Beyond BIM Models: Creating Project Value with DATA+AI

The construction industry is moving towards more integrated, intelligent and value-driven project delivery. As expectations for quality, cost efficiency and safety continue to rise, BIM must evolve beyond modelling and visualization to become a stronger foundation for collaboration and decision-making.

Glodon recently released the white paper Evolving into BIM 2.0: A New Stage for BIM Application and Development, which introduces BIM 2.0 as a new application paradigm powered by DATA+AI. Instead of treating BIM mainly as a modelling tool, BIM 2.0 shifts the focus from model-based applications to value creation centered on the effective use of data. By connecting project elements, professional disciplines and lifecycle processes, it enables models to serve as continuously updated sources of reliable and reusable information.

BIM 2.0 has four defining characteristics: integrating project resources and production factors within a unified data environment; enabling component-level collaboration across architecture, structure, MEP and other disciplines; connecting model data across design, cost, construction and operations; and using DATA+AI to support continuous data organization, intelligent analysis, business feedback and optimization.

For quantity surveyors and cost professionals, BIM 2.0 brings cost control earlier into the design process, creating an opportunity to contribute to decisions that shape project value. By connecting BIM models with quantity and cost data, and using AI to analyze design options and target-cost requirements, project teams can identify solutions that are both technically feasible and economically sound. Real-time calculation, deviation alerts and rapid cost reassessment also help keep design decisions aligned with investment targets and reduce costly redesign.

AI can process large volumes of project information and support analysis, but professional judgement remains essential. Market conditions, contractual arrangements, stakeholder priorities and project-specific risks cannot be understood through data alone. The future lies not in replacing human intelligence, but in strengthening it with connected information and intelligent tools.

As a global leader in digitalization and AI solutions for the architecture, engineering and construction industry, Glodon supports the full project lifecycle through software, hardware, solutions and services. With nearly three decades of industry expertise and experience serving more than 500,000 enterprises, Glodon continues to work with industry professionals to bring connected data and AI into real-world design, cost and construction workflows.

Realizing BIM 2.0 will require more than technology. It will depend on closer collaboration, compatible management practices and unified data standards. By combining DATA+AI with professional expertise, the industry can make better decisions, manage cost and risk more effectively, and turn BIM data into measurable value throughout the project lifecycle.

Click to Download the Paper here