Pacemark for AEC — Where your firm stands with AI

Larry Rupp, PE President & CEO Keller Associates

“We brought in [Dan Cumberland Labs and Pacemark] to figure out where AI actually fits at a 250-person firm spread across 12 offices. They talked with almost a third of the firm before recommending anything, then handed us a clear, prioritized plan: what to do first, what to do later.”

What you walk away with

Know your next right move.

Your headline level

You get your score across six dimensions, scored 1 to 5, on a radar that's quick to read and easy to put in front of your partners or board.

Your bottleneck

Your lowest score is your bottleneck. It's the primary constraint to getting a better return on everything else.

Your first move

Walk away with one specific next step that moves the bottleneck up a level, drawn from what actually worked across the 300+ companies the model is built on.

Lindsey Sailors Head of TA Strategy & Operations Dropbox

“Pacemark was the first maturity model that showed my team where we actually stand, AND what to do next. Instantly clarifying.”

What is Pacemark?

An AI maturity model, built from real-world data.

Pacemark scores your firm on six dimensions and five levels, drawn from 300+ companies across 22 countries.

97Interviews

292Sources

153Primary companies

22Countries

8Benchmarks

See the research behind it →

How it works

An AI maturity assessment built on six dimensions, drawn from 300+ companies.

Most AI readiness checklists score the tools. Pacemark scores the firm. The self-assessment offers four questions for each dimension.

01

Strategy & Leadership

Is AI owned, funded, and named at the top, or is it nobody's job?

02

People & Culture

Can most of your staff use AI well, or only a few power users?

03

Data Readiness

Can AI reach your project history and specs, or only what gets pasted in?

04

Workflows & Operations

Is AI inside how you produce proposals and submittals, or bolted on the side?

05

Technology Infrastructure

A sanctioned platform, or personal accounts and idle licenses?

06

Governance & Ethics

Do your AI rules hold up on stamped work and client data?

Jay Papasan Co-author, The ONE Thing

“Most leaders know AI matters but don't know what to do first. Dan walked me through his maturity model and it does exactly that. It turns an overwhelming topic into a clear picture of where you are and the next right move. It gives the kind of clarity a team needs to make real progress.”

What your result looks like

What you get, start to finish.

Illustrative sample data: this example shows how Pacemark connects a maturity level, the lowest-scoring dimension, and a practical first move. Your result will reflect your own answers.

Sample headline level

1

Ad Hoc

Your weakest dimension sets the headline.

Sample binding constraint

People & Culture

People use AI on their own. No strategy, policy, or one person steering.

Sample first 90 days

30Name one executive owner.
60Run an intentional pilot.
90Review the evidence.

Where the score comes from

The research behind your score.

It started with 97 interviews: founders, operators, and the people doing the work. From there it grew to 292 coded sources across 153 primary-subject companies in 22 countries, set against 8 external benchmarks from MIT CISR, PwC, BCG × Harvard × MIT, Bluebeam, Unanet, Stanford, McKinsey, and Accenture. It's also calibrated against the platforms AEC firms already run— Autodesk, Bentley, Procore, Trimble, and the rest of the stack on your desks. The companies that broke the pattern received the same attention as the ones that proved it: ten counter-cases where AI went sideways.

The six dimensions and five levels came out of that research. The assessment runs that model directly: you answer, it scores you against the same framework, and your result is on the screen the moment you finish. No one grading by hand.

So when Pacemark tells you where you stand, it's because we've seen 300+ companies following the same pattern.

Global map showing the Pacemark research corpus across 22 countries — Research footprint · 153 primary-subject companies · 300+ companies total · 22 countries

Inside one engagement · a 250-person civil engineering firm

"He raised our awareness of what's coming, pushed us to think hard about using AI responsibly, and worked with our team to build a practical roadmap for putting it to work."

James Bledsoe, PEBoard Chair

Board-level engagement · practical AI roadmap

"I knew AI was something I should be using, but I had no idea where to start. He changed that."

Stillman Norton, PEArea Manager & Board Secretary

From "no idea where to start" to ideas in use

"As an outside board member, I've sat through a lot of presentations. His was engaging and educational, and it didn't matter what level of AI knowledge you walked in with— there was a way for every person in the room to take part."

Julie ShiflettOutside Board Member · Founder, Northwest CFO

Real, applicable takeaways · no sales pitch

"[Dan Cumberland Labs and Pacemark] gave us a prioritized plan and the guidelines to adopt it responsibly. It was the right approach for us, and helped us get buy-in on using AI throughout the firm."

Eric Roundy, PE, BCEESenior Wastewater Engineer & Board Treasurer

AI does the work · a licensed engineer still approves

What firms get back

"Dan's AI infrastructure is changing everything for our agency— it's the foundation taking us from seven to eight figures."

Amanda NorthcuttFounder & CEO, Level Up Creators

20% profit-margin lift · 10+ hrs/week saved per person

"Taking part in Dan's AI workshop was an excellent investment of my scarce time. Strongly recommend to speed up your learning curve."

Nathalie Ramanantsoa-FratExecutive Advisor

20+ hrs/month reclaimed · $84K/yr per professional

"It generated in one minute seven emails that I can pull the trigger on immediately."

Julie BollLeadership Coach

$230K+/yr recaptured at billing rates

"The ROI is so worth it, it'll blow your mind. This has made my workflow so much easier."

Mel Varghese, PhDFounder of "Selling the Couch"

600+ hours of content automated

Who it's for

For the leader who has to make AI count.

You're a principal, a COO, the ops or IT lead who is trying to figure this out for the team. The board is asking what the firm is doing about AI. The answer is fuzzier than anyone wants to admit.

Pacemark shows you where the firm actually stands, and where the next dollar should go— something you can take into a partner or board meeting. AI amplifies the people who already make the firm work. Pacemark shows you where your people are, what's working, and where the attention and budget should go.

A leadership team around a conference table, several with open laptops, working through a discussion

Who built this?

Dan Cumberland Labs

Pacemark is a Dan Cumberland Labs project. Dan Cumberland has built and sold software companies, and now works with engineering, construction, and professional-services firm leaders on putting AI to work— auditing how teams actually operate, building a roadmap, and standing up systems people use every day.

Pacemark grew out of that work and the research behind it: 300+ companies, mapped into the model behind this assessment. AI amplifies the people who already make a firm run. Pacemark shows you where to point it first.

See Dan Cumberland Labs →

See where you stand.

Twenty-five questions, about eight minutes, and you'll leave with your level, your bottleneck, and your first move. If you want to talk it through after that, the Signal Call is free, and your results set the agenda.

Start the assessment →