Interview: Nikhil Vijay Bagalkotkar, Director, India & SAARC, Autodesk

India is witnessing unprecedented investments in infrastructure, from metros and airports to smart cities and industrial corridors. How do you see digital technologies such as AI, BIM, and digital twins transforming the way these projects are planned, designed, delivered, and managed?
India is in the midst of one of the world’s most ambitious infrastructure transformations. With large-scale investments across metros, airports, highways, industrial corridors, and smart cities, the country is building multiple mega projects simultaneously. Delivering infrastructure at this pace and scale requires more than increased investment- it demands a fundamentally different approach to planning, design, execution, and long-term operations. Digital technologies have become critical to helping project teams deliver faster, improve coordination, reduce risk, and build with greater certainty. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is at the heart of this transformation. It enables architects, engineers, contractors, and owners to work from a shared digital model instead of disconnected drawings and data. This improves collaboration, helps identify design clashes before construction begins, reduces costly rework, and enables better-informed decisions throughout the project lifecycle. AI is further enhancing these workflows by identifying potential risks, automating repetitive tasks, optimizing designs, and providing predictive insights that help teams make faster and more informed decisions. Digital twins take this step further by extending the value of project data beyond construction into operations and maintenance. They provide owners with a dynamic, real-time view of how an asset performs, enabling predictive maintenance, improved operational efficiency, and smarter asset management over its lifecycle.

India is witnessing unprecedented investments in infrastructure, from metros and airports to smart cities and industrial corridors. How do you see digital technologies such as AI, BIM, and digital twins transforming the way these projects are planned, designed, delivered, and managed?
India is in the midst of one of the world’s most ambitious infrastructure transformations. With large-scale investments across metros, airports, highways, industrial corridors, and smart cities, the country is building multiple mega projects simultaneously. Delivering infrastructure at this pace and scale requires more than increased investment- it demands a fundamentally different approach to planning, design, execution, and long-term operations. Digital technologies have become critical to helping project teams deliver faster, improve coordination, reduce risk, and build with greater certainty. BIM is at the heart of this transformation. It enables architects, engineers, contractors, and owners to work from a shared digital model instead of disconnected drawings and data. This improves collaboration, helps identify design clashes before construction begins, reduces costly rework, and enables better-informed decisions throughout the project lifecycle. AI is further enhancing these workflows by identifying potential risks, automating repetitive tasks, optimizing designs, and providing predictive insights that help teams make faster and more informed decisions. Digital twins take this step further by extending the value of project data beyond construction into operations and maintenance. They provide owners with a dynamic, real-time view of how an asset performs, enabling predictive maintenance, improved operational efficiency, and smarter asset management over its lifecycle.

Sustainability is now a core objective rather than a compliance requirement. How are Autodesk’s solutions helping project teams reduce material waste, optimize resource utilization, lower carbon emissions, and improve environmental performance throughout the project lifecycle?
Sustainability is increasingly determined by the decisions made at the earliest stages of a project. Autodesk’s Design and Make platform helps project teams embed sustainability into every phase of the asset lifecycle – from planning and design to construction and operations. During design, Autodesk Forma enables architects and planners to evaluate site conditions, daylight, wind, and embodied carbon early in the design process, helping optimize building performance before construction begins. Autodesk Revit and BIM workflows improve multidisciplinary coordination, allowing teams to identify design clashes, optimize material quantities, and reduce rework, waste, and unnecessary emissions on site. During construction, Autodesk Construction Cloud connects project teams through a common data environment, improving collaboration, reducing errors, and enabling more efficient execution. Accurate digital models also support prefabrication and modular construction, which minimize material waste and improve resource efficiency. Beyond project delivery, digital twins built using Autodesk technologies help owners monitor asset performance, optimize energy use, plan predictive maintenance, and extend asset life. Together, these connected workflows enable project teams to reduce environmental impact while delivering infrastructure that is more efficient, resilient, and sustainable over its entire lifecycle.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the AEC industry. How is Autodesk integrating generative AI and automation into its solutions, and what practical benefits can infrastructure owners, consultants, and EPC contractors in India expect in terms of design optimisation, project delivery, cost control, and sustainability?
AI is reshaping the way infrastructure is planned, designed, and delivered. Autodesk’s 2025 State of Design & Make report shows that 52% of Indian organisations are already using AI to advance sustainability, reflecting a strong focus on real-world business outcomes. We are embedding generative AI and automation across our Design and Make platform to help project teams make better decisions faster, automate repetitive tasks, and unlock greater value from project data. Solutions such as Autodesk Forma use AI to rapidly generate and evaluate multiple design options based on factors such as site conditions, environmental performance, and project requirements, enabling teams to optimise designs much earlier in the project lifecycle. Across BIM and Autodesk Construction Cloud workflows, AI helps identify design conflicts, automate documentation, surface project risks, and provide predictive insights that improve planning, coordination, and execution. For infrastructure owners, consultants, and EPC contractors in India, this translates into tangible business outcomes—shorter design cycles, fewer errors and change orders, improved cost and schedule predictability, and more sustainable project delivery through better material and resource optimisation. However, AI is only as powerful as the data behind it. Connected BIM workflows and common data environments provide the trusted foundation that enables AI to deliver meaningful insights. Organisations investing in these digital foundations today will be best positioned to realise AI’s full potential at scale.

