Building Tools, Enabling Teams: Tushar Nagananda on Innovation at Entuitive

After several years honing his expertise as a Senior Engineer, Tushar Nagananda has taken on a new challenge as an Innovation Specialist. His transition reflects a growing passion for creative problem-solving and cross-disciplinary collaboration. We spoke with Tushar to learn more about his journey and what excites him most about this new role.

ENtuitive: Thanks for chatting with us, Tushar! Can you tell us about when you started at Entuitive?

I joined Entuitive in the fall of 2019. At the time, Entuitive was growing rapidly, and I was excited to be part of that journey. Back then, we were around 100 people. Now we’re over 380 across five offices. Looking back, it’s kind of wild. About three months after I started, COVID hit. It was an adjustment for everyone, but Entuitive’s agility and strong tech infrastructure made the shift to remote work smooth.

EN: Thanks for chatting with us, Tushar! Can you tell us about when you started at Entuitive? I started out working on high-rise towers with Jonathan Hendricks and Moustafa Mohamed, focusing on structural steel and concrete design. Early exposure to more complex geometries and architectural features naturally led me toward computational design. A turning point was working on the 700 University Pavilion, where I learned to utilize Rhino and Grasshopper. That experience opened new ways of thinking about design problems and how digital tools can support more efficient and flexible workflows. From there, I began to see how computational approaches could be applied more broadly across projects. All those skills culminated in Etobicoke Civic Centre which was a project so large that without automated workflows, delivery would have been chaotic.

Concept of 700 University Pavillion

• 

• 

Rendering courtesy of Adamson Associates Architects, Henning Larsen and PMA Landscape Architects.

Parametric Feature Staircase for Etobicoke Civic Centre.

EN: What motivated your decision to join the Ennovation team?

As a project engineer, you can make a meaningful contribution to a single project or team. Through digital tool development and process design, you have the opportunity to support hundreds of people across the firm. My focus now is on identifying opportunities to streamline workflows, reduce repetitive tasks, and enable more time to be spent on design and problem-solving. That includes building web-based tools, automating processes, and helping embed digital thinking into everyday practice. What’s most rewarding is seeing these tools used across multiple repeated projects, where small efficiencies can add up to significant gains.

EN: Are you still involved in engineering project work?

Yes, but with a different lens. I work closely with project teams to understand where friction exists and where digital tools can make a difference. Sometimes that involves installing a design process from scratch and teaching it. Other times that means interviewing, listening, and educating team members on automation potential. That feedback loop is essential. It ensures that the solutions we develop are grounded in real project needs and can be adopted seamlessly by teams.

Rendering of the Willows, courtesy of Truman Homes.

EN: How common are dedicated innovation roles across the industry? They’re still relatively uncommon, particularly in small to mid-size firms. Innovation work is often done alongside project delivery or supported externally. There’s real value in having in-house expertise that understands how teams work and can develop tailored solutions. It allows for a more integrated approach to digital strategy, rather than one-off tools or disconnected initiatives. People-focused product management will always outperform outside influence in our field.

EN: Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of your work? I’m excited about building a more connected digital ecosystem across the firm. As we continue to develop tools and refine processes, there’s an opportunity to create a more consistent and efficient experience for our teams. Ultimately, that translates into better project outcomes and more time spent on the parts of the work that matter most. With the advent of AI, there is a massive opportunity to interconnect a lot of our work and take stress off design teams.

Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us, Tushar. We’re looking forward to seeing what you continue to build at Entuitive. If you have any questions, please reach out to Tushar.