Ask David Garrigues, Kimley-Horn’s technology support services senior practice leader, how the firm originally used Bluebeam, and he doesn’t hesitate:
“We were probably like a lot of firms—using Bluebeam for the basics. We viewed it as a really good PDF tool, and that was it.”
Back in the early 2010s, adoption was informal and organic. Engineers and designers across the firm’s many offices preferred Bluebeam for marking up plans, but there were few shared standards. Templates, custom tools and more advanced features remained localized.
“It was grassroots,” Garrigues said. “Pockets of people were doing interesting things with it, but it wasn’t formalized.”
Even so, the seeds of possibility were there. A few teams used Studio Sessions for distributed reviews. Some experimented with batch tools and stamps. But without structure or support, the software’s broader potential remained untapped.
Today, Bluebeam is embedded across Kimley-Horn’s national operations, with nearly 8,000 subscriptions supporting collaboration across hundreds of active projects. The software has become an integral part of the firm’s digital infrastructure.
A Pandemic Turns the Tide
Everything changed in 2020.
“We had a deadline, and we had to get through a 600-page QA/QC set, with three offices, five engineers and no one in the same place,” Garrigues recalled. “Studio Sessions saved us.”
With offices closed and projects still moving, Bluebeam quickly became mission critical. Suddenly, QA/QC coordination across multiple cities was possible in a shared digital space of Bluebeam Studio, with real-time comments, version tracking and full transparency.
“We needed a digital platform we could trust; that we already had; and that could scale quickly,” added Mark Bishop, Kimley-Horn’s senior systems support analyst. “Bluebeam became that platform.”
Scaling with Intention
The firm’s Bluebeam evolution followed a natural, phased maturity curve:
- Early Use (2010s): PDF markup, ad hoc use, no formal support
- Organic Growth (2017–2019): Power users build templates, teams try Studio
- Pandemic Inflection Point (2020): Rapid expansion to support remote QA/QC
- Standardization (2021–2022): Training, shared tools, internal champions
- Strategic Partnership (2023–Today): Embedded support and joint planning
“Bluebeam’s Customer Support Manager is part of our team. He meets with us regularly, helps us identify areas for improvement and brings product feedback directly to engineering.”
David Garrigues
Senior Practice Leader, Technology Support Services
Kimley-Horn
From 2016 to 2024, Kimley-Horn increased its Bluebeam seats by more than 240% across its 100 offices. This growth happened organically, driven by team needs and peer influence rather than top-down mandates.
This rapid growth reflects a shift from ad hoc usage to a fully integrated collaboration platform supported by formal training and internal champions.
“The grassroots activities became more intentional,” Garrigues said. “Once we saw how critical Bluebeam was, we had to support it properly.”
That support included building out a network of internal Bluebeam champions, offering formal training and launching quarterly power-user meetings.
These meetings, hosted by Garrigues’ team, became an essential forum for knowledge-sharing and surfacing feedback from across the company.
Studio Sessions: The Game Changer
“It helped us realize Bluebeam could be more than a drawing tool,” Bishop said. “It could be a communication platform.”
For teams working across offices and disciplines—transportation, utilities, land development, traffic operations—real-time commenting and markup threads became the backbone of technical dialogue.
No more “version chaos.” No more “who said what.” Just shared visibility, in context, every time.
Training That Works—Because It’s Local
Kimley-Horn didn’t push change from the top down. Instead, it looked to those already helping their peers.
“We didn’t want to force it,” Bishop said. “We looked at who people already turned to for help—those became our Bluebeam champions.”
That peer-based model helped drive fast adoption without resistance. New features and workflows spread naturally, supported by internal leaders who understood each team’s specific needs.
The firm also integrated Bluebeam into its IT help desk, creating internal documentation, processes and ticketing support tailored to engineering workflows. Custom internal documentation and engineering-specific ticketing workflows made support scalable and effective.
“It’s not just a software we have. It’s something we truly support internally,” Garrigues said.
Focused on What Matters
One reason Bluebeam stuck: It didn’t try to be everything.
“We started looking at platforms that wanted to be your project manager, your design tool, your asset tracker,” Bishop said. “Bluebeam didn’t try to do that. It focused on being great at review and collaboration.”
That clarity of purpose resonated across disciplines. Instead of overwhelming users with bells and whistles, Bluebeam delivered a streamlined experience focused on what mattered most to engineers: precise markups, real-time feedback and intuitive tools that mirrored the way they already worked.
This made onboarding simpler, especially for interns and new hires. It also enabled Kimley-Horn to build consistent workflows across its specialties, while still leaving room for flexibility at the office level.
The result: Bluebeam wasn’t just easier to adopt—it was easier to trust. From conceptual planning to QA/QC and final delivery, the tool supported every stage of the project lifecycle without trying to replace the firm’s broader tech stack.
That laser focus turned Bluebeam into a foundational layer for collaboration, not just another software box to check.
A True Partner, Not Just a Vendor
As Kimley-Horn matured its use of Bluebeam, the relationship with the company itself evolved.
“We’ve had regular conversations with Bluebeam’s team about our needs, especially as we’ve scaled,” Garrigues said. “They’ve been really responsive.”
In fact, Bishop now serves on Bluebeam’s Customer Advisory Board (CAB)—a role that helps ensure enterprise users like Kimley-Horn have a voice in shaping future innovations.
That responsiveness translated into:
- Tailored training and onboarding
- Engineering-specific documentation
- Product roadmap discussions and feature feedback
- Dedicated support channels through Bluebeam’s Customer Success team
“It’s the difference between a product we use and a company we trust,” Bishop said.
“Bluebeam’s Customer Support Manager is part of our team,” Garrigues added. “He meets with us regularly, helps us identify areas for improvement and brings product feedback directly to engineering. That’s been key.”
Looking Ahead: Measuring What Matters
With strong adoption and support in place, Kimley-Horn is now shifting focus from rollout to optimization.
“There’s still so much we can do,” Garrigues said. “We’re looking at metrics. We want to understand how Bluebeam further improves efficiency—and how it helps us reduce risk.”
From dashboarding to digital deliverables, the firm is exploring how Bluebeam can fuel smarter decision-making and measurable ROI across client engagements.
“At some point, our use of Bluebeam stopped being about the software,” Garrigues said. “It became about how we work as a company.”
“It’s not the tools that change your company,” Bishop added. “It’s how your people choose to use them.”