Digital twins are increasingly being adopted to improve asset performance. How is Autodesk enabling infrastructure owners to leverage digital twins for predictive maintenance, operational efficiency, and lifecycle management across sectors such as airports, metro rail, and smart cities?
Digital twins are becoming increasingly important as infrastructure owners look to improve operational efficiency and maximise asset performance over the long term. According to Autodesk’s State of Digital Adoption in the Construction Industry 2026, 26% of construction businesses across Asia Pacific already use digital twin technology, with another 37% planning to adopt it, signalling strong momentum behind the technology. By connecting BIM, IoT, and operational data, Autodesk enables infrastructure owners to create a dynamic, real-time view of their assets, helping them shift from reactive maintenance to predictive, data-driven operations. For asset owners, this means they can continuously monitor performance, detect potential issues before they become failures, optimise maintenance schedules, improve energy efficiency, and extend the lifecycle of critical infrastructure. Projects such as the Delhi Metro demonstrate how BIM models evolve into valuable digital records that support future maintenance and expansion, while Noida International Airport is laying the digital foundation for smarter operations from day one. Ultimately, digital twins help infrastructure owners move beyond simply managing assets to operating them more intelligently, efficiently, and sustainably throughout their lifecycle.

Many infrastructure projects involve multiple stakeholders working across different locations and disciplines. How are cloud-based collaboration platforms such as Autodesk Construction Cloud helping improve coordination, minimise rework, and accelerate project delivery?
India’s infrastructure projects almost always involve teams spread across multiple cities, disciplines, and organisations. Coordinating this without a shared platform is where delays and rework usually begin. Cloud-based collaboration gives every stakeholder access to the same live information. Architects, engineers, contractors, and owners work off one source of truth instead of emailing files back and forth. This removes a major source of version-control errors. Noida International Airport is a strong example of what this makes possible. Its design team spanned offices in Norway, India, the UK, and the US, and worked together entirely through BIM 360 Docs, Design, and Collaboration during a period when in-person coordination was not an option. Despite the distance and disruption, the team designed an airport built to serve 200 million passengers a year by 2060. For infrastructure owners and EPC contractors, the impact goes beyond better collaboration. Connected workflows provide greater visibility into project progress, improve schedule and cost predictability, and enable faster, more informed decisions. Ultimately, cloud-based collaboration helps teams deliver complex infrastructure projects more efficiently, with higher quality and greater confidence.

While the benefits of BIM and digital engineering are well recognised, adoption across the industry remains uneven. What do you see as the biggest challenges limiting wider adoption in India, and how is Autodesk helping organisations overcome them?
While the benefits of BIM and digital engineering are well recognised, adoption across the industry is progressing at different speeds. One of the biggest challenges is the complexity of the infrastructure ecosystem itself. Large projects bring together owners, consultants, EPC contractors, and operators, each with different processes, technologies, and levels of digital maturity. Without connected data and collaborative workflows, organisations often struggle to realise the full value of BIM across the project lifecycle. Another challenge is that digital transformation is not simply about deploying new software – it requires organisations to embed new ways of working. Successfully adopting BIM means creating a shared digital foundation where information flows seamlessly across teams and throughout the asset lifecycle. We help organisations make this transition through our open, cloud-based Design and Make platform. Solutions such as Autodesk Forma and BIM Collaborate connect teams through a common data environment, enabling real-time collaboration, improving coordination, reducing rework, and providing greater visibility across projects. Alongside technology, we work closely with customers and partners to support capability building and the adoption of digital workflows, helping organisations unlock the full value of BIM from design through operations.

