In brief
- At AU 2026, Autodesk previewed its next-generation Autodesk Assistant, which spans three industry clouds; a phased rollout is planned to begin in 2027.
- AI workflows were introduced in Revit to automatically complete room elements, optimize annotations and automate documentation across multiple views.
- Civil 3D will become a Forma Connected Client, and a shared geolocation engine is coming to Forma, Revit and Civil 3D.
- According to Autodesk's FAQ, an increasing share of the work currently done in Revit will eventually be done directly in Forma.
Autodesk held its annual user conference, Autodesk University 2026 (AU 2026), in Las Vegas from 15–17 September. In a press release published on opening day, the company previewed agentic AI features spanning its three industry clouds: Forma (architecture, engineering and construction), Fusion (design and manufacturing) and Flow (media and entertainment). All these features are part of an experience called the “next-generation Autodesk Assistant.” The most relevant developments for architecture are the new workflows in Forma and Revit, along with the company's explicit statements about Revit's future.
What will the next-generation Autodesk Assistant do?
Autodesk Assistant is already generally available across many Autodesk products, including Fusion, Forma and Flow. The next-generation version previewed at AU 2026 is designed to work across products, projects and teams rather than being confined to a single software application. According to the company, users will start with the outcome they want to achieve instead of having to decide which product to open; the Assistant will surface the relevant information and tools.
Autodesk groups this experience under three themes:
Understand what needs attention: Personal Pulse surfaces priority issues and insights across projects. Assistant Spaces provides a focused workspace where teams and agents can investigate an issue together and see its downstream impact.
Take action across workflows: Natural-language and voice interactions bring together Autodesk's design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities.
Bring your own intelligence: With Assistant Builder, firms will be able to connect their own AI agents, tools and trusted partner services to Autodesk project context; third-party agent support through the Design & Make Marketplace is also planned.
Behind the scenes, a layer called Autodesk AI Orchestrator selects a model for each task based on accuracy, speed, security and cost. In other words, the system is not tied to a single AI model. Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost summed it up: “The constraint in our industries has never been ideas. The constraint is capacity.”
What's new in Forma and Revit for architects?
A blog post by Amy Bunszel, Autodesk's executive responsible for AEC products, outlines developments with direct relevance to architecture firms:
AI-assisted documentation in Revit: New workflows can automatically complete room elements, optimize annotations and automate documentation across multiple views. Architects review and approve the results.
Forma Site Design: Autodesk Assistant will be able to answer natural-language questions about a project site, while Building Layout Explorer will generate and compare multifamily layout options based on a client's apartment mix.
Shared geolocation engine: The goal is to keep location data consistent across Forma, Revit and Civil 3D, reducing manual coordinate transformations and model drift.
Civil 3D becomes a Forma Connected Client: Reference-based interoperability will let planners, architects and civil engineers work from the same project context.
Forma Street Design: A new solution for early-stage urban street design; a waitlist for the beta is now open.
For document management, Autodesk Assistant can search within drawings and take users to the relevant sheet; Drawing Change Analysis identifies meaningful differences between revisions. Drawing Compliance Review, which will assess drawing sets against regulations, design standards and employer requirements, is planned for early next year.
Revit's future: “Over time, yes”
The most talked-about line from AU 2026 appeared in Autodesk's own FAQ. Asked “Will Forma replace Revit?”, the company's answer was “Over time, yes.” Autodesk says that more and more of the design, analysis, coordination and documentation work currently done in Revit will be carried out directly in Forma. The same FAQ stresses that users will not be forced into an abrupt transition and that Autodesk will continue investing in Revit. The press release also describes Forma as “the future of AEC products like Revit.”
Timeline and availability
One important detail: the next-generation Assistant experience is not yet generally available. Autodesk says it will share details about availability, rollout timing, subscription terms and regional access in 2027, with expanded features also beginning a phased rollout in 2027. A standalone Assistant experience is also planned for 2027. The company notes that it has published AI Transparency Card documents describing the data and technologies used by Assistant, its security measures and known limitations.
Impact on architecture and visualization workflows
In the short term, the most tangible benefit for architecture firms will be automating repetitive Revit documentation tasks—room elements, annotation and multi-view edits. In the medium term, the bigger issue will be data structure: Autodesk is explicitly aiming to move from file-based work to detailed project data stored in the cloud. For visualization teams, this means metadata showing which model version is approved, along with access rules (Smart Controls), will become more important. Moving site and infrastructure data into Forma earlier could also reduce manual work in site planning and context modeling.
Sources
4 sourcesSource texts are not republished; short quotes are marked, everything else is our own summary and commentary.
The message from AU 2026 is clear: Forma, not Revit, is now at the center of Autodesk's AEC strategy. For architecture firms in Turkey, this doesn't mean anything will change overnight; however, when planning new licensing, training and hardware investments, they should account for Revit evolving into a cloud-based platform over the long term.
There are two points to keep in mind. First, pricing, subscription terms and regional availability for the next-generation Assistant have not yet been announced, so it is too early to base budget plans on these features. Second, cloud-centric workflows raise the question of where project data is stored; firms working on public-sector and corporate projects would be wise to review the data terms in their contracts now.
Frequently asked questions
Will Autodesk Forma replace Revit?
According to Autodesk's AU 2026 FAQ, over time, yes: an increasing share of the work done in Revit will be done in Forma. The company says users will not be forced into an abrupt transition and that it will continue investing in Revit.
When will the next-generation Autodesk Assistant be available?
It was only previewed at AU 2026 and is not yet generally available. Autodesk says expanded features will begin rolling out in phases in 2027, and pricing and regional details will also be announced in 2027.
What AI features are coming to Revit?
Autodesk introduced workflows in Revit that automatically complete room elements, optimize annotations and automate documentation across multiple views. The results are applied after review and approval by the architect.
