Our Career-Stage, Firm-Size, and Non-Traditional Roundtables all met at Architecture Exchange East, November 6-7, 2025.
We’ll be scheduling virtual meetings in 2026 and then get together in person at ArchEx, November 4-6, 2026. Watch your inbox to join in these important conversations with your peers. And feel free to reach out to any of the chairs with questions and to become involved.
Small Firm Roundtable
Chair: Maggie Schubert, AIA
Small architecture firms (1–9 people) are doing a lot with very little—and doing it well. This roundtable
conversation highlighted how small firms are adapting, growing, and finding creative ways to work smarter in an increasingly complex professional landscape. Across the discussion, several shared priorities emerged: strengthening marketing and business development, making better use of emerging tools like AI, managing staffing and consultants more strategically, and building stronger peer networks.
Marketing, sales, and business development continue to be essential areas of focus. Many firms are thinking carefully about when to hire, what roles truly need to be in-house, and how to protect their core design values while outsourcing the right tasks. Clearer workflows, better delegation, and stronger consultant management were identified as practical ways to reduce risk and free up time for higher-value work.
AI surfaced as a promising and accessible tool for small firms. Participants discussed using AI to support business planning, strategy, writing, code research, and content creation—from proposals to social media. Tools such as Claude, Gemini, UpCodes Copilot, and Monograph are already helping firms save time and improve consistency, though thoughtful use, privacy awareness, and clear guidelines remain important.
Staffing and manpower continue to be major challenges. Firms are experimenting with outsourcing, internships, and “extended staff” models through trusted networks. Delegating non-design tasks—such as documentation, research, bookkeeping, and training—allows principals and staff to stay focused on design, client relationships, and growth. As firms scale, participants emphasized the value of written procedures, budget planning, and early attention to HR systems.
Sustainability remains an important value, even when documentation requirements feel daunting. Small firms are finding practical ways to integrate sustainable thinking—often supported by AI—without taking on the full burden of formal certification. Case studies and peer examples continue to be an effective way to share what’s working.
Finally, the conversation underscored the power of community. The conversations by the Small Firm roundtable will continue through our AIAVA networks, future roundtables, case-study sharing, and a new small firm communications channel. By sharing tools, lessons learned, and support through engagement, small firms can continue to thrive —together.
Mid-Size Firm Roundtable
Chair: Andrew McKinley, AIA
Filling in at ArchEx 2025: Braden Field, AIA
1. The Mid-Size Firm: “Endangered Species?”
- Challenge: Increasing pressure from both small, nimble studios and large, well-resourced firms.
- Key Strategies:
- Form strategic partnerships to expand capacity without losing independence.
- Maintain diversity and variety of projects to stay resilient while developing areas of deep expertise.
- Avoid siloed operations — encourage a collaborative and accessible culture across roles.
- Tension Point: Balancing generalist flexibility with focused expertise.
2. Leadership Transition & Firm Structure
- Continuity & Redundancy: Share or back-up key responsibilities to reduce dependence on a single individual.
- Intentional Growth: Create space for emerging leaders to step up without waiting for a vacancy at the top.
- Decision Bottlenecks: Flatten hierarchies and clarify decision-making authority to prevent gridlock.
- Psychological Safety: Encourage openness — people should feel safe sharing opinions and ideas.
- Role Clarity: Define and document design drivers, roles, and responsibilities to align decisions and expectations.
3. Collaboration & Culture
Within Firms: Foster cross-studio and inter-disciplinary collaboration.
- With Consultants: Improve consistency in communication and expectations.
- Leadership Styles: Navigate different management styles through clear processes and consistent communication.
- Efficiency: Link collaboration to measurable outcomes — ROI, schedule, and quality.
- Structure: Support a flatter hierarchy that empowers individuals.
- Education Gap: Architecture education is not adequately preparing graduates for collaborative practice.
4. People & Career Development
- Core Insight: People are the most valuable asset in a mid-size firm.
- PMs Matter: Need passionate, effective project managers who can balance design and delivery.
- Leadership Paths: All roles — not just design or ownership — should have paths to lead and grow.
- Entrepreneurial Readiness: Many staff could start their own firm; channel that ambition into leadership within the firm.