Autodesk has transitioned towards a cloud-first, subscription-based business model. How has this approach benefited infrastructure owners, consultants, and EPC contractors in terms of flexibility, collaboration, continuous innovation, and long-term value?
Autodesk’s cloud-first, subscription-based model is designed to help customers stay agile in an industry where project requirements, team sizes, and technology needs are constantly evolving. Rather than relying on periodic software upgrades and large upfront investments, customers receive continuous access to the latest capabilities, security updates, and innovations through a single subscription. For infrastructure owners, consultants, and EPC contractors, cloud-based platforms such as Autodesk Construction Cloud enable teams across multiple organisations and locations to collaborate in real time through a common data environment. This improves coordination, reduces version-control issues, accelerates decision-making, and makes it easier to scale software usage based on project requirements. Through the revamped Autodesk Store, customers can also independently manage licences, generate quotes, place orders, and renew subscriptions, giving them greater flexibility and control. Perhaps the biggest advantage is continuous innovation. New capabilities, such as the BIM Package for Viksit Bharat- a curated set of country-specific content, templates, and workflows designed to help infrastructure teams align with Indian standards and accelerate BIM adoption are delivered directly to existing subscribers. This means customers benefit from the latest innovations without complex upgrades or additional software purchases, ensuring they continue to maximise the long-term value of their technology investments.

As India’s infrastructure ambitions continue to expand under initiatives such as Viksit Bharat 2047, how is Autodesk aligning its product roadmap and investments to support the country’s evolving engineering, construction, and sustainability requirements?
India’s vision for Viksit Bharat 2047 is not just about building more infrastructure – it’s about building smarter, more resilient, and more sustainable infrastructure. We’re aligning our product roadmap to support this transformation by investing in technologies that improve productivity, enable connected project delivery, and address India’s evolving engineering and construction requirements. A key focus is localising our solutions for the Indian market. The BIM Package for Viksit Bharat integrates Indian design standards and engineering content into products such as Revit and Civil 3D, helping project teams adopt BIM more efficiently while aligning with local codes and workflows. At the same time, we continue to invest in AI-enabled capabilities through solutions like Autodesk Forma and Autodesk Construction Cloud, enabling better decision-making, greater collaboration, and more sustainable project outcomes across the asset lifecycle. Equally important is building the talent needed to deliver India’s infrastructure ambitions. Through our partnership with the Directorate General of Training and a US$350 million global commitment to develop AI-ready Design and Make talent, we’re helping equip the next generation of engineers, architects, and construction professionals with the digital skills required to build the infrastructure of tomorrow.

Looking ahead, what emerging technologies or innovations from Autodesk do you believe will have the greatest impact on India’s infrastructure sector over the next five years, and how do you see the future of digital construction evolving?
Over the next five years, we believe the biggest shift will be the integration of AI into everyday design and construction workflows. Rather than being a standalone technology, AI will work in the background – helping teams evaluate design options, automate repetitive tasks, identify risks earlier, and make faster, more informed decisions. The goal is not to replace human expertise, but to augment it. At the same time, construction sites will become increasingly connected and data-driven. Cloud-based collaboration, field data, and AI-powered insights will give project teams real-time visibility into progress, enabling them to anticipate issues before they impact cost or schedule. Sustainability will also become an inherent part of the design process, with digital technologies helping teams optimise material usage, improve energy performance, and reduce embodied carbon from the earliest stages of a project. We also expect digital twins to evolve from an emerging capability to an operational necessity. As infrastructure owners increasingly focus on long-term asset performance, digital twins will enable predictive maintenance, operational efficiency, and smarter lifecycle management. Together, these technologies will help India deliver infrastructure that is not only built faster, but also operated more intelligently, sustainably, and resiliently for decades to come.