AI for engineering firms

Short answer

PrivateOfficeAI is a private AI that runs on hardware in your own office, so engineering work stays in-house. Your team can draft reports and specs, summarize calculations, look up standards from your own library, and even read scanned drawings — while client IP and project data never leave the building. It's a one-time purchase with no per-seat fees.

Engineering firms live on documents that other people are not supposed to see: sealed calculation packages, design bases, geotechnical reports, load analyses, and proprietary methods a client paid to develop. A public AI tool asks you to paste that material into someone else's cloud. PrivateOfficeAI runs entirely on a machine in your own office, so the same everyday help is available without any of it leaving the network.

What can an engineering firm actually use it for?

The point is to take the writing and lookup work off your engineers so they spend their time engineering. Common jobs on day one:

Report write-ups. Turn a set of calculation notes into a clean structural or civil report section, in your firm's voice, with the numbers you provide.
Specifications. Draft or tighten spec sections — Division 03 concrete, Division 26 electrical — and check them against the last project you did the same way.
Proposals and fee letters. Assemble a scope narrative and deliverables list from your notes and turn it into a branded PDF with the document generator.
Standards and code lookups. Ask questions against your own copies of ASCE 7, ACI 318, AISC, IBC, or client design guides once they're in the knowledge base — and get the answer with the source paragraph cited.
Project knowledge. 'How did we detail the moment connection on the Fifth Street job?' — answered from your own past drawings and memos instead of from someone's memory.

Can it read our scanned drawings and markups?

Yes. The Maximum engine reads images, screenshots, and scans, so a marked-up plan sheet, a photographed field sketch, or a scanned legacy detail can be described, summarized, or pulled into a write-up. It runs on the box like everything else — the drawing is never uploaded anywhere.

How does the confidentiality actually hold up?

Because the AI runs on your hardware, your files, prompts, and answers are processed on-site and stay there. The only thing that ever leaves is a tiny check-in — license and version, an anonymous box ID, and basic health numbers. Never documents, never chats, never file names. For firms under NDAs, ITAR-adjacent work, or client agreements that forbid third-party cloud processing, that is the difference between 'yes, we can use AI' and 'no, we can't.' See the security overview for the details.

Who on the team gets access?

Everyone, with roles that fit the org chart. Principals and project engineers get full use; a drafter or intern can be a Contributor or Basic user; front-office staff get an account for proposals and correspondence. You set permissions under team accounts, and there are no per-seat fees to worry about as you add people.

What does it cost a firm our size?

It's a one-time purchase, not a subscription. The Box is $4,900 for teams up to about 15 people; Box Pro at $7,500 doubles the memory and runs the largest engines for heavier reasoning and document loads. A software version for a Mac or PC you already own is $899. Add Remote Access at $29/mo if field engineers need to reach it from a job site over a private tunnel. You can try a live demo first.

What it is not

PrivateOfficeAI is not a replacement for your analysis software or your engineer's judgment, and it does not seal drawings or certify calculations. It's an office assistant that drafts, summarizes, looks things up, and reads documents — quickly, and without ever sending your work to the cloud.

Frequently asked questions

Can it handle our engineering standards and design codes?

Yes — load your own copies of ASCE 7, ACI 318, AISC, the IBC, or client-specific design guides into the knowledge base, and the AI answers questions against them with the source paragraph cited. Nothing is fetched from the cloud, so your annotated and licensed copies stay in-house.

Will it keep our client's intellectual property confidential?

Yes. Every file, calculation, and drawing is processed on the box in your office and never transmitted to any AI company. Only a tiny license and health check-in leaves the building, and it never contains documents, chats, or file names — so proprietary designs and NDA-covered work stay yours.

Can it read scanned or marked-up drawings?

Yes. The Maximum engine reads images, screenshots, and scans, so a scanned legacy detail, a marked-up plan sheet, or a photographed field sketch can be described, summarized, or pulled into a report — all processed locally.

Does it replace our structural or civil analysis software?

No. It does not run analysis or seal drawings. It handles the writing and lookup around the engineering — reports, specs, proposals, standards questions, and reading documents — so your engineers spend more time on the work only they can do.

How many engineers can use one box?

The standard Box comfortably serves teams up to about 15 people, and Box Pro handles more with larger engines. Everyone gets their own login with a role that fits their job, and there are no per-seat fees no matter how many accounts you create.