Joyce Owens, FAIA, RIBA Returns

the profession is changing quickly, as I know you're well aware, from technology, AI, climate, economics, workforce.

Which of these issues do you think will have the greatest impact over the next several years? Um...

I think that all of these things are connected, but whether the profession is able to communicate its value clearly enough to be invited and to stay at the table of conversations with builders and developers and elected officials.

Without that, I think the other ones are going to become less important because I know that AI will change how we work.

It's already changing how we work and climate will change how we design.

It's certainly changed the way we design in Florida.

But if the architects can't articulate who they are and what they do, none of the rest matters.

It's all intertwined, right? And the whole PACE strategic plan is...

I have mentioned this before many times.

I am so grateful for what our members have done, how they have put together the strategic plan going forward for the next five years.

And I am honored that I am going to be the one that gets to implement it.

I don't know if you're familiar, but the PACE strategic plan is Practice, Advocacy, Climate Equity.

Those words and their definitions give us a framework to work within.

And so I find working within rules is very beneficial because I'm always one to ask questions about rules and to break them when I need to.

But I love having rules around me so that I can question them because rules can be a really good thing.

But I'm always willing to go outside of them.

If we want to talk about that PACE strategic plan in more depth, how I see it, it's concise and it's clear, right? Practice equips firms of every size to protect profitability and navigate AI.

Fantastic.

What else do we want to hear? Money and dealing with your technology.

If the AI can do that, fabulous.

Advocacy.

It just, that advocacy is, I always think it's twofold.

A lot of people think of advocacy as legislative advocacy, which is incredibly important.

But to me, it's all about how do you make architects visible in the community? So it's that sort of twofold.

And then climate, I think it's going to move us towards a real place-based resilient approach in all of the regions around the U.S. that we're all going to have to learn.