Your firm’s project record has a buyer.
AI companies are budgeting right now for the operational records that architecture, engineering and construction firms already hold. Archeon represents your firm in licensing yours, through a private, competitive process across vetted buyers.
- $0 upfront
- Archeon is paid when your firm is paid, at a fee set in writing before any buyer sees your firm.
- We clean the files
- You approve them. Nothing is stored.
- You keep ownership
- Licenses cover AI training only, and your counsel approves every term.
Request a data review
For firms with 20 or more employees. We reply by email and use your details only for that.
Plus any system that exports PDF, Excel or CSV. Product names and logos are trademarks of their owners. Archeon is not affiliated with these companies.
Years of RFIs, submittals and change orders sit in your archive. AI companies now pay to license that kind of operational record. Archeon represents your firm in licensing yours, on terms your counsel approves.
Archeon represents your firm in licensing its records. We run a private process across vetted buyers, compare their offers with you and negotiate the terms. You see the numbers in writing before you sign.
Billings are soft. Buyers are spending on data.
Practices have had a long stretch of weak billings. Meanwhile AI companies are putting real budgets behind operational data from the firms that design and build.
Committed in October 2026 by one AI data company to license enterprise operational data over 12 months.
The AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index has read below 50 for about three and a half years. August 2026 came in at 47.2.
Where published buyer tiers start, per license, for qualifying firms. Larger or unique datasets run higher.
Upfront cost to the firm. Archeon is paid from the payments your firm receives, and its fee is in the engagement letter before any buyer sees you.
Buyers are budgeting for this data now.
Budgets are already committed
One AI data company committed $1B over the 12 months from October 2026. Firms that are ready get reviewed first.
Terms are still moving
Buyers have changed size floors and fee structures within weeks. Firms that go early help set the reference prices.
Archives get deleted
Microsoft 365 retention settings clear old Teams and email history on a schedule, and project folders get purged. What exists today may not exist next year.
2 of 61 construction occupations have meaningful AI benchmark coverage. Mercor Benchmark Map, October 2026. View the source
Some ways firms put the income to work.
Carry your team through a gap between projects
Overhead does not flex in a slow month. Some firms use license income to cover payroll and rent until the next award.
Help fund the next generation’s buy-in
Younger staff often cannot afford a retiring partner’s shares. Some firms put license income toward a buy-in fund.
Invest in your own tools and systems
Some firms put the income toward software, hardware or better project data practices.
Get paid for work you already did, without selling the firm
A license pays for records the firm already holds. Ownership of the firm and of the records stays with you.
License income is yours to use. Talk to your accountant about how it’s taxed.
Four kinds of record that buyers ask for.
Each category comes from systems your firm already runs. We work from exports and archives, and we start with the records that are most complete.
- 01 Project records RFI logs, submittals, change orders, daily reports and meeting minutes.
- 02 Standards and QA/QC QA/QC checklists, SOPs, office standards and spec templates.
- 03 Estimating and bids Estimates, bid histories, fee proposals and cost databases.
- 04 Operations Project accounting workflows, resourcing and your pursuit and CRM process.
Buyers pay most for the whole workflow: how one issue moves from question to answer to cost.
What makes your records worth more is how they connect. The email, the RFI, the architect’s answer, the submittal and the change order, with what it cost, tell a buyer more than a pile of files from one tool.
Continuous history matters more than size: the oldest continuous record in each system sets the range.
Project email and Teams or Slack channels show how decisions were made. See all five points.
Why it matters
AI is weakest at the decision work of buildings, and that work lives in firms’ records. When firms license it on their own terms, tools get better at answering questions, catching conflicts and pricing changes, and firms are paid for the knowledge they built. Read why it matters or AI’s blind spot is the building industry.
Built for the firms that produce the record.
Architecture
Design firms hold the instruments of service: RFIs, submittals, bulletins and fee records.
View sectorEngineering
Engineering firms hold calculation checklists, QA/QC reviews and resourcing history.
View sectorConstruction
Builders hold the densest record: daily reports, change orders, bid histories and cost data.
View sectorFour steps, with our fee in writing before any buyer sees you.
A principal at the firm decides at each step. Nothing leaves the building until your counsel has read the license and you have chosen an offer.
Review and rights screen
A short call, then an inventory of your records. Federal work and personal data are set aside, and project drawings are included only with the owner’s consent.
Engagement letter
Archeon’s fee is in writing before any buyer sees your firm. Nothing is due upfront.
Deal room
Vetted buyers see an anonymized summary, sign NDAs and submit bids by a deadline.
Compare, negotiate, close
You choose the offer. Archeon negotiates terms. Your firm controls what is shared and is paid by the buyer at closing. Licenses are non-exclusive by default, and you can add paid refreshes of new records.
We keep working for you after the first license.
Most data buyers deal with a firm once. Archeon represents your firm for as long as your records keep earning.
Every refresh, cleaned and delivered
Each delivery of new records is cleaned, approved by your team and delivered on schedule.
New buyers over time
Licenses are non-exclusive by default, so Archeon can offer the same archive to new buyers as they appear.
Renewals and price increases
Archeon negotiates renewals and price increases when the terms come up.
Payments tracked
Archeon tracks each payment and takes its fee only on what your firm actually receives.
Buyers held to the license
Archeon checks that buyers keep to the license, including deletion at the end of a term.
New kinds of buyers and deals
As the market grows, new kinds of buyers and new kinds of deals come to your firm first.
See what your archive could license.
Find out what your archive is worth while buyers have budget open. A first review takes 20 minutes and commits you to nothing.
Request a data reviewSome records never leave your firm.
The exclusions are set before preparation starts and written into the license.
Client drawings need owner consent
Project drawings and models are included only with the building owner’s written consent, after Archeon removes identifying details and your team checks each file.
Federal and sensitive projects stay out
Work subject to CUI or ITAR, and other security-sensitive projects, is excluded.
Personal data is removed before anything leaves
Personal data and protected health information are excluded, and Archeon removes identifying details during cleaning.
Your counsel reviews every license
Licenses are for AI training. Your attorney reads the terms before you sign.
Questions principals ask first.
How is Archeon paid?
Archeon earns a success fee, paid by your firm after it receives payment from a buyer. The fee is stated in the engagement letter before any buyer sees your firm. Nothing is due upfront. If a buyer ever pays Archeon anything, it is disclosed to you and credited against your fee.
Do we keep ownership of our records?
Yes. Licenses are for AI training. You keep ownership and copyright. Any exclusivity is negotiated, priced and in writing.
How large does a firm need to be?
We work with firms of 20 or more employees. Larger firms usually hold more history, which tends to raise a license’s value. If your firm is near that line, ask for a data review and we will tell you where you stand.
Do we have to clean the files ourselves?
No. Archeon’s cleaning process removes names, addresses, client and project details and file metadata, strips title blocks, stamps and seals, and crops the drawing details an RFI or submittal refers to. Your team approves every cleaned file before a buyer sees it.
Reading for firm owners.
What AI companies buy from AEC firms
Buyers want the working record of a project: the RFIs, submittals and change orders that show how decisions were made.
ReadWho owns your project records
Under the AIA B101 owner-architect agreement, architects generally retain copyright in their instruments of service. Have counsel confirm how that applies to your contracts.
ReadHow data licenses are priced
Published buyer tiers start at $100K+ per license for qualifying firms. Larger or unique datasets run higher.
ReadStart with a data review.
Tell us your office staff, years of records and systems. You pay nothing upfront, and you keep your copyright.
Request a data review