Autodesk Forma: AI-Powered Workflows Transforming Architecture

In today’s architecture and engineering landscape, efficiency and automation are more than buzzwords – they're essential for staying competitive. Building Information Modeling (BIM) managers, architects, and engineers are constantly seeking tools that streamline workflows, reduce repetitive work, and free up time for creative problem-solving. Enter Autodesk Forma, a new cloud-based platform from Autodesk that leverages artificial intelligence to reimagine early-stage design and BIM workflows. From generating design concepts with AI-driven analysis to integrating seamlessly with Revit for detailed development, Autodesk Forma is poised to transform how AEC professionals approach projects. But design automation doesn't stop at the concept phase. Innovative solutions like ArchiLabs are emerging to automate tedious Revit tasks (think sheet creation, tagging, dimensioning) with an AI-powered drag-and-drop interface and chat-driven commands. Together, these technologies paint a picture of a future where architects spend less time on grunt work and more on design innovation.

What is Autodesk Forma?

Autodesk Forma is the first iteration of Autodesk’s industry-specific cloud for architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO). Launched in 2023 as the evolution of the Spacemaker tool, Forma aims to unify workflows across all phases of BIM – from initial planning and design to construction and operations (Autodesk Introduces Forma, the next evolution of Spacemaker | Autodesk Forma). Initially, Forma’s focus is on the early-stage conceptual design and site planning process. It provides architects with a cloud-based environment where they can start a project with rich context data, explore design options rapidly, and receive real-time feedback through AI-powered analysis. In short, Autodesk Forma acts as an AI assistant for the schematic design phase, automating data gathering and analysis tasks that used to take hours or days, and doing so within a collaborative online platform.

It’s important to note that Forma is not just another modeling software – it’s an “industry cloud” platform designed to connect the many steps and stakeholders in a building project. For architects and BIM managers, this means less jumping between disconnected tools. Forma brings together everything needed in those nascent project stages: geospatial data, environmental analysis, generative design tools, and integration hooks to downstream BIM applications. And because it’s part of Autodesk’s ecosystem, Forma doesn’t operate in isolation; it feeds into detailed design workflows in tools like Revit, creating a continuous digital thread from concept to construction (Autodesk Introduces Forma, the next evolution of Spacemaker | Autodesk Forma).

Key Capabilities of Autodesk Forma

(Revolutionizing Schematic Design with AI: Meet Autodesk Forma | aec+tech) Daylight analysis in Autodesk Forma provides instant feedback on natural light conditions for conceptual designs.

Autodesk Forma offers a suite of AI-driven features tailored to make early design faster, smarter, and more informed. Some of its standout capabilities include:

Automated Project Setup & Context: The moment you create a project in Forma, the platform pulls in rich contextual data for your site – from terrain and property lines to surrounding buildings and climate stats. Architects can start designing with the site’s real-world context readily available, ensuring proposals are grounded in reality from day one (Revolutionizing Schematic Design with AI: Meet Autodesk Forma | aec+tech) (Revolutionizing Schematic Design with AI: Meet Autodesk Forma | aec+tech). Instead of manually importing maps or tracing site boundaries, Forma provides that foundation instantly, which eases project setup and offloads repetitive tasks (Autodesk Forma now and the future | Autodesk News).

Generative Design & Multiple Proposals: Exploring different design options is often limited by time and resources, but Forma’s AI-powered generative design tools change that. Users can specify key parameters – like building footprint, height limits, or setback requirements – and let Forma propose numerous design variants. The platform can quickly mass out building forms and layouts, presenting architects with a range of solutions to evaluate (Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Architecture & Engineering). By simplifying the exploration of design concepts and allowing multiple proposals at once, Forma encourages a more iterative design process in early stages (Autodesk Forma now and the future | Autodesk News).

