Cities and engineering firms worldwide are rushing to adopt artificial intelligence agents to transform how they plan, design, and build infrastructure. This weekly update reveals major developments in how AI is changing city planning and construction.

San José Brings AI to City Hall

The city of San José, California, which calls itself the Capital of Silicon Valley, announced it will buy an AI platform for all 7,000 of its employees. The city released a Request for Proposal on October 15, 2025, looking for companies that can provide a safe and secure AI system. This comes after the city successfully taught its workers how to use AI through a special training program.

The AI platform will let city workers create their own custom AI chatbot assistants to help with daily tasks. These AI agents will be able to read and summarize long policy documents and contracts, write reports and emails, help programmers write and check computer code, and make charts from data. City Manager Jennifer Maguire explained that the goal is to give employees "innovative, responsible technology that helps focus on the work that makes a difference for our residents".

Mayor Matt Mahan said the city wants to use AI in everything it does to make government work better for people. San José has already started using AI in other ways, including a tool that speeds up building permit reviews, better bus routes, and license plate readers for police.

Engineering Gets an AI Upgrade

At the same time, Bentley Systems, a major software company for engineers, announced powerful new AI tools at its conference in Amsterdam. The company's CEO, Nicholas Cumins, said "AI is poised to transform infrastructure" but emphasized that AI should "empower infrastructure engineers, not replace them".

Bentley introduced several AI-powered applications that work like smart assistants for engineers. OpenSite+ uses generative AI to help engineers design building sites and can complete designs up to ten times faster than traditional methods. One engineer named Brianne Belschner said the tool will help them "move faster, get better answers, and really be better engineers".

Another new tool called OpenUtilities Substation+ lets multiple engineers work on the same electrical substation design at the same time, which reduces mistakes and wasted work. A third tool, SYNCHRO+, helps construction managers plan projects better using AI to think through different scenarios. This tool will be available starting in December 2025.

Bentley is also adding AI helpers to its existing programs. OpenRoads Designer and OpenRail Designer, which engineers use to design roads and railroads, will get AI-powered drawing tools in November 2025. An AI assistant called Bentley Copilot will be added to these programs in early 2026.

One engineer at a company called VHB built a custom AI agent using Microsoft's Copilot Studio to help other engineers quickly find answers and use Bentley software. Kyle Rosenmeyer said "these AI agents are only as good as the information they can access".

Most Companies Now Testing AI

A new survey by Bentley Systems and partner companies found that nearly all infrastructure companies are either testing AI or already using it in their projects. The survey talked to 130 infrastructure leaders from around the world. Companies are mainly using AI to automate paperwork and make design and engineering work more productive.

About 35% of companies said they expect to use AI in more than half of their design and engineering projects within three years. Almost 30% said the same for construction work. The survey noted that worldwide construction spending is expected to reach $10 trillion in 2025, but productivity has stayed the same for decades. AI could help close this gap by automating complicated tasks and helping people make better decisions.

However, companies face challenges in adopting AI. About one-fifth of firms worry about data risks like privacy and cybersecurity. Another 15% said their workers don't have enough AI skills yet. Despite these concerns, most companies expect major benefits from AI, including better productivity, more accurate cost estimates, and improved construction processes.

One real example shows AI's power: a geothermal energy project in Turkey used AI and fast computer simulations to compress a five-year timeline into just one year and cut costs by 75%. The team looked at over ten million possible scenarios in days and ran 3,000 simulations in hours.

New Guide Helps Cities Use AI Responsibly

With so many cities adopting AI, a research organization called New America released a new guide on October 16, 2025, to help governments use AI the right way. Their report, called "Making AI Work for the Public," introduces the ALT framework based on three principles: adapt, listen, and trust.

The "adapt" part tells governments to plan ahead before launching new AI products and to keep humans involved in important decisions. The "listen" part says governments should make sure AI tools meet real community needs by combining data from different sources. The "trust" part encourages governments to be transparent and let the public hold them accountable.

The report warns that without proper planning, AI tools can create new problems. For example, if a city launches an AI-powered chatbot to help residents request services but doesn't hire more workers to handle the increased requests, it could actually make wait times longer. The report says "efficiency gains on paper turn into operational strain in practices".

The research found that more than 1,600 AI laws have been proposed or passed by U.S. states since 2019, with about 45% introduced just in the first half of 2025. This shows that governments are moving quickly to create rules for AI use.