Bentley Systems Year in Infrastructure 2025
At Year in Infrastructure (YII) 2025—Bentley’s annual flagship event that brings together infrastructure professionals, engineers, and digital twin experts from around the world—Bentley unveiled its latest technological advancements focused on reshaping how we design, build, and operate infrastructure in a more connected and sustainable world.
The event spotlighted major themes like AI-powered infrastructure modeling, digital twins for decarbonization, and seamless data integration across the asset lifecycle.
But one of the most exciting moments came when construction took center stage: Bentley introduced SYNCHRO+ as the next evolution of SYNCHRO 4D, revealing a plan to deliver expanded capabilities and a bold new vision for 4D construction planning, using AI.
A new era in 4D construction planning
For years, construction teams have faced the same challenges: fragmented data, limited collaboration, and manual workflows that slow progress instead of accelerating it. 4D planning is powerful, but it has always been built for specialists, tailored to a narrow set of roles. When planning is limited to a few experts, it’s hard to capture the full spectrum of team insights—especially from those closest to the work.
At Bentley, we have been asking ourselves simple but transformative questions: what if planning were smarter, faster, and more inclusive? What if every project stakeholder, from the office to the jobsite, could engage with models in real time without barriers?
This isn’t just about technology. It’s about people, projects, and the future of infrastructure.
At YII 2025, we announced a bold new vision for 4D construction planning that puts collaboration, clarity, and confidence at the heart of every project.
4D modeling has already opened up a world of new possibilities. Now, we plan to push the boundaries even further.
The SYNCHRO+ Hackathon
When we started this journey, we knew that to truly build the best next generation solution for our users, we needed our users to be at the heart of the project.
Construction planning is complex, and traditional 4D tools often slow progress with heavy workflows, steep learning curves, and siloed data. Simply put: the 4D construction community is ready for change.
So, we hosted the SYNCHRO+ Hackathon in London, bringing together users, partners, and experts to map out the future of 4D planning. It was more than a brainstorming session. Together, we began shaping what the future of 4D planning could look like.
If you’ve ever been part of a hackathon, you know the energy is electric. Hackathons are fast paced by nature, and ours was no different. Ideas flew, workflows took shape, and debates sparked—all with one clear goal: how to make 4D planning better.
The hackathon helped us surface important pain points and start translating them into tangible ideas. We explored AI for smarter decisions, smoother data sharing, and more intuitive tools. It was productive, gave us clarity, and strengthened our connection to the community that we are building for.
What is SYNCHRO+?
SYNCHRO+ is our path forward.
It’s not just an upgrade. It’s a reimagining of how construction teams plan and deliver work.
As the next evolution of SYNCHRO 4D, SYNCHRO+ is designed to make planning and coordination more intuitive, efficient, and collaborative. Our mission is clear: help teams plan smarter, faster, and together.
By unifying planning and estimating workflows into a single AI-powered platform, SYNCHRO+ simplifies model interaction, enhances performance, and makes 4D planning accessible to more than just specialists. Its streamlined interface and intelligent features encourage broader team participation, reduce complexity, and accelerate data-driven decisions. The outcome is stronger collaboration, faster delivery, and more predictable results.
SYNCHRO+ is built around three foundational pillars:
- Connected data: A platform that links information through intelligent relationships to drive better decisions.
- Intuitive design: An intuitive interface tailored for construction professionals, not software specialists.
- AI automation: Automation that powers productivity and handles the repetitive, so teams can focus on what matters most.
Connected data
We are starting with the foundation. SYNCHRO+ is built on Bentley Infrastructure Cloud and powered by iModel technology. It brings more connected and collaborative 4D planning across Bentley’s ecosystem. Project teams can access schedules and 4D models not only in the desktop application but also through the web, making planning data available to more people.
By using iModels as the starting point for model-based workflows, SYNCHRO+ enables smoother integrations with other iModel-based applications—like iTwin Engage—which allows teams to explore their 4D models in immersive environments. Suddenly, your construction sequence isn’t just a model. It’s a story.
This approach helps unify teams around a shared source of truth and expands access to planning data across the organization, including site personnel.
Intuitive design
From an interface perspective, we are redesigning SYNCHRO+ to offer a cleaner and more intuitive experience. With just a few clicks, users can turn design models into construction models and upload project schedules. Users don’t need to manage complex files or navigate technical settings.
Users work directly with construction concepts, such as activities, areas, and components. The goal is to make powerful 4D capabilities feel natural, fast, and easy to use.
AI automation
We are introducing AI-powered capabilities in SYNCHRO+ through Bentley Copilot, a built-in assistant designed to support construction teams throughout their planning workflows.
Through the Bentley Copilot chatbox, users can describe what they need, what they are trying to find, or what they want to accomplish. Bentley Copilot responds by helping them complete tasks quickly and clearly. It can filter by predefined work areas, suggest activity mappings to model elements, and present everything visually for review and approval.
Users stay in control while AI handles the repetitive and time-consuming steps. This approach is not about replacing expertise—it is about removing manual and tedious tasks. Tasks that once took hours now take minutes, giving teams more time to focus on planning, coordination, and problem-solving.
Elevating construction planning: what’s next?
With SYNCHRO+, we’re looking to transform construction planning into an experience that’s intuitive, intelligent, and immersive. It’s a fundamental shift in how we approach planning, collaboration, and delivery.
To ensure SYNCHRO+ truly meets the needs of the people who use it, we’re launching an Early Access Program (EAP) this December. This program is designed to be a two-way partnership. We’re not just releasing a product to users; we’re building it with them. Through close collaboration, feedback loops, and real-world testing, SYNCHRO+ will evolve with direct input from the construction professionals who rely on it.
General availability is planned for 2026, but the journey has already begun.
And we’ll be taking you along with us!
Follow the SYNCHRO Construction page on Linkedin for future updates on SYNCHRO+.