AI-Powered Analysis for Informed Decisions: One of Forma’s most powerful contributions to architectural workflow is its integrated analysis engine. As designs are generated or sketched, Forma can automatically evaluate critical environmental and performance metrics. For example, it can analyze sunlight exposure, daylight availability, wind patterns, and even estimated energy use for each design option (Revolutionizing Schematic Design with AI: Meet Autodesk Forma | aec+tech). In the past, architects might have had to export models to specialized software or rely on rules of thumb for such analyses. With Forma, these insights are available in real-time within the design environment. The result is data-driven decision making from the get-go: architects can see which concept maximizes daylight or which site layout minimizes wind tunnels, and use that information to refine their designs. By evaluating environmental qualities on the fly, Forma gives architects more time to focus on creative solutions instead of crunching numbers (Autodesk Forma now and the future | Autodesk News).

Impact on Architectural Workflows and Efficiency

Autodesk Forma’s capabilities translate directly into more efficient workflows for architecture and engineering teams. By automating the low-value tasks and providing instant feedback on design decisions, Forma allows professionals to spend more time on design quality and less on drudgery. For instance, before Forma, creating even a handful of viable site design options could take weeks of manual effort. Now, much of that legwork is done by the software in minutes, allowing the team to explore far more options and make informed decisions faster. In other words, Forma supercharges the iterative design process by letting teams work through scenarios in parallel rather than sequentially (Autodesk Introduces Forma, the next evolution of Spacemaker | Autodesk Forma).

Another major workflow improvement comes from Forma’s integration with traditional BIM tools. Because the platform is part of Autodesk’s ecosystem, it doesn’t require architects to start over when moving to detailed design. Designs initiated in Forma can be sent directly to Revit (using the Forma add-in) to become the basis of your BIM model (Interoperability workflow between Forma and Revit | Autodesk Forma) (Interoperability workflow between Forma and Revit | Autodesk Forma). Site topography, building massing, and other elements transfer into Revit as native objects (e.g. terrain becomes a toposolid, conceptual masses become walls/floors/roofs), providing a head start on design development (Interoperability workflow between Forma and Revit | Autodesk Forma). This interoperability means that the time saved in concept isn’t lost in translation – BIM managers can carry forward the work done during planning without reconstruction. It also fosters a more continuous feedback loop: if changes are made later in Revit, they can be pushed back to Forma for updated analyses, supporting an agile design approach (Interoperability workflow between Forma and Revit | Autodesk Forma). The old siloed workflow (concept separate from BIM) is replaced by a connected pipeline where early decisions flow directly into later deliverables.

From an efficiency standpoint, Autodesk Forma’s impact can be summed up in a few key points:

Faster Iterations: More design options explored in less time leads to a higher chance of finding an optimal solution that satisfies client requirements, regulatory constraints, and aesthetic goals.

Better Informed Decisions: Integrated analyses reduce the risk of costly design changes later. By catching issues (like poor daylight in a layout) early, teams avoid rework and delays.

Collaboration and Transparency: With a cloud model accessible to all, stakeholders have visibility into the design process from the start. This can build trust and align expectations, reducing late-stage friction. For architects and engineers, being on the same page early on means fewer coordination issues as the project progresses.

So far, we’ve looked at how Autodesk Forma enhances the front-end of the architectural workflow – the planning and conceptual phase. But what about the later phases, like detailed design and documentation? This is where other AI-powered BIM automation tools come into play, complementing Forma’s early-stage focus. One such tool making waves is ArchiLabs, which tackles the repetitive chores inside Revit that come after the conceptual design is set.

Automating Revit Tasks with AI: Meet ArchiLabs

While Autodesk Forma handles the big-picture planning and analysis, ArchiLabs zooms in on automating the nitty-gritty tasks within BIM software (specifically Autodesk Revit). ArchiLabs is an AI-driven automation plugin for Revit that essentially acts as a co-pilot for tedious BIM chores (Top 10 Revit Plugins in 2025 for Architects & Engineers). If you’re a BIM manager or Revit power user, you know how time-consuming repetitive operations like setting up sheets, annotating drawings, tagging elements, and adjusting dimensions can be. ArchiLabs was designed to offload those tasks to an AI, allowing architects and engineers to focus on more critical work.

