Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) is now part of Autodesk Forma, and we know construction teams have questions about what that means.
The most important answer is simple: the workflows, tools, and project data you already rely on aren’t going away. Autodesk Forma builds on the foundation of ACC by connecting planning, design, construction, and operations workflows more closely together, while keeping familiar products and day-to-day processes intact.
We recently hosted a webinar to walk through what Autodesk Forma means for construction teams, including connected workflow examples, product walkthroughs, and a closer look at the Autodesk Assistant in action.
You can catch the full webinar on demand below. We’ve also put together a detailed recap that breaks down what construction teams should know moving forward. Check it out!
For most construction teams, Autodesk Forma will feel familiar, but with stronger connections between project phases, teams, and the information behind every decision.
For existing ACC customers, most of the tools and workflows construction teams already rely on remain the same. Products like Build, Takeoff, and Docs may have updated names or sit within a broader Forma environment, but the day-to-day workflows themselves are still familiar.
Your existing projects, files, users, permissions, and project data all stay in place, too. There’s no need to start over, migrate everything manually, or rebuild your processes from scratch.
What’s changed is the level of connectivity around those workflows.
With Autodesk Forma, construction workflows are now more closely connected to earlier project phases, such as planning and design. Instead of information getting passed from team to team as disconnected files or snapshots in time, project data can carry forward with more context attached to it.
That means construction teams can gain earlier visibility into project decisions, design intent, coordination history, and downstream impacts before issues become expensive field problems.
Construction teams have more digital tools, more project data, and more ways to collaborate than ever before. But when you look at how projects actually run day to day, information is still heavily disconnected across systems, teams, and phases. Instead of using project data to move faster and make better decisions, teams often spend a huge amount of time searching for information, validating whether it’s current, and filling in missing gaps.
And the issue usually isn’t a lack of data. It’s a lack of context.
Project stakeholders already have the drawings, models, RFIs, issues, and files they need. The challenge is that the reasoning behind decisions, tradeoffs, approvals, and changes often gets lost as work moves from one phase or stakeholder to the next. Over time, that missing context creates disconnects.
Not only that, but projects are getting more complex. Teams are dealing with tighter schedules, labor shortages, growing sustainability requirements, and increasing pressure to deliver faster. As complexity increases, disconnected workflows and fragmented information create even more project risk.
Autodesk Forma is designed to help solve this by creating a more connected environment where project information, decisions, and context can carry forward across the entire project lifecycle.
Autodesk Forma is Autodesk’s industry cloud for AECO that connects project data, teams, and workflows across planning, design, construction, and operations.
Autodesk has been moving toward connected construction workflows for years. First came the digitization of individual workflows like design coordination, document management, field execution, and project controls. Then ACC helped connect construction teams, project data, and workflows within the construction phase itself.
Autodesk Forma is the next evolution of that vision.
Rather than acting as a standalone construction platform, Forma is designed as an industry cloud—i.e., a cloud environment designed around how a specific industry works. For AECO, that means Forma brings together products, project data, and workflows across planning, design, construction, and operations into one connected environment.
Autodesk Forma is built around four connected principles designed to help construction teams work with greater visibility, stronger context, and fewer disconnected workflows.
Autodesk Forma connects planning, design, construction, and operations in one environment. It doesn’t treat each phase like a separate handoff, so every phase can build on the decisions, context, and information that came before it.
Project information is no longer limited to static files or one-time transfers between teams. Drawings, models, issues, reviews, field updates, and project records can stay connected and usable across different tools, workflows, and project phases.
Despite the somewhat futuristic name, hyper collaboration is really about making teamwork easier. Instead of relying on disconnected meetings, screenshots, emails, and chat threads, teams can coordinate around shared project data in a live environment.
Autodesk Forma also brings AI directly into the workflows teams already use every day. AI can surface insights and automate repetitive tasks so teams can unlock faster decision-making. But importantly, construction teams still stay in control of the final decisions.
One of the biggest benefits of Autodesk Forma is that it helps construction teams stay connected to project information much earlier and throughout the entire project lifecycle, not just once construction starts.
