Becoming Bentley: 40 Years Ago, Bentley Brothers Launched A Software Company That Helped Change How We Live

• 3 October 2024
• Construction Focus
• 1214 Views

Five brothers enamoured with computers and their potential pursued a bold idea to create software that could revolutionise how engineers design and build things. They spent the last four decades developing engineering software that has helped shape infrastructure around the world, helping make roads and bridges more resilient, water systems more sustainable, and communities more prepared for a changing future.

The personal computer became available only a few years before Barry and Keith Bentley launched Bentley Systems and settled in suburban Philadelphia in 1984. They were joined later by their brothers Greg, Ray and Scott. They believed that they could move engineering design from drafting rooms and large mainframe computers to the desktop. They had no business plan, but they were right. “We were pretty loosey-goosey back then,” Barry says with a chuckle.

“Things were moving extremely quickly, and we were solving problems that were right at the state-of-the-art of computer graphics,” Ray recalls. “We were doing things that no one had ever seen before.” The brothers excelled at different things. Barry, Keith, Ray and Scott were good with software and computers. Greg provided the required business rigour and steered Bentley Systems through the treacherous shoals that sink most startups.

“I have always thought that we should set our compass by what brings the greatest value to professionals accomplishing something important,” Greg says. He refers to these professionals as Bentley software “users,” not customers, because they have an ongoing relationship with the company, not a single transaction.

As they refined their business, the brothers brought in new colleagues and started winning bigger projects. They also began acquiring companies that complemented Bentley Systems’ existing solutions and helped complete their vision. Today, Bentley Systems is a global company with more than 5,000 colleagues around the world and a revenue of $1.2 billion in 2023. Its stock trades on the Nasdaq. Bentley software is used by more than 41,000 organisations in 194 countries.

Bentley Systems is now pioneering new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twins, which are dynamic virtual replicas of real-world infrastructure like roads, bridges and even entire towns. The technology allows users to improve communication and collaboration among teams, optimise new designs for sustainability, or simulate different climate scenarios to improve resilience.

“The digital twin opportunity is as exciting as anything could be,” Greg says. His brother Keith adds: “If the digital twin represents the real thing, engineers get better insights on how to make it work better, how past decisions affected its performance, and ultimately those things are great business opportunities for software companies.”

These opportunities are now being pursued by new leadership at Bentley Systems. In July, Nicholas Cumins took over as CEO, becoming the first person outside the Bentley family to run the company. “Those 40 years tell a story of the contribution that the Bentley brothers have made to the advancement of infrastructure engineering software,” Cumins told colleagues. “They also speak to the impact that Bentley software has had on the quality of life of people throughout the world by virtue of many thousands of user projects. Indeed, the Bentley brothers created a very special company. ” “We are investing in the future,” Greg says. “You want people with you who will likewise be making decisions to benefit the future.”

Greg says our quality of life depends on the quality of our infrastructure, which in turn depends on infrastructure engineering and engineers. “Their work depends on the software tools that they have, and that depends on us at Bentley Systems,” he says.

The video above tells the Bentley Systems story. Take a look.

• Technology and Engineering
• Digital and Smart City
• Bentley
• Digital Twin
• AI
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