Introducing Agents: How HallianAI's Next Evolution Transforms AI for A/E Firms

For months, we've been building toward this moment. Last month, we introduced Metadata—the foundation for understanding and organizing your firm's data.

Today, we're introducing Agents—launching Monday, January 5, 2026—the foundation for intelligent, autonomous decision-making.

Together, they transform how AI works in your firm.

The Problem with Today's AI

Most AI tools work the same way: you ask a question, the system searches, and it returns results. It's fast, but it's reactive. It doesn't think. It doesn't reason. It doesn't understand context.

For architecture and engineering firms, that limitation is costly.

A structural engineer searching for seismic design requirements has to manually decide: Do I search "codes," "standards," or "geotechnical"? Each search might require a different index. Each answer is only as good as the search terms used. This requires deep knowledge of how your firm organized its information—knowledge most users don't have.

A project manager drafting a status report pulls from a schedule, email threads, and meeting notes—manually stitching together context that should be automatic. That's five hours of work when it should be one.

A proposal manager assembles RFP responses by bouncing between project files, resumes, and past proposals—each context switch burning time and introducing errors.

The core issue: Today's AI doesn't know how to think about your firm's problems. It just searches. It doesn't reason. It doesn't decide what information matters. And it requires your team to understand your firm's complex index architecture just to get a good answer.

This takes time. It requires training. It creates friction that keeps your most valuable people from getting what they need instantly.

What Agents Change

Agents are AI that thinks.

In HallianAI Version 6.0.0, we're introducing agents as a straightforward evolution of what you already know. If you've built AI Assistants in HallianAI, you understand the foundation. Agents are the next step.

Here's how they work:

Agent Framework in HallianAI

Current AI Assistant Model

• Instructions live on the index

• Assistant searches that index

• Responses are based on index content + index instructions

• Limitation: Users must know which indexes to search

New Agent Model

• Instructions live on the agent (independent)

• Agent can couple with an index (optional)

• Agent follows its own instructions while searching index content if provided

• Agent accesses conversation memory in a more compelling way, making conversations feel more intuitive, continuous, and natural for users

Result: Richer, more context-aware conversations with deeper continuity—without requiring users to understand your firm's index architecture

By separating agent instructions from index instructions, you gain control over how the agent thinks. An index provides data context ("Here's what's in this knowledge base"). An agent provides behavioral context ("Here's how I should reason about that data and what I should do with it").

This seemingly small change unlocks everything.

Building on Your Foundation

You've already invested in the infrastructure that makes agents powerful:

• Indexes: Organized your firm's knowledge

• Workflows: Automated your processes

• Metadata: Structured your data

• Agents intelligently leverage all of these.

Agents don't replace indexes, workflows, or metadata. They use them. This is how you get outsized results and measurable impact from the infrastructure you've already built.

What's Coming in 2026

Agents are the foundation for a generation of capabilities coming throughout 2026:

• Agentic RAG: Agents automatically select which indexes to search based on the question—no more manual guessing

• Metadata System Logic: Agents filter and reason over structured metadata (dates, vendors, project types) like a database would

• Advanced Tool Calling: Agents call external APIs, trigger workflows, and execute multi-step operations—pulling data from Unanet, PM tools, web searches, and more

• Enhanced RAG 2.0: Agents prioritize results based on metadata first, then context—smarter, faster search

• Agent Orchestration: Agents working together (coupled with other agents) to provide even better results by combining specialized reasoning

Why this matters: These capabilities are enabled by going agents-first. Each builds on the foundation you're getting January 5. We're not just adding features—we're building an architecture that compounds in power.

Real-World Impact

For Structural Engineers: Instant Access, No Training Required

• Today: Junior engineer spends 2 hours searching multiple indexes for seismic design details. They have to know which indexes exist and which ones apply to their question.

• With Agents: Describe the site conditions to a Structural Design Agent. Agent automatically uses the right indexes (codes, standards, geotechnical) and generates a complete design recommendation in 30 minutes.

• Impact: Hundreds of billable hours reclaimed annually per firm. No training required. Just ask.

For Project Managers: Context Assembly Becomes Automatic

• Today: PM manually pulls data from schedule, emails, contracts, meeting notes to write status reports (5+ hours per cycle).

• With Agents: Agent assembles everything, generates draft in your firm's format (1 hour). PM reviews, tweaks, sends.

• Impact: For a 50-project firm, 1,000+ hours reclaimed annually. Reports are consistent. Nothing is missed.

For Proposal Teams: RFP Responses in Hours, Not Days

• Today: Marketer chases engineers, digs through shared drives, reassembles information (2 days). Senior technical staff get pulled from billable work.

• With Agents: Agent identifies relevant projects, generates team bios, drafts response (4 hours). Marketing hands finished draft to engineering for a once-over accuracy check.

• Impact: 75% reduction in cycle time. Higher quality. Higher win rates.

Why This Matters to Your Firm

Your competitive advantage is your people—your senior engineers, your experienced PMs, your technical depth. But today, much of their time is spent on repetitive, low-value work: searching for information, writing reports, stitching together context.

Agents eliminate that friction.

By automating the repetitive reasoning that surrounds high-value work, agents free your team to do what they do best: problem-solving, client relationships, and strategic thinking.

For Your Bottom Line

• Reduced admin overhead: 40-70% reduction in high-value staff admin time on targeted workflows (status reports, RFP responses, technical research)

• Higher billable utilization: More hours on billable work, fewer on repetitive admin

• Faster project delivery: Quicker access to information means faster decisions

• Better proposals: Smarter RFP responses → higher win rates → more revenue

• Knowledge preservation: Institutional expertise captured before senior staff retire

For a 200-person AE firm, this compounds quickly.

For Your Competitiveness

AI is table stakes. The question isn't whether to adopt it—it's how. Generic AI tools don't understand AE workflows. Agents built on YOUR firm's instructions + YOUR firm's data = orders of magnitude better results.

Instead of just "adopting AI," you're building AI that works the exact way your firm already works.

Agents in Preview Mode: Transparency About What's Here (And What's Coming)

Agents ship in preview status because this is the beginning, not the end. Here's what that means:

What's Ready Now (6.0.0, January 5)

• Independent agent instructions (separate from indexes)

• Optional index coupling (agents work with or without indexes)

• Superior memory access for intuitive, continuous conversations

• Agent creation, testing, deployment in new Agent tab

• Role-based access control (RBAC) for agents

What's Coming in 2026

• Agentic RAG: Agents auto-select the right indexes—no more manual guessing

• Metadata System Logic: Agents filter and reason about structured metadata like a database would

• Advanced Tool Calling: Agents execute multi-step operations across your systems (Unanet, PM tools, web searches, etc.)

• Enhanced RAG 2.0: Smarter prioritization based on metadata + context

• Agent Orchestration: Agents calling other agents for even more complex problems

  
  

Why Preview?

This is the foundation. We're transparent about that. Real-world feedback shapes the roadmap. We're building this with you, not for you.

The Bigger Picture

Six months ago, we introduced Metadata—the foundation for understanding and organizing your data.

Today, we're introducing Agents—the foundation for autonomous, intelligent decision-making.

Together, metadata + agents + the capabilities coming in 2026 will transform HallianAI into a platform capable of understanding your questions, reasoning about the best way to answer them, and delivering comprehensive, accurate results—all intelligently adapted to your specific needs.

This is the beginning of something significant.

Questions?

Contact us for a personalized demo.

Talk to an Expert

The agent revolution starts January 5.