Traditionally, planning and design can feel like separate phases with a reset happening in between. Information gets handed off, teams reinterpret decisions, and important context can get lost along the way.
Takeoff, estimating, bidding, and qualification decisions are most valuable when they do not disappear after award. Connected preconstruction workflows help teams reduce manual handoffs, avoid missed scope, and start projects with better cost and risk context.
With Autodesk Forma, that connected approach changes things. Site constraints, early analysis, preconstruction, and planning decisions stay tied to the project as teams move from design into construction. Instead of starting over, design and planning become a continuation of the work that already happened.
Why does that matter for construction teams? Because decisions made early on usually shape everything downstream. With earlier visibility into constructability concerns, phasing challenges, cost impacts, and schedule risks, teams can spot issues before they turn into change orders or expensive surprises later.
The transition from design to construction is where project gaps often first appear. Design intent gets reduced to PDFs, screenshots, and static deliverables, while coordination history and project context get separated from the actual model.
Construction teams need models that are not just design artifacts, but usable sources of project truth. Forma helps connect model coordination, clash resolution, issue tracking, and mobile access so teams can identify problems earlier and reduce rework.
With Autodesk Forma, project information continues flowing from design into construction right from the same shared environment. Teams have easier access to coordination history, design intent, and the reasoning behind earlier decisions, which helps reduce assumptions and catch changes sooner.
Once construction begins, accurate, up-to-date information becomes everything. Small disconnects can quickly turn into delays and added costs in the field.
Thanks to Autodesk Forma, field and office teams stay connected through shared project data. Drawings, updates, photos, issues, and observations are all captured and accessible as work happens, creating a more current view of the project for everyone involved.
Instead of managing RFIs, issues, quality items, changes, and closeout documentation as separate workflows, Forma helps connect construction execution data so teams can see how field activity affects schedule, cost, quality, and risk.
That means less time chasing updates or figuring out which information is correct, and more time focused on actually getting work done.
Autodesk Forma is more than a vision for connected construction. It also includes practical capabilities that construction teams can start using today. Check them out below:
Forma Data Management introduces datasets, which help teams move beyond static files and work with more connected project data. Information doesn’t need to be trapped inside spreadsheets or individual applications; datasets allow structured project data to stay accessible across workflows and tools within Forma.
For example, VDC teams can attach model properties like cost data directly to coordinated models, making that information easier to use downstream without relying on manual exports or disconnected files.
Forma Data Management Essentials helps teams start projects in a cloud-connected environment from day one. Included with products like AutoCAD, Revit, and Civil 3D, it allows teams to open, save, organize, version, and review files directly inside a shared project workspace.
Forma Board is designed to make project collaboration more connected and contextual. Teams can review proposals, compare options, capture feedback, and add markups directly against live project data instead of relying on disconnected screenshots, emails, or chat threads.
For construction teams, this can help make collaboration more transparent and easier to follow, especially when multiple stakeholders need to review information and align around decisions.
Forma Estimate extends connected workflows into preconstruction by linking 2D and 3D takeoffs to labor, material, and cost calculations. This helps estimators create more accurate estimates and stronger proposals.
Forma also includes a bidding capability in open beta that brings bid management and qualification workflows directly into the same project environment used for takeoffs and estimating.
There are currently two main products within the Forma family: Forma Build Essentials and Forma Build.
Forma Build Essentials focuses on core field execution workflows and everyday jobsite needs. It’s designed for teams that want a streamlined approach to field operations and onsite coordination.
Forma Build includes everything in Build Essentials, while expanding into broader project management, cost management, and advanced construction management capabilities.
Model Analytics Essentials gives BIM and VDC teams better visibility into Revit model health and performance. Teams can review warnings, model history, and performance issues to identify potential slowdowns before they impact coordination or project delivery.
AI is becoming a bigger part of construction. Projects are getting more complex, margins are tighter, and experienced workers are retiring. Teams need faster ways to surface insights, reduce risk, and automate repetitive work without adding more disconnected tools to the process.
