July 2025

Healthcare executives are adopting AI technology to improve the design of hospital environments.

A few months ago, leading healthcare professionals from Philadelphia's top healthcare systems discussed the future of care delivery and the evolving role of AI in facilities planning. RevitGods Founder & CEO, Uchenna Okere, moderated the discussion and gained valuable insights into their perspectives on AI.

Here are the top three takeaways for our industry:

1. AI Needs an Infrastructure to Work

Hospital leaders made it clear: the biggest barrier to AI adoption isn’t the software; it’s the building’s infrastructure. To make your facility AI-ready, you’ll need to plan for:

• Bigger data rooms: Larger IDF and MDF rooms to support expanding data demands.
• A central brain (or cloud access): Centralized (or outsourced) data processing centers, ideally with built-in redundancy.
• Power systems that can keep up: AI tools need a steady stream of power. That means designing for backup systems so things don’t shut down in an outage.

2. The True ROI of AI Is in Workflow Redesign

When used effectively, AI unlocks operational efficiencies that transform how entire spaces operate. It's helping facility planners do more with what they have.

• Temple Health is cutting MRI scan times from 40 minutes to just 15 using AI.
• AI is helping research nurses pre-screen clinical trial candidates, saving time equal to what 20+ full-time staff would normally spend.
• Some hospitals are rethinking how many operating rooms they build, since AI-powered scheduling lets fewer ORs handle more patients efficiently.

3. AI Integration Is a Culture Shift, Not a Tech Shift

AI won’t fix broken workflows. You can’t just plug it in and expect results. Leaders in both panels agreed that successful AI use starts with people, not just software.

• Everyone needs to be involved early: That includes IT, facilities, clinicians, and frontline staff—not just execs.
• There should be a clear reason for using AI: Each tool needs a purpose and a way to measure if it’s working.
• Think about how everything connects: From cybersecurity to backup plans, AI only works when the bigger system is ready to support it.

These lessons apply to us, too.

If firm leaders aren’t paying attention to how AI is changing the way we work, live, and receive services, we risk designing spaces that are outdated before they’re even built. And if your team isn’t aligned on digital strategy, even the most powerful tools will fall short.

In the AEC industry, AI may start as a bolt-on feature, but over time, it will evolve into a core planning lens that shapes how we design and deliver the built environment.

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