About Archeon
Archeon represents your firm in licensing the operational records that AEC firms already hold, through a private, competitive process.
A firm that has run projects for twenty years holds a record that no one else has. Archeon represents your firm in licensing it, brings several buyers to compete and leaves the ownership with you.
Archeon is a private-markets firm for AEC data rights. We represent your firm, run the process across vetted buyers and negotiate the license on your side of the table.
Retiring without a successor, or already closed? See for firms winding down.
Billings are soft. Buyers are spending on data.
Practices have had a long stretch of weak billings. Meanwhile AI companies are putting real budgets behind operational data from the firms that design and build.
Committed in October 2026 by one AI data company to license enterprise operational data over 12 months.
The AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index has read below 50 for about three and a half years. August 2026 came in at 47.2.
Where published buyer tiers start, per license, for qualifying firms. Larger or unique datasets run higher.
Upfront cost to the firm. Archeon is paid from the payments your firm receives, and its fee is in the engagement letter before any buyer sees you.
The decision work of buildings lives in firms’ records.
AI is weakest at the decision work of buildings, and that work lives in the records of the firms that design and build. When firms license those records on their own terms, tools get better at answering questions, catching conflicts and pricing changes. That points toward fewer delays and less rework, and it pays firms for the knowledge they built.
- US construction labor productivity in 2023 was at its 1948 level.Richmond Fed, 2025
- A project sees about 796 RFIs, each costing about $1,080 to process, with a 9.7-day median response.Navigant, 2013
- Rework is about 5% of construction cost.Hwang et al., ASCE, 2009
- On real submittal review, frontier AI models scored 6.5 to 23 out of 100.AEC-Bench, 2026
- Seattle’s AI plan review agreed with human reviewers 92% of the time.City of Seattle, 2026
Some ways firms put the income to work.
Carry your team through a gap between projects
Overhead does not flex in a slow month. Some firms use license income to cover payroll and rent until the next award.
Help fund the next generation’s buy-in
Younger staff often cannot afford a retiring partner’s shares. Some firms put license income toward a buy-in fund.
Invest in your own tools and systems
Some firms put the income toward software, hardware or better project data practices.
Get paid for work you already did, without selling the firm
A license pays for records the firm already holds. Ownership of the firm and of the records stays with you.
License income is yours to use. Talk to your accountant about how it’s taxed.
Built for principals who read the terms.
We work with firms of 20 or more employees. Larger firms usually hold more history, which tends to raise a license’s value. If your firm is at that size, the records are likely worth a conversation.
One focus: AEC firms
Archeon works with architecture, engineering and construction firms and with no one else. We know what an RFI log, a submittal register and a fee proposal contain.
Numbers in writing before you sign
Archeon’s fee is in the engagement letter before any buyer sees your firm. You compare buyer offers in writing. Archeon is paid only when your firm is paid, so you pay nothing upfront.
Your records stay yours
Licenses are for AI training. You keep ownership and copyright. Any exclusivity is negotiated, priced and in writing.
Three stages from first call to closing.
Review and screen
A short call about your systems and record types, then a rights screen against your client contracts.
Deal room
Vetted buyers see an anonymized summary, sign NDAs and submit bids by a deadline.
Negotiate and close
You choose the offer and Archeon negotiates terms. Your firm is paid by the buyer at closing.
How Archeon works with your records.
Firm-owned records only
A license covers records your firm created and has the right to license.
Clients stay out
Project drawings and models are included only with the building owner’s written consent, after Archeon removes identifying details and your team checks each file.
Counsel reviews every license
Your attorney reads the terms before you sign.
Paid when you are paid
Archeon earns a success fee on each payment your firm receives from a buyer Archeon introduced. Nothing is due before then.
Exclusivity is a priced term
Any exclusivity is negotiated, priced and in writing. You keep ownership and copyright.
Ongoing representation
Archeon keeps working for your firm after the first license: refreshes, new buyers, renewals, payment tracking and checks that buyers keep to the license.
On your side of the table
Archeon represents your firm. Offers, fee and net to the firm are stated in writing, in dollars.
Questions principals ask first.
Why not just use a referral link?
A referral partner is paid by one buyer and sends you to that buyer. Archeon represents your firm. It brings several vetted buyers to compete for your records, and it negotiates price, exclusivity and payment timing on your side of the table.
Why not sell directly to a data company?
You can, and some buyers now offer free de-identification and quick payment. Those are real benefits. A single buyer also sets its own price and its own terms, and you have no other offer to compare. Archeon runs a sealed, competitive process across several vetted buyers on your firm’s side. We negotiate the terms beyond price, including use limits, exclusivity, deletion and refresh. Our fee is in writing before any buyer sees your firm, and it is paid only when your firm is paid.
Who reviews the license?
Your counsel reviews every license before you sign. Archeon represents your firm in licensing its records and negotiates the commercial terms. It does not act as your attorney.
Will this train AI that replaces us?
Partly, yes. AI agents will do more production work, such as RFI responses and submittal checks. Software companies are building them with or without any one firm’s records, and a single firm’s records will not decide that. Most firms cannot train their own models, so the real choice is licensing on good terms or not at all. Archeon narrows the scope, prices it properly, asks for a share where a buyer resells, and gives you a cleaned copy of your own records for your own use.
Start with a data review.
Tell us your office staff, years of records and systems. You pay nothing upfront, and you keep your copyright.
Request a data review