Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming industries worldwide, yet its potential remains largely untapped in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector. This emerging gap presents a major opportunity for construction professionals who develop AI skills early to position themselves at the forefront of a technological shift that will reshape how projects are planned, managed and delivered.
Designed for professionals across the construction industry—including project managers, field and civil engineers, architects, cost estimators and quality control officers—this course introduces practical applications of today’s most relevant AI tools. You’ll explore how AI can support generative design, predictive analytics and computer vision for safety monitoring, and gain insight into how these capabilities can improve project efficiency, safety and quality.
Through hands-on exploration and industry-focused examples, you’ll learn how AI fits into modern construction workflows, examine barriers to technology adoption and develop strategies for leading innovation within your organization. By the end of this course, you’ll be prepared to introduce AI-driven practices in your workplace, enhance your professional value and pursue new opportunities in technology-enabled construction.
Learning Outcomes
- Apply advanced prompt-engineering techniques to streamline daily tasks such as drafting reports, communications and project documentation
- Develop no-code AI solutions, including custom AI agents and document-analysis tools, tailored to specific professional workflows
- Use visual AI tools to produce conceptual design outputs and analyze site imagery for safety, progress tracking and quality insights
- Assess ethical considerations, technical limitations and implementation challenges associated with AI use in AEC environments
- Design a workflow demonstrating how AI can be integrated into your own professional context and identify personal opportunities for applying these tools
Skills You Will Gain
- Advanced prompt engineering
- Custom AI agent development
- AI-powered document analysis
- Generative visualization and editing
- Computer vision application
- Structured data extraction
- Critical AI tool evaluation
Course Format and Pacing
This is an online course delivered synchronously via Zoom through Canvas, UC Davis CPE’s learning management system. Course material includes lecture, group discussions, in-class activities and assignments outside of the live sessions to work towards a culminating project.
Upon successful completion of this course, you will earn a digital skills badge for your LinkedIn profile and résumé.