- Career Tracks: Develop multiple, non-linear career paths (technical, design, PM, operations, marketing).
- Generalist → Specialist: Encourage targeted expertise without losing holistic understanding of projects.
- Empathy & Flexibility: Value individual passions and goals — build a firm culture that is “soft at the edges.”
5. Technology & Innovation
- Current State: Many have an AI or Tech Committee but no formal strategy.
- Promising Tools:
- AI tools like Firefly for meeting notes and rendering iterations.
- Automating tedious tasks (e.g., meeting minutes, documentation) to free up creative time.
- Infrastructure:
- Invest in Technology/BIM Managers to train teams, set standards, and manage consultant coordination.
- Add specialized roles like part-time CFO or data/ops support as the firm scales.
- Cautions: AI outputs still require human review; ethical and quality control remain critical.
- Knowledge Sharing: Create systems for capturing and sharing information firm-wide.
- Agility: Mid-size firms’ nimbleness and low entry barriers are key advantages for adopting new tech.
Large Firm Roundtable
Chair: Lori Garrett, FAIA
Several dozen professionals—from early-career designers to firm leaders—participated in the Large Firm Roundtable at Arch Ex. Attendees were asked to identify pressing challenges they believe large firms are facing today and then vote on which issues they consider most significant. The ideas raised generally clustered into three broad categories, with some natural overlap between them. Below is a list of the issues identified, along with the number of votes each received.
Managing Growth
- Balancing growth while maintaining excellence and design quality (9)
- Managing growth with fewer available architects (leveraging technology for this?) (7)
- Managing growth and change resulting from merger or acquisition. (4)
- Managing rapid growth (1)
- Expanding to new markets
- Growth strategies that balance strengths with market conditions
Staffing Challenges / Firm Culture
- Retaining/attracting young talent (9)
- Building well-rounded expertise in staff (8)
- Managing growth with fewer available architects (leveraging technology for this?) (7)
- Building connections / finding one’s place in a large (and in some cases recently expanded) firm (6)
- Balancing need for cultivating depth of expertise while allowing opportunities for staff to get breadth of experience (4)
- Finding staff with senior-level expertise (2)
- Offering varied experience to build for the future (1)
External Pressures / Practice Management
- Impact of political uncertainty on practice (9)
- Maintaining institutional knowledge over time and through changes in leadership (9)
- Balancing growth while maintaining excellence and design quality (9)
- Keeping up with technology (7)
- Aligning project scope and budget (5)
- Competing with smaller firms who have less overhead (2)
- Finding staff with senior-level expertise (2)
- Managing project fluctuations (1)
Non-Traditional Roundtable
Chair: Bill Conkey, AIA
Job Descriptions
- Strategy consultant
- UVA Facility Management
- Sustainability consultant
- Pella sales representative
- Consulting – coaching and design
- Airport architect
- Create as-built documents
- VCU Project Manager
- Advocacy
What strengths do you bring when working with non-architects
- Collaborative and creative problem solving
- Subject matter expert
- Liaison to industry
- Have a broad understanding of a range of topics
- Good communicators
- Have an understanding of the built environment
- Understand the lifetime of buildings
What are the pros and cons of a non-traditional architecture career?
Pros
- Quality of life, work/life balance
- Not continually chasing work
- Ability to pursue passions
- Engagement with the community
- Ability to focus career on a specific area of interest
- There is a focus on career development because there is no gatekeeping
- More fulfilling than a traditional practice
Cons
- Need to find a creative outlet
- Limited access to continuing education
- Miss the creative environment of a traditional firm
- Business structure
- Backup support and mentorship
What can the AIA do better to engage with those in non-traditional architecture careers?
- Highlight non-traditional career paths
- Include AIA award categories that are relevant to non-traditional architects
- Fine tune AIA surveys to be inclusive of alternate career paths
Career Stage Roundtables: Common Ground across Generations
Emerging Professional Roundtable
Chair: Carrie Parker, AIA
Filling in at ArchEx 2025: Erin Agdinaoay, AIA
Mid-Career Professional Roundtable
Chair: Shawn Mulligan, AIA
Late-Career Professional Roundtable
Chair: Mitch Rowland, AIA
At this year’s Architecture Exchange East, hundreds of Virginia architects gathered for an ambitious experiment in multi-generational dialogue. The Career Stage Roundtables brought together early, mid-career, and late-career professionals to explore: What matters most to us as individuals, firms, and a profession?
