AI Stack by Firm Size

Your ideal AI toolkit depends on your firm size, project types, and budget. Here are three recommended stacks.

**Solo / Small Firm (1-5 people, $0-100/month):** - ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro ($20/mo) — proposals, specs, client emails, code research - Midjourney ($10/mo) — concept imagery, client presentations, competition entries - Canva Pro ($13/mo) — presentation boards, marketing materials, social media - Free tools: EC3, UpCodes, Maket.ai free tier - Total: ~$50/month

**Mid-Size Firm (5-30 people, $200-800/month):** - Everything in Solo stack - Autodesk Forma ($$$, may be included in AEC Collection) — site analysis, massing optimization - cove.tool ($200-400/mo) — real-time energy analysis - Swapp or equivalent — CD automation (pricing varies) - One Click LCA — embodied carbon analysis - Total: $500-800/month across the firm

**Large Firm (30+ people, $1,000-5,000/month):** - Everything in Mid-Size stack - Enterprise AI (custom GPTs or Claude for your firm with proprietary data) - TestFit — feasibility and multi-family optimization - Full BIM automation pipeline (Dynamo + AI scripts) - AI-powered project management integration - Custom training for staff - Total: $2,000-5,000/month

**The ROI test:** Every dollar of AI spend should return $5-10 in billable time savings or competitive advantage. A $50/month investment that saves you 10 hours of proposal writing (at $150/hr billing) returns $1,500 — a 30x ROI.