to capture and use, giving project managers critical insights through intuitive visualisation and navigation,” added Smith. “By streamlining documentation, tracking changes over time, and simplifying issue management across the Trimble ecosystem, it gives project managers a reliable, real-time view of job site conditions regardless of their location.”

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A new 3D model viewer for Viewpoint Field View has enhanced the model-based workflows in the construction site software. Teams can now more effectively capture information, allowing forms, checklists and tasks to be raised against the 3D model.

Using the mobile Viewpoint Field View application teams can open and view the 3D model out on site, giving field workers immediate visual context and insight to help reduce misinterpretation and rework.

Tasks and forms (for the purposes of snagging, health and safety actions, quality checks, inspections and handover) can be embedded, pinned and assigned to the relevant location within the model. This not only helps enhance documentation accuracy, but provide a clear visual context for reporting.

Any task or form pinned to a 3D model will automatically be reflected on the linked 2D plan. According to Trimble, creating this single source of truth across project views ensures cohesive tracking and management, as well as allowing users the freedom to work in either 2D or 3D, depending on individual preferences.

The new Field View updates are also said to provide improved efficiency levels and productivity gains – both out on site and in the office. Trimble gives the example of the auto calibration of BIM files and geometry set up, particularly relevant during the initial project setup stage.

The company explains that while previous workflows could have taken teams days or even weeks to complete, now it can take just minutes or hours.

Field View can semi-automate the identification of spaces from within an IFC file, creating a 2D plan from a 3D model while suggesting appropriate labels – such as Room One or Corridor Ten.

“This is the latest in a series of exciting updates and enhanced functionalities we have made to Field View, all with the aim of providing streamlined processes, easier access to 3D model-based workflows, and improved documentation and reporting accuracy,” said Mark Slack, product manager EMEA at Trimble.

“With Field View, the emphasis is on providing complete site and project management for all contractors with 2D, 3D and reality-based workflows, helping to facilitate the ‘Golden Thread’ and master compliance with new regulatory frameworks, such as the Building Safety Act.”

The latest update also includes a new Organisation Import Tool, helping teams to efficiently set up organisations on new and existing projects, with quick bulk uploads, duplicate control and readily available enterprise library support.

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Trimble has built a new suite of collaboration tools directly into the heart of SketchUp for Desktop, alongside improvements to documentation, site context, and visualisation.

The latest release of the popular push/pull 3D modelling software introduces private sharing control, in-app commenting, and real-time viewing, allowing designers to collect feedback from clients and stakeholders without leaving the SketchUp environment.

“Great designs are shaped by conversation, iteration and shared insight,” said Sandra Winstead, senior director of product management, architecture and design at Trimble. “Rather than jumping between email threads or third-party tools to hold conversations, collaborate and make design decisions, we’ve built collaboration directly into SketchUp.”

With these new tools, designers can securely share models with selected stakeholders, controlling who can view and comment. Feedback is attached directly to 3D geometry, ensuring comments are linked to the right part of the model.

All collaborators see updates instantly, creating what Trimble describes as a shared space for real-time design conversations. Cursor and camera tracking features also allow clients and colleagues to follow along during live presentations.

Elsewhere, SketchUp now includes professional 2D drafting tools in LayOut, the companion application used for presentations and documentation.
According to Trimble, users gain access to more intuitive and precise drawing features for common documentation tasks, along with new scrapbooks offering standard architectural graphics such as doors and windows for scaled 2D composition.

An enhanced DWG export workflow helps ensure that SketchUp geometry and Tags are accurately preserved when transferring designs from 3D SketchUp into 2D CAD or BIM tools.

Trimble has also upgraded Scan Essentials, the SketchUp plug-in for turning point cloud data into 3D models. The latest release makes it easier to incorporate existing buildings into terrain as pre-built 3D geometry, supporting more accurate visualisation, climate analysis, and site planning.

SketchUp’s visualisation capabilities have been further refined, offering greater stylistic control and a broader set of rendering options, including Color Ambient Occlusion, Ambient Occlusion Scale Multiplier, and Invert Roughness.

Finally, for AI-assisted rendering, a new Diffusion Labs update delivers higher-fidelity imagery and greater creative control over AI-generated imagery.

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Trimble has announced a new integration between its B2W Track and Trimble Siteworks software systems to automate and enhance progress quantity tracking for earthwork and civil contractors.

This site-to-office connection is designed to enable contractors to compare actual material production quantities achieved to planned quantities more easily and accurately.

“Civil contractors must continuously evaluate how well projects are progressing against budgets, timelines and productivity goals,” said John Sheedy, director of product management at Trimble.

“Relying on phone calls, forms, emails and other disconnected communications tools to report on production quantities limits timeliness and accuracy of that reporting. This new software integration brings automation to the process to increase efficiency, eliminate errors and provide an auditable progress trail for billable milestones.”

