How IAC is Driving Digital Engineering and AI in Latin America

Operating across Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and serving clients throughout Latin America, IAC operates on three core pillars: BIM methodologies (heavily supported by Bentley tools), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), and Artificial Intelligence (AI). But beneath these technical pillars lies a much deeper, singular mission.

“Our ‘why’ is to transform business models,” explained Guillermo Cañon, founder and CEO of Ingenieria Asistida por Computador (IAC). “We understand that in Latin America, there are incredible engineering capabilities. What moves us is enabling these people, these teams, and these companies to expand into the world, to be more efficient, and to be more profitable.”

Global Tech Meets “Tropicalized” Expertise

In a diverse and complex region like Latin America, adopting new technology comes with unique hurdles. The biggest challenge, according to Guillermo, is simply the human resistance to change. Many companies are still accustomed to managing complex construction budgets and schedules on disconnected or manually managed spreadsheets.

To overcome this, the partnership between IAC and Bentley Systems has proven to be a perfect strategic match.

“Bentley has niche solutions that simply have no equal in the market, whether it’s for railway design, water networks, or asset operations linked to construction,” Guillermo noted. “On our side, we deeply understand the BIM implementation processes and local standards. We call it applying our ‘tropical region’ way of working. This allows us to deliver world-class tools configured perfectly for the specific workflows of our local clients.”

This synergy is rooted in a shared philosophy: focusing on client success rather than just making a transaction. By taking the time to truly understand a client’s specific needs from day one, IAC ensures that Bentley’s technology translates into real, tangible ROI.

A prime example of this successful collaboration is their work with a major energy transport company with operations across Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile and Brazil.

The company has presented a unique challenge: they do not design or build the infrastructure themselves; they operate the assets. However, they needed to seamlessly manage the design and construction processes carried out by various contractors to ensure continuous, uninterrupted energy supply, a critical requirement where failures result in massive fines and reputational damage.

After a deep evaluation process, they found their answer in Bentley’s solutions. The tools provided unparalleled interoperability, allowing the company to fluidly interact with multiple different CAD and design systems used by their contractors. Today, they are all using this Bentley-powered system not just for managing design and construction data, but for the ongoing, efficient operation of their critical energy assets.

Breaking Down Barriers with Education and AI

To further accelerate adoption in Latin America and combat the fear of new software like SYNCHRO, the Colombian company has taken proactive steps to make learning accessible. They launched Acaddemia.com , an online platform offering specialized training in Spanish for AI, CAD systems, and SYNCHRO. This allows clients to learn at their own pace, reducing the friction and cost of implementation.

But IAC’s vision doesn’t stop at traditional training; they are actively pushing the boundaries of what is possible by merging Bentley’s infrastructure tools with Artificial Intelligence.

Guillermo shared exciting examples of how IAC is layering AI onto existing workflows:

• Predictive Scheduling: While SYNCHRO is perfect for deterministic planning (like calculating concrete quantities), IAC uses AI to analyze historical data and predict random deviations that could delay a project, such as weather events or social issues.
• Computer Vision for Safety: They utilize AI vision on job sites, such as high-voltage energy transport areas, to instantly detect safety parameter violations, preventing fatal accidents and generating analytics to improve worker behavior.
• AI Support Agents: IAC developed “Matilda,” an AI agent trained to provide immediate, fluid answers to users’ questions about Bentley tools, drastically reducing support friction.

Looking toward the next decade, IAC is not slowing down. The company is actively exploring opportunities to bring their unique blend of BIM and AI expertise to even more mature, global market.

When asked how he hopes the industry will view IAC in the years to come, Guillermo’s answer was clear and ambitious: “We want to be recognized as the team that impacted the market to the point of not only putting local companies on a globally competitive level but taking them a step further. And we want that achievement to be deeply tied to Artificial Intelligence.”

By combining Bentley’s powerful infrastructure solutions with their own innovative AI applications and local dedication, IAC is doing exactly what they set out to do: transforming business models and elevating Latin American engineering to the global stage.