VHB and Bentley Systems Bridge the Digital Divide with New AI Integration

• 17 January 2026
• Construction Focus
• 941 Views

Engineering firm VHB has successfully deployed an AI-powered “digital coworker,” transforming how its engineers interact with complex CAD software and effectively solving the industry-wide challenge of “rate of learning.”

By integrating Microsoft Copilot Studio with Bentley Systems’ extensive technical documentation, VHB has created a real-time tutor that lives within Microsoft Teams, providing instant troubleshooting and workflow automation for its staff.

For years, VHB engineers faced a mounting problem: software complexity was outpacing project timelines. Entry-level and intermediate users often found themselves stalled, scouring internet forums or waiting for peer support to navigate intricate Bentley software updates.

The solution came in early 2024 with the launch of an AI assistant trained on thousands of Bentley resources, including manuals, community forums, and videos.

Key Outcomes Since Deployment:

• 78% Approval: A vast majority of users report increased confidence and faster troubleshooting.
• 7.5% Weekly Time Savings: Teams are reclaiming hours previously lost to manual searches.
• The “1,000-Hour” Win: In one instance, a design team faced a data extraction task estimated to take thousands of hours. The AI assistant generated a custom VBA application that completed the work in a single afternoon.

VHB’s success is now influencing the broader Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. The firm estimates that through conferences and webinars, they have assisted ten times more people externally than they employ.

While VHB’s internal tool serves as a bespoke tutor, Bentley Systems is simultaneously embedding AI directly into its core infrastructure cloud. For example, ProjectWise AI Search allows engineers to search across data sources and receive summaries without opening individual files.

• AI
• Bentley Systems
• digital coworker
• VHB