How We Organized the Conversation
The session unfolded in two acts. First, career stage groups met separately to discuss three questions: What are your top goals for the next 5-10 years? What challenges do you see ahead? What opportunities does this create?
Then we mixed everyone up alphabetically, creating tables where all career stages sat side by side and revisited the same questions—this time in conversation with each other rather than about each other. Each table selected their top two items in each category, and the entire group voted on what resonated most.
Career-Stage Priorities
Early Career: Building Skills and Finding Purpose
Goals centered on growth through licensure, technical skills, and meaningful mentorship. They want to contribute to sustainable design and make a real difference. But challenges loom large: low pay, limited advancement, unclear career paths, and burnout. Many question whether the profession can sustain them long-term. They see opportunities in new technologies and changing workplace cultures—if the profession evolves with them.
Mid-Career: The Squeeze
These professionals are balancing multiple identities—wanting to be better leaders and mentors while maintaining design excellence and financial stability. Caught in the middle and managing both up and down, work-life balance feels elusive. Yet they recognize their unique position as bridges between generations, ready to reshape firm culture and build sustainable career paths by developing the business and management skills they need.
Late Career: Legacy and Passing the Torch
Focus shifts to succession planning, preserving firm culture, and mentorship. They want the profession to thrive beyond their tenure but grapple with how to pass the torch effectively while adapting to technological and cultural changes. They see opportunities to be better mentors, support next-generation leadership, and help modernize the profession.
What Emerged When We Mixed Generations
After discussing their most important goals, challenges, and opportunities, all participants voted on what resonated the most. These are the top items in each category:
Top Goals
- Work-Life Balance — Every generation wants a sustainable career.
- Mentorship — Building stronger relationships across experience levels.
- Financial Stability/Better Compensation — Making architecture financially viable.
- Professional Development — Continuous learning and growth.
- Own Resiliency — Environmental stewardship and a diverse future.
Top Challenges
- Maintaining relevancy and authenticity in an increasingly virtual world.
- Work-Life Balance/Time — Not just a goal, but an urgent challenge.
- Generational Communication Gaps — The difficulty of working across career stages.
- Succession Planning/Knowledge Transfer — Passing wisdom and ownership forward.
- Low Compensation/Financial Sustainability — The profession’s persistent economic issue.
- Adapting to Technology/AI — Navigating rapid technological change.
Top Opportunities
- Embracing Technology/AI — The challenge becomes an opportunity.
- Mentorship Programs — Structured knowledge sharing across generations.
- Flexible Work Models — Reimagining how and where we practice.
- Cross-Generational Collaboration — Leveraging diverse perspectives.
- Advocacy for Better Compensation — Collective action to address economic issues.
Key Takeaways
Work-Life Balance Is Everyone’s Challenge: The most striking finding was convergence. Work-life balance topped both goals and challenges lists across all generations—this isn’t a generational divide, it’s a professional imperative that demands collective action.
Technology and Economic Reality Demand Response: AI appeared in both challenges and opportunities, showing architects recognize we’re at an inflection point. Meanwhile, compensation issues cut across all career stages—early-career architects can’t afford to stay, mid-career professionals question their futures, and late-career leaders recognize this threatens the profession’s sustainability.
We Need Each Other: When given structured space to talk with (not at or about) each other, architects found common cause. Mentorship emerged as bidirectional exchange rather than one-way knowledge transfer. Young architects lead technology adoption while learning from experienced practitioners. The challenges feel less insurmountable when we tackle them together.
The energy in the room was electric. As one participants put it, “This is the conversation we needed to have, and I’m so excited about using everyone’s skills and capabilities to do and be better.”
What’s Next?
The themes that emerged—sustainable careers, technology adoption, meaningful mentorship, economic viability, and cross-generational collaboration—represent an agenda for the profession. The Career Stage Roundtables will continue creating space for these conversations because, as one participant noted: “If we want to fix our workplaces and our profession, we have to go through each other, not past each other.”
