EPISODE · Jun 9, 2026 · 47 MIN
he wants every construction tool to be open source | Maarten Vroegindeweij | openBIMvoice 16
from BIMvoice · host Petru Conduraru
In the sixteenth episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Maarten Vroegindeweij from the Netherlands. Maarten is a structural engineer who became an entrepreneur. He runs several companies and now leads OpenAEC, an effort to make construction software open source, built on a long personal belief that the whole industry should run on open tools and open standards. Open source has been missing in our industry for a long time. There were very few tools, and most of them were closed, expensive, or locked behind file formats nobody could open without a license. That is starting to change fast, and AI is a big reason why. The core idea is simple. When every construction tool is open source and they all speak one language, IFC, the industry stops paying for lock in and starts owning its own data. What we discuss: From Revit To Fully Open Source. Maarten shares his twenty year path, from building a BIM library to deciding that everything in his company should be open source. OpenAEC Foundation And Studio. How he is applying the Blender Foundation model to construction software, a non profit foundation that builds the tools, and a studio that earns money around them. Everything In IFC. Why he believes every deliverable, even a structural report or an API call, should speak IFC and IFC X, not just the 3D model. The Tools Around The Modeler. Why he is not building another BIM modeler, but the thirty to forty other tools the industry actually needs, cost calculation, PDF, geotechnical, point cloud, energy, and more. AI Changes The Speed. How agentic AI turned three weeks of work into a few days, and why that makes a full open source ecosystem realistic for the first time. The New Business Model. Why owning software and file formats is ending, and why services, AI on top of open tools, and hosting are where the money moves next. Intellectual Property Is Fading. Why Maarten thinks IP in software is becoming a thing of the past, and why even big tech is already shifting toward services. Own Your Data. Why open formats, self hosting, and independence from any single vendor matter more than any single tool. The strongest point from this conversation is that the future of construction software is open, and AI is what finally makes it possible. The companies that adapt will own their tools and their data. The ones that hold on to licenses and closed formats will have to change their business model anyway. Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/ Questions: [email protected]
What this episode covers
In the sixteenth episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Maarten Vroegindeweij from the Netherlands. Maarten is a structural engineer who became an entrepreneur. He runs several companies and now leads OpenAEC, an effort to make construction software open source, built on a long personal belief that the whole industry should run on open tools and open standards. Open source has been missing in our industry for a long time. There were very few tools, and most of them were closed, expensive, or locked behind file formats nobody could open without a license. That is starting to change fast, and AI is a big reason why. The core idea is simple. When every construction tool is open source and they all speak one language, IFC, the industry stops paying for lock in and starts owning its own data. What we discuss: From Revit To Fully Open Source. Maarten shares his twenty year path, from building a BIM library to deciding that everything in his company should be open source. OpenAEC Foundation And Studio. How he is applying the Blender Foundation model to construction software, a non profit foundation that builds the tools, and a studio that earns money around them. Everything In IFC. Why he believes every deliverable, even a structural report or an API call, should speak IFC and IFC X, not just the 3D model. The Tools Around The Modeler. Why he is not building another BIM modeler, but the thirty to forty other tools the industry actually needs, cost calculation, PDF, geotechnical, point cloud, energy, and more. AI Changes The Speed. How agentic AI turned three weeks of work into a few days, and why that makes a full open source ecosystem realistic for the first time. The New Business Model. Why owning software and file formats is ending, and why services, AI on top of open tools, and hosting are where the money moves next. Intellectual Property Is Fading. Why Maarten thinks IP in software is becoming a thing of the past, and why even big tech is already shifting toward services. Own Your Data. Why open formats, self hosting, and independence from any single vendor matter more than any single tool. The strongest point from this conversation is that the future of construction software is open, and AI is what finally makes it possible. The companies that adapt will own their tools and their data. The ones that hold on to licenses and closed formats will have to change their business model anyway. Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/ Questions: [email protected]
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he wants every construction tool to be open source | Maarten Vroegindeweij | openBIMvoice 16
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