Balfour Beatty’s AI Gamble + Bluebeam’s Big Move

Author

Owen Drury
September 08, 2025

Microsoft’s $10M bet. Bluebeam’s big buy. Autodesk’s AI push. Figma’s stumble.

In this week’s Bricks, Bucks & Bytes episode:

🚨 Balfour Beatty drops $10M on Microsoft AI - testing CoPilot on a $185M road project in Scotland. Big brand spend or future of project oversight?

🏗️ Bluebeam acquires Firmus AI - integrating design-risk detection into the industry’s go-to markup tool. A lifeline for Firmus, or a strategic AI leap?

💰 Autodesk earnings surge - $1.7B revenue, 30% free cash flow margins, activist investors pushing, and AEC leading the charge.

📉 Figma IPO hangover - shares slid from $115 highs to $57, even as they unveil agentic AI tools. Investors ask: is the margin squeeze coming?


But that’s not all:

  • Dustin DeVan reflects on Microsoft’s $500/seat AI contracts and whether the ROI adds up for GCs.

  • Patric Hellermann shares why acquisitions like Firmus are meaningful milestones in construction tech.

  • Mike Powers explores how Microsoft’s footprint could shape Procore & Autodesk’s enterprise landscape.

  • Ari Bleemer (OneCrew) unpacks his $7.5M raise and why paving software is a promising vertical SaaS play.


🎧 Listen now for:

  • Whether Microsoft is the new Palantir for construction

  • Why Autodesk’s push into AEC is a bigger threat to Procore than ever

  • How niche vertical SaaS plays like paving could be the next billion-dollar category

  • What Figma’s AI bets tell us about software’s future margins

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