Shaped from inside architecture, inside delivery, inside coordination pressure, and inside the conviction that AEC deserves better than "good enough."
Years of Industry Experience
Global Projects Delivered
Manual Hours Saved
BIM Assets Created
GIRIH X was not built from the outside looking in. It was shaped from inside architecture, inside delivery, inside documentation, inside BIM, inside coordination pressure, inside rework, and inside the constant firefighting that too many teams have been forced to accept as normal.
It comes from lived industry experience, and from a long-held conviction that AEC has remained stuck in "good enough" ways of designing and delivering, even as technology has moved rapidly forward around it.
Technology evolved. Design methods barely did. Delivery systems improved in fragments, but the wider AEC process remained tied to habits that were decades old: reactive, inefficient and often unnecessarily manual.
Systems, not servicesScalable solutions that grow with the organisation
GIRIH X was born from the belief that the built environment can move properly into the future when current-era technology is used with intent, and when new technologies are created where the industry still falls short.
Not as a slogan, but as an operating principle: connecting design authorship, delivery intelligence, automation, AI, digital fabrication, BIM systems and bespoke toolmaking into something coherent, practical and scalable.
Automating the BIM manager, compliance checks, drawing production and model-based workflows
Federation, clash detection, sequencing and construction-facing digital engineering
Revit families, 3D configurators, AR experiences and web-ready assets for manufacturers
Rationalisation, fabrication-ready outputs and cost optimisation for ambitious forms
Websites, configurators, AI agents and BIM-connected platforms that operationalise the business
From architecture studios in Dubai and Melbourne to building an applied innovation studio for AEC.
50+ projects shipped across AEC and manufacturing, strategic partnerships with global industry leaders, proprietary SaaS in active development, bespoke enterprise training programmes, and active industry-academia collaborations mentoring the next generation of computational practitioners.
Ali & Mark launch GIRIH X: an applied innovation studio for AEC & manufacturing
Ali leads Construction Automation R&D; Mark leads BIM coordination on NextDC & Microsoft data centres; 18,000+ hours saved on North East Link
Ali joins Resolve Insight as Computational Design Lead; Ali begins teaching at Swinburne
FastCompany Data-Driven Design Award for Melbourne Connect facade automation
Ali transfers to Woods Bagot Melbourne; leads facade & computational design on Melbourne Connect
Early experiments in parametric design and scripting: exploring Grasshopper, Dynamo, and Python to push beyond manual workflows
Ali starts at Woods Bagot Dubai. Major projects across Middle East: City Walk, Dubai Hills, Qatar Metro, Bluewaters Dubai Eye
Ali leading award-winning research at the University of Sharjah ; Mark begins industry practice at Innovative Space Design Melbourne
We build intelligent digital systems defined by scalability. Engineered for what's next, to evolve as you do. We don't wait for change; we are the driving force behind it.
We believe in the intentional pursuit of understanding. We discover your 'X'. Through deliberate curiosity, we build systems grounded in insight and tailored for you.
We believe in sharing knowledge. We solve immediate challenges while equipping the industry to solve them long-term. Everyone in the AEC industry is invited to take part.
We are committed to making advanced and applied R&D within reach for everyone. Because that's how we build a stronger AEC industry.
Our voice reflects who we are: practitioners first, innovators always.
Lead with why. Ask incisive questions, be open to unknown possibilities, be enthusiastic in suggesting change and finding a better way.
We're not afraid to challenge thinking to find a better solution. We are specific, talk about the end goal, and offer solutions to existing problems.
We speak the 'plain language' of the industry because we've lived it. We're the calm person in the room who knows exactly how to get to the finish line.
Make the 'impossible' feel possible and instil the confidence to follow our lead. We sound welcoming, generous and encouraging in sharing our vision.
Today, GIRIH X reflects the combination of both founders. Ali brings the strategic, computational and R&D mindset shaped by international design leadership, automation and innovation. Mark brings delivery depth, BIM rigour, coordination thinking and the practical realities of project documentation and model-based workflows.
Together, they built GIRIH X as a studio that helps ambitious organisations solve hard AEC problems with clarity, technical depth and outcomes that last.
It is a studio built by people who know the rough edges of the work firsthand, and who also know the unrealised potential sitting underneath it: people who have seen talented teams lose time to fragmented systems, repeated checking, weak handovers and coordination noise.
People who have spent years pushing beyond those conditions through better workflows, better tools, better systems and better thinking.
Director of Design & Construction Automation
Architect, computational design leader and applied R&D strategist with international experience across the Middle East and Australia. His background spans architecture, masterplanning, BIM, digital engineering, automation and complex design systems, shaped through major roles at Woods Bagot, Resolve Insight and in academia.
Across more than 70 global projects and multiple innovation initiatives, Ali has consistently worked at the intersection of design and technology, developing smarter ways to deliver ambitious work through deeper technical thinking, purposeful systems and practical innovation.
Director of BIM & Digital Engineering
Digital engineering and BIM delivery leader with a strong grounding in architecture, documentation, coordination and model-based workflows. His experience spans architectural practice, BIM content ecosystems, digital engineering and project delivery across practice studios, Resolve Insight, HDR and GIRIH X.
He brings practical depth in BIM management, coordination, federation, clash detection, sequencing, BIM library development and construction-facing workflows: helping ensure that GIRIH X's ideas are not only innovative, but robust, grounded and deliverable.
Never start with a solution. Always start by understanding the problem.
Look at your workflow first. Surface the gaps, friction and unknowns slowing your team down
Shape a system around how your team actually works: not off-the-shelf, but purpose-built
Engineer workflows, tools and automation that solve the real problem
Roll it out, train the team, and grow the system across future projects
The ambition reaches beyond a single deliverable. GIRIH X was built on the belief that better systems can create impact at every level: first on the project, then across the team, then through the firm, and ultimately across the industry itself.
At its core, GIRIH X is about refusing to accept that "good enough" is the limit.
Who founded GIRIH X, where we operate, the standards we work to, and where the name comes from.
GIRIH X was founded by Ali Tehami and Mark Datiles, combining architecture, BIM management, computational design and software engineering experience across Australian and international AEC programmes. The studio was incorporated in Australia in 2023.
Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. Engagements run across Australia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. The studio operates bilingually in English and Arabic and supports right-to-left interfaces on every digital product.
Information management is aligned to ISO 19650. Open data exchange follows buildingSMART IFC and openBIM principles. Australian programmes additionally respect the National Construction Code where applicable, and product manufacturing engagements draw on advanced manufacturing research from bodies like NIST.
AI is an accelerator inside a governed system, not a replacement for it. We deploy AI agents for compliance checking, document processing and knowledge search, always with audit trails, human-in-the-loop review and clear data ownership terms. AI capabilities are layered onto existing automation and information management infrastructure, not bolted on as a standalone product.
Girih is the Islamic geometric pattern system: a small set of rules that generates infinite, buildable complexity. The X marks where the rules meet execution. The name reflects the studio's belief that better operating systems, not heroic individual effort, are what produce repeatable excellence in built-environment work.
Ready to see what's possible?