McFarland Johnson Launches Firmwide AI Strategy Initiative

McFarland-Johnson, Inc. (MJ) has launched a firmwide artificial intelligence initiative aimed at integrating AI tools across engineering, planning and infrastructure operations while emphasizing governance and professional oversight.

The employee-owned engineering and construction management firm said the initiative is designed to improve operational efficiency, accelerate project delivery and strengthen decision-making capabilities while maintaining human oversight of all final project outcomes.

“McFarland Johnson has spent 80 years earning the trust of our clients and communities by doing things the right way,” said Chad Nixon, president and chairman of McFarland Johnson. “AI, implemented responsibly, makes our people more capable and our work more precise.”

As part of the rollout, the firm named Jason Kentzel as AI Implementation Lead. Kentzel brings experience in machine learning deployment, predictive analytics and operational leadership in regulated environments.

“Our mandate is clear: move AI from experimentation into everyday, governed practice across the entire firm,” Kentzel said.

MJ said the initiative focuses on embedding AI into existing workflows rather than creating standalone platforms, allowing staff to accelerate documentation, summarization, drafting, review and compliance-related tasks.

The company also said AI tools will help employees access institutional knowledge developed over the firm’s 80-year history while enabling staff to focus more heavily on higher-level technical and strategic work.

Leadership emphasized that AI-generated outputs will remain subject to human review and accountability.

“We’re an AI-enhanced company, not an AI-only company,” Nixon said.