That’s where Autodesk Forma’s AI approach comes in.
Instead of sitting outside the platform, AI is built directly into Autodesk Forma workflows. This matters because AI is only as powerful as the data and context behind it. When project information lives in a connected environment, AI can generate far more meaningful insights and support real operational workflows. It uses project data and Autodesk’s construction-specific knowledge graph, data model, and ontology to help teams find answers faster, surface insights, and automate certain tasks inside the tools they already use.
Just as importantly, Autodesk keeps humans at the center of decision-making. AI can help teams work faster and smarter, but people still make the final calls.
One of the most powerful AI capabilities inside Autodesk Forma today is Autodesk Assistant, built directly into Forma and embedded across construction workflows.
Construction teams spend too much time searching across fragmented project data: specifications, RFIs, schedules, issues, drawings, and meeting records spread across systems and teams. Assistant helps turn that manual coordination into guided execution by allowing teams to ask questions in natural language and get fast, context-aware answers directly inside their workflow.
With Assistant, teams can:
But Assistant goes beyond simple search. Because it understands the project context users are actively working in — whether that’s an issue, meeting, RFI, or drawing — teams can ask questions tied directly to the work already in front of them, without needing to re-explain context to an external AI tool.
And as with all Autodesk AI experiences, trust remains foundational. Assistant follows a “trust but verify” approach by providing citations back to the original project documents, allowing teams to validate answers quickly and maintain confidence in project decisions.
The result is faster access to critical project information, reduced manual coordination, and fewer workflow interruptions, helping teams move from searching for information to moving work forward.
Autodesk’s AI strategy inside Forma goes beyond conversational assistance. AI is also being embedded directly into operational workflows to help teams reduce manual effort, accelerate coordination, and keep projects moving forward.
In construction, many of the most time-consuming tasks are repetitive operational processes: documenting issues, creating RFIs, organizing project information, and maintaining consistent data across teams. Forma uses AI to help automate those workflows directly inside the platform — reducing friction without disrupting how teams already work.
Field teams can document issues faster directly from mobile devices using Quick Issue Create powered by Autodesk AI. Instead of manually filling out detailed issue forms, users can capture photos, respond to a simple prompt, and AI automatically generates a context-rich issue with relevant details already populated.
The result is faster issue capture, more complete project records, and less administrative work for teams in the field. Importantly, teams remain in control. Users can review and edit before submission, allowing AI to handle repetitive operational tasks while humans make the final decisions.
Similarly, Forma also uses AI to streamline the RFI creation process by helping teams generate more complete and consistent RFIs from simple prompts.
As AI becomes more embedded into construction workflows, Autodesk has also put a big focus on trust, transparency, and responsible AI adoption inside Autodesk Forma.
Autodesk created an entire Trust Center focused on AI governance and ethical use. One of the more practical tools is the AI transparency cards, which work almost like nutrition labels for AI features.
These cards explain how specific AI capabilities work, what data is being used, whether models are trained on customer data, what safeguards are in place, and whether humans remain involved in the workflow. Autodesk also shares information around encryption, security practices, and even which LLMs may be powering certain experiences behind the scenes.
At Autodesk, we firmly believe that humans should stay at the center of decision-making. While AI can help surface information, automate repetitive work, and support faster decisions, construction professionals still make the final calls.
That “human-in-the-loop” approach is a big part of how Autodesk positions AI inside Forma today.
Autodesk Forma is not about replacing the construction workflows teams already trust. It is about connecting them more deeply across the project lifecycle.
For construction teams, that means familiar tools with a broader foundation for connected data, earlier coordination, stronger field-to-office visibility, and AI-assisted workflows that help teams find and verify information faster.
Forma is designed to help teams reduce risk, surface insights faster, and spend less time chasing information so they can focus more on delivering projects successfully.
Want a deeper understanding of Autodesk Forma for construction and what it means for your teams? Watch the on‑demand webinar to hear directly from Autodesk experts about connected data, lifecycle workflows, and AI‑native construction.
