The Hottest of All Time

By Luke Carothers 

Every year, the Hot Firm list gives us a snapshot of growth for the AEC industry.  It highlights the firms that are, for that moment, moving faster than the rest of the industry.  But snapshots don’t always show us the full picture of growth.  Instead of looking at a single year, we stepped back and looked at the bigger picture—pulling the top twenty Hot Firm winners from each of the past ten years and tracking how often firms show up, and where they land when they do. 

That changes the conversation pretty quickly because, once you look across a decade, the list stops feeling like a collection of one-time standouts.  You start to see patterns.  A few firms rise to the top more than once.  Others show up year after year, not always at number one, but consistently in the mix. 

It’s a different way of looking at the same data.  From this view, hot starts to mean something more than a single year of growth.  It starts to look like something a firm can actually build. 

Not All Hot Firms are Built the Same 

Once you start looking at the data across multiple years, patterns begin to take shape.  Not just in who shows up, but in how they show up.  Some firms hit the top more than once.  These are the firms that aren’t just growing fast.  They’re growing at a remarkable rate, and that kind of performance is hard to replicate.  When it does happen, it points to something deeper than momentum.  These are the firms that have figured out how to scale growth in a way that holds, whether through strategy, structure, or a combination of both. 

Then there’s another group that looks different.  They may not always be at the very top of the list, but they’re consistently in the top twenty.  Year after year, they show up somewhere on the list.  Over time, that kind of consistency starts to stand out just as much as a first-place finish. 

And then there are the firms that appear once or twice.  A strong year, a surge of growth, and then they’re gone.  This doesn’t make their performance any less real or significant, but it does highlight how difficult it is to sustain growth.  Growth at that level can be driven by timing, a major project, or a specific market condition.  The challenge is turning that moment into something repeatable. 

All three show up in the data, but they tell very different stories about what growth actually looks like. 

Most First Place Finishes Over the Last Decade: 

• UES (4) 

• NV5 (4) 

Winning is Rare.  Staying is Harder. 

When you lay out Hot Firm winners out over a full decade, one thing becomes clear quickly.  A lot of firms make the list, but fewer make it back.  There are plenty of one-time appearances.  A strong year, a surge of growth, and a well-earned spot in the top twenty.  But when you look for repeat appearances, the list narrows.  And when you look for firms that consistently land near the top, it narrows even further. 

Take firms like UES and NV5.  Both show up with multiple first-place finishes over the period.  That’s not just growth.  That’s the ability to reach the top more than once under different conditions, and it signals real repeatability. 

Most Top Twenty Finishes Over The Last Decade: 

• Westwood Professional Services (8) 

• LJA (8) 

• IPS (6) 

• VLK (6) 

• Salas O’Brien (6) 

There’s another group that tells a different story.  Firms like VLK, Westwood Professional Services, and LJA appear across a range of positions in the top twenty, but they’re almost always there.  They’re demonstratively consistent, which shifts the way we think about performance. 

Some firms are defined by peak moments.  Others by persistence.  And the two don’t always overlaps. 

What This Means for AEC Firms Today 

There’s a natural focus on speed when it comes to growth.  How fast can a firm rise?  How high can it climb?  The data, however, points to something more important.  Growth at this level isn’t just about momentum.  It’s about what happens after it. 

The middle of the top twenty is where that reality shows up. It’s where firms cycle in and out.  It’s where strong years are tested, and where growth either starts to hold or begins to fade. And that’s the shift. 

The firms that continue to show up—whether at the top or somewhere in the mix—arent just chasing growth.  They’ve built systems and structures that can support it.  Leadership, culture, strategy—whatever form it takes, it allows them to navigate change without losing traction. 

If you think your firm is building that kind of momentum, the 2026 Hot Firm Award is your chance to put it on the map. 

source https://zweiglist.com/the-hottest-of-all-time/