According to Trimble, the new progress-to-plan reporting workflow allows project managers to create requests for quantity measurements — such as the amount of material added, moved or removed at a site — within the B2W Track performance tracking application.

Those requests are relayed automatically to personnel in the field who use Siteworks software with a view to fulfilling the request at ‘survey-grade accuracy’ and send the data back to B2W Track via Wi-Fi or cellular connections.

B2W Track users can then review and validate the data and reconcile it with information from other sources such as field logs. Production quantity data can also be transferred from B2W Track to the Trimble Viewpoint Vista, Viewpoint Spectrum accounting systems, or to third-party construction accounting systems.

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AI has been part of our technological landscape for years, but its capabilities are rapidly advancing. The construction industry, in particular, is witnessing unprecedented changes driven by AI, with technology being used in ways unimaginable just a year ago. As AI continues to evolve, it promises to drive significant improvements in industry operations.

Generative AI stands as a prime example of this evolution. The advent of tools like ChatGPT has revolutionised our interaction with AI, integrating it into daily tasks such as automated meeting transcriptions and suggested email responses. These tools help to enhance productivity by allowing us to instead focus on tasks that require expertise and judgement. Generative AI is also paving the way for advancements in generative design and machine learning.

In essence, AI enables machines to handle repetitive tasks, freeing humans to leverage their specialised skills. AI is not a replacement for people but a complement that enhances human capabilities.

Benefits vs challenges

Whether you view AI optimistically or pessimistically, its benefits in boosting productivity and efficiency are undeniable. AI minimises mundane tasks, allowing professionals to focus on higher-level work that requires human insight and experience. According to the McKinsey report “Artificial intelligence: Construction technology’s next frontier”, if widely adopted, AI could significantly improve the construction industry’s productivity levels.

Either way, the last year has raised AI up the agenda for the built environment, making people curious and willing to engage with it.

However, the rapid development of AI also brings challenges. The need for responsibility and risk management in AI adoption is paramount. As the industry embraces AI, there is a pressing need for formal standards and guidance on AI implementation. Questions concerning where and how AI should be applied, and how its use should be communicated to clients, remain critical.

Industry feedback indicates a clear need for balance between AI’s risks and opportunities. Striking this balance requires an understanding of AI’s capabilities and limitations and the potential risks it presents. Organisations must be prepared with AI strategies aligned with their digital and data initiatives.

The call for standardisation

The construction industry is calling for formal standards and guidance to build confidence in AI adoption. This need is evident in sectors like the nuclear industry, where accuracy, reporting, and traceability are crucial. The potential security threats and risks of error make it challenging for new technologies to penetrate these sectors. However, when correctly implemented, opportunities abound.

Responsibility and liability

A critical question in AI adoption is where the responsibility lies if something goes wrong. Whether you are a contractor, engineer, surveyor or consultant, you have to stand by the advice, service and output you provide to clients, and like all things, AI isn’t infallible.

Speaking to those in the industry and the consensus suggests that a company’s liability for AI is akin to its liability for any other product or service. This makes it the company’s responsibility to ensure quality checks before sharing AI-generated outputs. AI does not eliminate the need for human oversight; rather, it heightens the need for quality assurance.

For us at Trimble, quality data is essential from a technological provider’s perspective. The principle of “garbage in, garbage out” underscores the importance of feeding accurate information into AI systems for effective outcomes.

Ultimately, AI is a tool, and we remain the professionals who wield it. While AI can provide predictive and generative insights, human judgement is crucial in interpreting and applying these insights. Responsibility cannot be abdicated to AI; it remains with us, the users.

The future of AI in construction holds immense potential, but its successful integration depends on responsible use, guided by robust standards and informed by human expertise.

Stuart Campbell is senior manager, enterprise sales team at Trimble

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Trimble gave attendees of its annual Trimble Dimensions user conference an inside look at the company’s latest initiatives to incorporate AI into AEC workflows, including visualisation, reality capture, project management and takeoff.

For visualisation, SketchUp Diffusion [Labs] is a generative AI-powered tool, available as part of the SketchUp Labs public beta program, that allows architects and designers to generate visualisations in seconds based on the active SketchUp viewport and a natural language text prompt or preset style.

Learn more about Diffusion models in this guide for AEC professionals).

For project management, ProjectSight includes a new drawing import feature that uses AI to read and extract critical drawing information for improved project visualisation.

For takeoff, Trimble LiveCount uses new AI functionality to automatically detect and count thousands of symbols on construction drawings with a view to saving contractors from hours of manual, repetitive and time-consuming tasks.

Trimble LiveCount includes the ability to automatically detect and count different types of receptacles and switches — the most common electrical items on drawings, helping electrical contractors create estimates faster, easier and more accurately.

Trimble LiveCount AI functionality is available in the Trimble Accubid Anywhere (named user) and Hosted Accubid Classic Estimating Essentials subscriptions.

