How InQI Transforms Site Planning

Unknown Speaker

Welcome back to The InQI Blueprint! I'm Laura Mitchell, and as always, I'm joined by Ali Tehranchi. Today’s episode is all about the transformation of site planning—from the old days of manual map overlays to the kind of instant, data-driven intelligence we use at InQI. Ali, when you first started leading design projects, did you ever spend weeks making sense of giant paper maps?

Ali Tehranchi

Oh, absolutely. I mean, back when I was co-founding Bay Scenery, our site planning looked so much like what that 1994 U.S. Army manual describes. You’re literally taping layers of topography, drainage, and utility maps together on a light table. It’s all analog—painstaking, but sort of beautiful, in a way. But it took forever. That early process just to get to the 35% design phase? It was weeks of work, right?

Unknown Speaker

Oh, it was the same for me. My first job as a junior compliance officer—I remember overlaying zoning, soils, floodplain, you name it. Just trying to see where all those red flags lined up. All by hand. You’d need a landscape architect, a civil, sometimes a planner—all in one room. It makes sense that landscape architects would lead those teams—nobody is better at juggling competing site realities and project priorities. But man, the effort! It’s so different than just… punching in an address now.

Ali Tehranchi

Right! And that’s the core tension I think we’re exploring today: the difference between classical, hands-on site planning, and what InQI enables now. We’re collapsing weeks of groundwork into, I mean, minutes. A modern site plan starts with the same core steps—site evaluation, organizing activities, trying to hit that crucial 35% mark—but the method’s totally changed. Instead of teams pouring over layers all day, InQI merges aerial imagery, topo, zoning codes—everything—instantly. It does the grunt work so people can focus where they truly add value.

Unknown Speaker

That’s such a big leap, Ali. And honestly, when I first saw your platform, it was a little hard to believe. Because, you know, “Hey, what about the due diligence?” But the shift is real. My story, for example… I spent, what, three weeks over one elementary school site, trying to reconcile paper survey data against utility maps! Meanwhile, your team can generate a full survey-level site plan in, like, five minutes? No light tables. No red pens.

Ali Tehranchi

Yeah! That’s what we set out to fix with InQI. You just enter an address—boom, you have every boundary, utility, setback, and even trees, linked directly to verified sources. What we’re really doing is anchoring every critical element to live data, right into your digital project binder. It’s not just faster—it’s more structured. But I gotta say, you still need to understand what makes a great site. That part hasn’t changed at all.

Unknown Speaker

Exactly. We talk about speed and efficiency in site planning, but you can’t lose sight of the timeless goals. Functionality, safety, environmental sensitivity—those were at the core of the Army’s manual, and they’re still at the core of every good plan, AI or not. I mean, even with all this tech, if you mess up your building siting or get the turning radius for delivery trucks wrong, you pay the price in headaches down the road.

Ali Tehranchi

Yeah, and that’s why we obsess over data integrity in InQI. Let’s take setbacks, for example. Our platform pulls local codes, overlays zoning, and literally draws those setbacks to survey-level accuracy. It’s the same rigor—just automated. And, when it comes to topography, knowing those sweet-spot slopes, or when you’re hitting those 10-18% grades, the cost implications are massive. The AI calculates it instantly, but the design decisions are still all about long-term function and cost.

Unknown Speaker

You nailed it. And I want to circle back to drainage, which, as boring as it can sound, is the silent killer. The old manuals hammered home “positive drainage”—no water next to your foundation, period. If you don’t plan for that up front… hello, lawsuits. InQI uses live elevation data, so the platform flags those problem areas. But you still need to make judgment calls: Do you handle runoff with detention ponds, retention basins, or maybe natural bio-swales?

Ali Tehranchi

Totally. And let’s not forget about specialized vehicles—we’re not just designing for cars. Large trucks, garbage vehicles, fire access—all those turning radii, you want verified data. InQI can check it instantly, but the designer has to decide what makes sense on the ground. That’s where those “old rules” transfer perfectly to new tools—screening parking lots, managing visual impact, using the AI to check that, say, your berm hides the asphalt from a seated driver’s line of sight. Before, that was three hand drawings and a ruler. Now, it’s a quick 3D model check.

Unknown Speaker

That realism is crucial. And the environmental side—harvesting sunlight, blocking harsh winds, maximizing energy efficiency—those are design moves AI can suggest, but as professionals, we still have to weigh how they work in context. The drawing tools may have changed, but the principles haven’t. AI is a tool to actually enforce those standards—sometimes more rigorously than a human, actually—but the responsibility still lands on us to get it right.

Ali Tehranchi

That’s the crux, Laura. InQI gives you this structured, living data—always updated—and AI tools like InQuest that let you literally interrogate your site model. Need to know the buildable area? Zoning max? Just ask. But you still have to “close the loop,” as in, take that data and verify it on the ground. That’s why we built in integration with ProjectCAM—field data, measurements, and visuals all sync back straight to the model. You get this feedback cycle we never had before.

Unknown Speaker

But even with all that, there are things AI can’t see. Like, a hidden septic tank from 1952. Or a stream that only floods two weeks a year. Part of the challenge is recognizing that the “grunt work” can be automated, but those rare, high-stakes site unknowns—those still need boots on the ground. I don’t think that’s ever going away, honestly.

Ali Tehranchi

And that’s something I learned working in the field at Bay Scenery—there was always something the plan missed. Some tree that wasn’t on the map, or an unstable patch of soil you could only spot by actually walking the property. That’s why we built InQI to automate what we reliably can, and to free up the human expert. Now, instead of burning hours on data entry, teams can focus on the real unknowns—those unique site challenges—and get creative. The platform handles the repeatable stuff, and pros can dig deeper where judgment really matters.

Unknown Speaker

It’s a shift, but it’s a good one. We’re not losing discipline—we’re using smarter tools to make sure we can apply it where it counts. So all right, that’s a wrap for today! Next time, we’ll dig into how AI can help manage risk before you ever break ground. Ali, always fun talking shop with you.

Ali Tehranchi

Same here, Laura. Thanks for listening, everyone—can’t wait for the next one. Take care!