What makes ArchiLabs particularly interesting is its approach to automation. It provides an intuitive drag-and-drop interface with AI-assisted node creation, similar in spirit to visual programming tools like Dynamo but far more accessible (Top 10 Revit Plugins in 2025 for Architects & Engineers). Under the hood, ArchiLabs is building automation scripts for you – but you don’t need to write any code or wrestle with connecting nodes as you would in Dynamo. You can either assemble tasks visually (by dragging predefined “action blocks” like Create Sheet or Tag Doors) or simply describe what you need in plain language via a chat-like prompt. The software’s AI interprets your request and generates the sequence of Revit API calls to execute it (Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Architecture & Engineering).

This chat-driven automation is a game-changer for BIM workflows. It means that even team members who aren’t coding experts can leverage powerful scripting-like capabilities. Traditionally, if an architect wanted to batch-create dozens of sheets or uniformly tag all rooms across a set of views, they had two choices: do it by hand (time-consuming and error-prone) or write a Dynamo script/API macro (which requires specialized knowledge). ArchiLabs offers a third option: ask the AI to do it. According to the founders, an architect can just input requests into a chat bar and the AI will “run transaction-safe Python scripts to automate tedious tasks in CAD tools” behind the scenes (Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Architecture & Engineering). The outcome is the same as a custom Dynamo script accomplishing the task, but the effort required from the user is minimal – essentially just describing the goal.

For BIM managers, this opens up a new realm of efficiency and standardization. ArchiLabs can help enforce company standards (imagine an office template where you could ask the AI to “check that all door tags follow our naming convention and fix any that don’t”), and it reduces reliance on a few tech-savvy individuals to maintain automation scripts. The tool is often described as an “AI-powered Dynamo alternative” because it delivers similar results to Dynamo scripts – automating complex sequences in Revit – without the steep learning curve (Top 10 Revit Plugins in 2025 for Architects & Engineers). Notably, ArchiLabs achieves this without leveraging Dynamo at all; instead of relying on Dynamo’s visual programming engine, it generates automation logic through its own AI system. This means you get Dynamo-like power (and beyond) without actually having to open Dynamo.

By using ArchiLabs, firms have reported dramatic time savings – in fact, ArchiLabs claims it can help architects achieve up to a 10x increase in drafting speed by offloading repetitive work to the AI (ArchiLabs: AI Copilot for Architects | Y Combinator). Even if your mileage varies, there’s no doubt that hours of labor can be shaved off documentation workflows. And the benefits aren’t just speed: consistency and accuracy improve when an AI follows defined rules or patterns, reducing the chance of human oversight (like a missed dimension or a mis-numbered sheet).

Conclusion

The advent of platforms like Autodesk Forma and automation tools like ArchiLabs signals a tipping point in AEC technology. Architects, BIM managers, and engineers are now empowered with AI “co-pilots” that handle the heavy lifting of analysis and repetition, allowing the professionals to concentrate on innovation, quality, and problem-solving.

For any architecture or engineering firm aiming to stay ahead, exploring these AI-driven solutions is becoming a must. Leveraging Autodesk Forma’s generative design and environmental insight can lead to better project outcomes and satisfied clients from the start. And when it comes to delivering the project, using ArchiLabs to automate Revit tasks can save countless hours and reduce errors in the drawing set. Together, they represent a holistic approach to automation – one that spans from the first site sketch to the final sheet set.

In summary, the fusion of human creativity with machine efficiency is the new paradigm for BIM. Autodesk Forma and ArchiLabs are early examples of how this fusion can radically enhance architectural workflows. By embracing these AI tools today, firms can gain a competitive edge – delivering projects with greater agility and precision, while the "boring" stuff takes care of itself and the team focuses on designing great buildings.