Claudia Cozzitorto shares AI insights at RAIC Conference

May 13, 2026

Last week at the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s (RAIC) National Conference in Vancouver, KPMB director of digital practice Claudia Cozzitorto offered practical advice to architects grappling with a pressing question: how can they successfully embrace artificial intelligence in their practices?

The annual conference convenes architectural professionals and thought leaders from across Canada to discuss the future of the built environment. This year’s conference featured discussions on urgent challenges such as climate change, evolving societal needs, and digital transformation.

Claudia’s presentation was a call to action for architectural practices across the country. The pace of change brought by technological innovation is unprecedented, and those who harness AI and other digital tools are poised to outcompete their peers. For attendees, Claudia offered insights into how firms can prepare themselves for the future by aligning digital investments with clear strategic goals, optimizing human and machine collaboration, and building adaptive capacity.

During her presentation, Claudia underlined an important point: increasing automation does not inherently better equip practices for the future. Instead, the strategic question is: what level of autonomy should AI have over different processes?

According to Claudia, successfully navigating the future requires more than simply adopting new technology. Firms need to establish deliberate strategies that are grounded in business objectives, supported by strong data governance, and championed by leadership.

At KPMB, we believe technology is best used when it supports human judgment. Architects are trained to work in conditions where the design problem is not always clear, and aesthetics, spatial judgment, contextual response, and experiential quality do not reduce to a neat set of inputs and outputs. Design and other key functions firmly remain the role of the architect, with AI functioning as a tool to supplement human decision-making.

In addition to her RAIC presentation on the topic, Claudia recently discussed the role of AI in KPMB’s design processes with Canadian Architect.

(Portrait: Kian Tang)