Median firm revenue rose to $103.2 million in 2025, up 6.4% from 2024. However, median revenue for firms self-identifying as architects shrank notably, down 13.9% to $58.7 million.

The telecommunications market, driven by data centers, continued to surge in 2025, rising 31.3% between 2024 and 2025. Market revenue rose just under 87% between 2023 and 2025. The power market also showed double-digit growth, rising 14.6%, while the water supply market increased 9.9%.

Revenue from the oil and gas market continued its multi-year slide, dropping 18.6% between 2024 and 2025. Revenue in that market has fallen 40.2% between 2023 and 2025. Revenue in manufacturing also fell by double digits, dropping 17%. Markets also contracted for hazardous waste, down 8%, and industrial process work, down 5.2%.

In the American Institute of Architects' January 2026 Consensus Forecast, a 12- to 18-month outlook for nonresidential building construction business conditions, its panel of forecasters—including ABC, S&P Global Market Intelligence and Dodge Construction Network—concluded that the U.S. economy is plagued by "uncertainty and imbalance." As a result, the panel says consumer confidence scores dropped to 54.9 in November 2025 from 79.6 in December 2024.

Surging Demand

In an interview with CNBC's Mad Money host Jim Cramer last month, Jacobs CEO Bob Pragada said the firm's data center business—which jumped 62.2%, surging its project pipeline by 500%—was a "real growth engine" for the company. Such growth is further reflected in the global services firm's rise to No. 1 on the Top 500 Design Firms list this year, with last year's top firm, AECOM, sliding to No. 2.

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In comments to ENR, Pragada says the firm's clients are navigating a "convergence of challenges," from the rapid, large-scale buildout of AI infrastructure and economic and geopolitical disruption to rising global demand for new drugs and therapies.

Cover image from ENR archives

In the face of such challenges, Pragada says the firm's chief responsibility remains clear: "Continue to innovate while navigating constant change." He adds that this strategy "reflects what we see clients across our industry needing: a trusted advisor for end-to-end solutions, from planning and shaping their capital programs through delivery of their most complex projects and assets."

Arup Americas Managing Director Scott Russell says the firm, ranked No. 55, is committed to tackling market complexity by "leaning on our expertise and innovation" while still upholding its values of "responsible growth and stewardship" to meet demand. At Introba Inc., President and CEO Matthew Cummings says innovation calls for "managing the intersection of talent and transformation."

Cummings adds, "Clients are asking for more innovation faster, at a greater value," Cummings says. "We need people with strong technical skills who can collaborate comfortably across disciplines and on projects that are growing in complexity." At the same time, he says technology is changing the design and delivery process, "requiring continuous learning and a willingness to evolve how we get work done."

In this way, amid ongoing labor shortages, LJB Inc. CEO Rod J. Sommer says technology integration has become a matter of survival as firms fight to keep projects afloat in an increasingly competitive market. The firm is ranked No. 287.

"The industry is being pushed to do more with fewer people, making the integration of AI and automation essential," Sommer says. "The challenge is moving quickly enough to stay competitive while ensuring those investments deliver real value and sustain margins."

Energizing AI

AG&E CEO Sanjay Agrawal says the No. 356-ranked firm wins work through its vertically integrated approach, combining traditional systems engineering and operations research with downstream specialty services such as steel detailing and precast engineering—both critical components for data centers.

"This integration gives our clients the ability to shorten construction schedules, making us a preferred partner," Agrawal says, explaining that AG&E has become one of the largest structural engineering firms in the U.S. focused on data centers.

For Ulteig Engineers, ranked No. 87, increased demand for data centers has "changed the tempo" of its portfolio as resources shift to meet growing demand for power infrastructure.

"As electric utility and renewable energy clients respond to rapid load growth, resources are shifting to grid upgrades, interconnections, new generation and system planning," says Ulteig President and CEO Doug Jaeger. "The surge creates opportunity while tightening capacity, especially for specialized talent and teams that can move quickly without sacrificing quality."

Jaeger adds that such a shift has also changed how the work crystallizes int eh firm's markets. He notes, "Unlike traditional utility capital investment programs planned over longer horizons, data center work can arrive with more urgency and less certainty around scope and timing. That volatility challenges resource planning and execution discipline."

Jaeger believes artificial intelligence infrastructure projects are also "breaking the traditional power demand curve," and creating "volatile loads the grid was never designed to accommodate."

As a result, "capacity and schedule certainty is often [a] deciding factor for siting and expansion," says Dave Sobeck of Carollo Engineers, ranked No. 49. "It's pushing earlier coordination among owners, utilities and economic development teams to avoid commitments that outpace infrastructure realities."

Jaeger says that design firms can win by being a "steady partner." He adds, "Clients value teams that bring structure early, clarify constraints and integrate solutions across the full lifecycle," explaining that Ulteig Engineers has been focused on megaprojects "where renewables and storage are co-located with data centers and other large-load projects," because that is where he believes the "long-term infrastructure buildout is headed and integrated execution matters most."

Reevaluating Firm Resources

Top 500 firms say they are also evaluating their internal needs. Labor resources remain a top priority, but firms are also looking for technology tools to complement their work and meet market demands.

"The surge in data center work hasn't affected how or where we win work as much as it has affected the capacities of the talented contractors and subcontractors that we rely on to install the work and meet the lead times of critical equipment," says TLC Engineering Solutions CEO Michael P. Sheerin. "We have been enlisted to commission some complex data center projects as a backstop to the accelerated timelines of these projects and the capacities of other teams, and we are happy to help out," he adds. The firm is ranked No. 197.

Overall, firms say technology has helped them make smarter decisions earlier.

"From the earliest design conversations, our design teams work alongside AI design assistants that aggregate research, reconcile evolving client decisions and flag program conflicts before they compound, while validating design moves against code and benchmarks in real time," says Grant Saso, innovation and emerging technology manager at Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, ranked No. 281. Saso adds, "We use visualization tools to test precedent imagery and understand what clients actually want without committing to a full design yet."

By reducing routine work and surfacing alternative insights, "these tools free our teams to focus on higher-value, innovative thinking, while professional judgment and accountability remain at the center of every decision," says VHB President Bill Ashworth. The firm is ranked No. 65.

By embracing technology as a complement to developing the next generation of leaders, firm executives say the industry can better position itself to increase capacity to manage more complex projects.

"In today's design and engineering environment, strong leaders bring more than technical expertise—they bring a systems mindset," says Chris Houle, vice president of power delivery solutions at Leidos, ranked at No. 21 this year.

Houle adds that the firm looks for individuals who "understand how engineering decisions impact the full project lifecycle, from procurement and construction to long-term operations."

He explains, "The ability to make timely, risk-informed decisions is critical, as is understanding what matters most to the customer—whether that's cost, schedule or reliability—and clearly communicating trade-offs," he says.

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