Local engineers embrace AI tools to boost productivity, streamline processes

This story first appeared in Engineers Week 2026, an annual special section that showcases a variety of local engineering topics to celebrate all that engineers contribute to our world.

When Shive-Hattery president and CEO Jennifer Bennett started her career in structural engineering in the 1990s, artificial intelligence existed mainly in the realm of science fiction and movies. Structural engineers still drew out designs on a board with a t-square.

“Not everyone even had a computer at their desk,” Bennett said.

Today, engineers have many digital tools available to them, including programs that use artificial intelligence. AI tools can make engineers more productive, but only if engineers apply their own intelligence, discernment and experience to determine how best to use them.

At Shive-Hattery, an architecture and engineering consulting firm headquartered in Cedar Rapids, AI isn’t thought of as a technological tool, but as a tool to increase productivity.

“We want to democratize AI and encourage a spirit of exploration,” said Corey Weeklund, chief information officer at Shive-Hattery. “It’s a company-wide initiative, and we’ve had a good amount of support for it. We use Microsoft CoPilot and everyone, not just engineers, has access to it.”

With the entire staff able to use the same AI model, Shive-Hattery has discovered many benefits in terms of overall productivity.

“We’ve seen people use it for learning — especially getting new staff up to speed,” Weeklund said. “It’s helpful for transcribing recorded minutes of a meeting and searching those minutes later.”

Bennett finds the company’s AI writing coach to be helpful for the large number of documents and communication she needs to produce; she brings the ideas, and the AI writing coach will make sure her writing follows the company’s style guide.

And like many people, engineers use AI to search for information online and in databases.

“This is the biggest impact with how we are using AI today,” Bennett said. “Prior to AI partnering with us, searching for information could be difficult or time consuming. AI helps us access information quicker.”

The company is also experimenting with using engineering-specific types of generative AI in the architecture design process.

“We are working with a specific AI tool [for architecture], not ChatGPT,” Weeklund said. Engineers can give this AI tool measurements for a building, and it will quickly determine what options are available and create a draft of a floorplan.

But the company knows that there are limits to what AI can do.

“Data is easy to come by, which AI will obviously make easier and easier,” says Shive-Hattery’s website. “The secret sauce is the curation and how to take that data and create something of value and meaning. That just doesn’t come from an algorithm.”

Curation of data can only be done by experienced, creative, intelligent human beings, according to Bennett.

“Expertise matters. Having a human in the loop matters,” she said. “You still have to do your due diligence and research what AI gives you.”

AI programs can’t do an essential part of engineering consulting: talking with a client to determine the context and constraints of any particular project or understand the appropriateness of a particular plan.

For Shive-Hattery, collaboration with clients is an essential part of the design process: it’s the way to achieve a design that’s right for the situation. Collaboration like that takes a human who can ask the right questions, listen carefully to answers and use expertise to discern what will work. AI doesn’t have the context or expertise of an experienced engineer to help it discern what needs to be done in any particular project.

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“The analogy I use is that AI is like an intern,” Weeklund said. “It’s smart and eager to help but completely lacks context for what you’re doing day in and day out. You have to be deliberate about how you set it up for success.”

Given these expectations, what kind of AI skills and background do engineers need?

“I don't have an expectation that people come in as AI experts,” Bennett said. Instead, engineers need to show openness to trying out this new technology, as well as curiosity about what it might be able to do and a drive to use what they learn.

Both Bennett and Weeklund have noticed that younger hires are often very open to trying out AI. Many of them have used it in their university assignments, and they’ve used it in their personal life as well.

However, experienced users have found that AI models often come up short in terms of precise mathematical calculations.

“It’s only as good as the data that’s put into it,” Bennett said. “As you ask it and query it, it comes out with very confident answers that are wrong. If you aren’t aware of that, you can accept this very wrong answer.”

Shive-Hattery supports engineers as they take time to discern whether AI output is appropriate or useful.

“We often pair younger staff with older engineers,” Weeklund said. “The younger person comes up with tasks for AI, while the more senior person applies judgement.” These kinds of collaborations are beneficial to all engineers, as well as the clients.

Will AI eventually replace engineers? Not likely. According to the American Council of Engineering Companies’ Research Institute, there’s an annual shortage of 18,000 engineers nationwide due to retirement, retention issues and a shrinking college pipeline. Additionally, a shrinking number of international students who earn engineering degrees in the U.S. are granted H-1B visas that would allow them to stay and work in the U.S. after graduation.

“Right now, we have a severe shortage of engineers,” Bennet said. “Many engineers are retiring, and the need is increasing. There’s no end to the projects. Being able to have AI to assist engineers might take out the routine and repetitive tasks.”

The key for these engineers is learning how to bring together the human element of engineering with the vast and speedy work of AI programs all in the service of doing better work for the community.

“There are some things that will never change: how we care for our clients (and) our focus on great service,” Bennett said. “When we use AI, we’ll see how we can focus on those, and how can we create a better experience for our staff and our clients.”