Meanwhile, Trimble has announced that SketchUp has surpassed one million active subscribers.

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Trimble has enhanced Trimble App Xchange to make it easier for software developers and construction contractors to build integrations between Trimble and other software solutions.

Additionally, contractors can create custom integrations with ‘unique workflow automation’ across project management, workforce management and financial management.

Key integrations can be found on Trimble Marketplace, which now boasts more than 100 integrations between Trimble products and third-party solutions

“App Xchange and Trimble Marketplace are key parts of our commitment to facilitating open, interoperable systems and an automated flow of data between solutions from Trimble and other software vendors,” said Chris Peppler, VP of platform and product for Trimble. “We’ve made it easier for contractors and other software developers to access and use these solutions because data sharing and workflow integration are increasingly vital to operational efficiency, productivity and safety.”

One construction software company, Tooltribe, recently used Trimble App Xchange to build an integration between its cloud-based app and construction ERP software Trimble Viewpoint Vista. The integration will help track tools, equipment, and consumables on job sites and in offices.

Trimble has also recently added several new integrations to the Trimble Marketplace. These include AI- technology startup Document Crunch and construction-focused customer relationship management (CRM) system ProjectMark.

Document Crunch is designed to simplify complex construction documents, identify project risks and streamline critical workflows.

“Having all Trimble integrations in one place makes it easy for contractors to pick and choose the solutions that best fit their specific needs — whether they be financial or project-related,” said Peppler.

“It also helps make the construction industry more approachable to technology startups by providing entrepreneurs an easy way to interconnect their solution with others, driving up the value to contractors who are explicitly looking to make their businesses more efficient and profitable.”

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Trimble has unveiled a free version of construction project management software Trimble ProjectSight, which offers a central hub for managing and sharing project information, including documents and drawings.

“A no-cost version of ProjectSight removes barriers to entry and presents a simple way to experience the project management benefits,” said Jon Fingland, VP and general manager for Trimble construction software solutions.

“Some contractors have viewed powerful construction management tools like ProjectSight as too expensive or complicated,” he added. “We envision a future where all contractors use this type of solution to access up-to-date information, collaborate, streamline workflows and make critical business and project decisions more effectively.”

The free version of Trimble ProjectSight provides a centralized environment to manage and share drawings, photos, specifications, submittals, punchlists and RFIs. Contractors can also create customised dashboards to view and organise upcoming document-related tasks.

Additional versions of ProjectSight — available with paid subscriptions — allow for unlimited projects and data, and provide advanced cost management, field management, workflow connectivity and integrations with Trimble Viewpoint Vista and Spectrum construction management software.

The latest release of the construction project management software also includes new AI-driven capabilities which were developed in collaboration with Microsoft using the Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service.

A new ProjectSight drawing import feature uses AI to read and extract critical drawing information. “The specialized drawing tool goes beyond standard optical character recognition with an engine that can read the name, revision number and content more holistically,” explained Fingland. “This makes it much faster to upload, validate and publish drawing sets without re-keying information.”

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Trimble has launched a new Reality Capture platform service designed to enable more effective collaboration and secure sharing of massive reality capture datasets captured with 3D laser scanning, mobile mapping and uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) systems.

One of the key aims is to make reality capture data accessible to more project stakeholders to support better informed decisions.

The Trimble Reality Capture platform service is available as an extension to Trimble Connect, the cloud-based common data environment (CDE) and collaboration platform.

The service handles point clouds and 360-degree imagery and works with terrestrial laser scanners like the Trimble MX series and Trimble X9, as well as data from third-party hardware

The Trimble Reality Capture platform service is integrated with Microsoft Azure Data Lake Storage and Azure Synapse Analytics with a view to reducing the time it takes to ingest, store and process massive datasets.

“The new Trimble Reality Capture platform service enables our workforce to more easily access data and collaborate between the jobsite and office, creating additional efficiencies across our operations,” said Christopher Pynn, digital leader at Laing O’Rourke for Eastern Freeway – Burke to Tram Alliance. “Having a single place for designers, engineers and other stakeholders to review and inspect project data is a real leap forward.”

“This new service applies cloud technology in a new way for large data packages, allowing users to significantly scale performance and maximise data value,” said Boris Skopljak, vice president, geospatial at Trimble.

“Anyone can now benefit from accessing complicated reality capture data through a simple web interface, making it easier than ever to leverage geospatial information to drive better outcomes at every step of the design-build-operate lifecycle. With this launch, we are a step closer to realising living digital twins and artificial intelligence applications at scale.”

“Utilising the power and multilayered, built-in security controls of Microsoft Azure in combination with Trimble’s reality capture capabilities transforms scanning workflows to reduce point cloud analysis time from hours to minutes,” said Wangui McKelvey, general manager, Azure data analytics at Microsoft.

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