Bentley Systems, Incorporated (Nasdaq: BSY), the infrastructure engineering software company, today (October 15)unveiled new infrastructure AI capabilities at its Year in Infrastructure conference. Bentley also announced an Infrastructure AI co-innovation initiative, inviting engineering firms and asset owners to collaborate on the next generation of AI workflows. 

“AI is poised to transform infrastructure,” said Bentley CEO Nicholas Cumins. “At Bentley, our vision is for AI to empower infrastructure engineers—not replace them. Trustworthy AI, built on infrastructure context, can improve engineering productivity and transform workflows across project and asset lifecycles.”

AI use expanding across infrastructure

Each year, Bentley honors leading infrastructure organizations with the Going Digital Awards, recognizing excellence in project delivery and asset performance through digital innovation. This year, nearly one-third of award submissions—and almost half of finalists—incorporated AI into their projects.

This aligns with the findings from a global survey of infrastructure professionals released at the conference. Conducted by Bentley in collaboration with law firm Pinsent Masons, engineering firm Mott MacDonald, and consultancy Turner & Townsend, the survey found that about half of respondents are either piloting AI or have already implemented it, with plans to scale its use across their organizations. Key focus areas include boosting design and engineering productivity and automating documentation processes. 

“The greatest challenge to delivering better and more resilient infrastructure is engineering capacity,” said Cumins. “The reality is, there simply aren’t enough engineers in the world to do all the work that needs to be done. AI promises a step change in productivity that can help close this capacity gap.” 

AI rolled out across Bentley product portfolio

At last year’s conference, Bentley introduced OpenSite+ for civil site design, the first in a series of new AI-powered applications. Today, Bentley unveiled additional next generation applications for substation design and construction management that accelerate the adoption of AI across project delivery. 

“We have been creating a new generation of infrastructure applications built on digital twins, powered by AI, and fully connected to Bentley Infrastructure Cloud,” said Francois Valois, senior vice president, Bentley Open Applications. “They show what’s possible when AI is built for real infrastructure workflows and tailored to the needs of engineers.”