Stratus Launches Stratus Labs, Its AI and Innovation Arm, Debuting New Experiments at Innovate 2026
Igniting fast and lasting innovation with AI, partnering directly with customers to build agentic tools on top of Stratus workflow data
LARKSPUR, Colo., Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratus, the digital fabrication platform trusted by contractors across piping & plumbing, sheet metal, and electrical trades, today announced Stratus Labs, its new AI and innovation arm, alongside the release of its first set of experiments to customers: agentic spooling capabilities and an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server connection. The announcement was made at Innovate 2026, an annual MEP event hosted by Stratus, held this year in Seattle from August 18–20.
Stratus Labs formalizes a way of working the company has followed since its founding: build quickly, in partnership with customers. As AI and agentic tooling have made rapid iteration faster than ever, Stratus is investing in a dedicated team and process to keep building at the pace the technology now allows. The team is led by Jonathan Umscheid, the company's co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer, who has been with Stratus since day one.
"AI is changing how fast software can move," said Jake Olsen, CEO of Stratus. "We built Stratus Labs to match that pace, putting real data intelligence and agentic workflows directly into customers' hands. They can test those tools, iterate on them, and keep building with us the same way they always have."
Agentic Spooling, the first collection of experimental tools to come out of Stratus Labs, brings together three capabilities that automate spooling and assembly work across trades:
- Assembly Matcher – Clones existing modeled assemblies - e.g. matching floors of a high-rise.
- Assembly Designer – Applies size/weight constraints; breakpoint edits create new assemblies.
- Assembly Agent – AI/ML trained on your models to predict new assemblies.
The first two automate steps that previously required manual work. Assembly Agent goes further, predicting new assemblies directly rather than automating a manual step.
Alongside Stratus Labs, the company also announced its Big Data MCP Server, an experiment that gives AI tools direct access to Stratus's Big Data, so customers and partners can build their own workflows on top of it.
Each capability can be accessed and used by Stratus customers in an experimental environment today, upon request, and attendees at Innovate 2026 will be able to preview results firsthand with their own models and data.
"This is our flag in the ground," said Jonathan Umscheid, Chief Innovation Officer and co-founder of Stratus. "We wanted the first thing people see out of Stratus Labs to be real, usable value today — not a roadmap promise. Agentic Spooling and our Big Data MCP Server are exactly that."
New Stratus Labs experiments are constantly releasing to customers, with over 10 value-adding new features they can opt into today simply by signing up. Learn more about Stratus Labs at labs.stratus.build.
About Stratus
Stratus has always operated by building fast with our customers. Stratus Labs continues that tradition as our formal AI and innovation arm, partnering directly with customers to turn real workflow data into agentic tools. For more information, please visit www.stratus.build.
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SOURCE Stratus
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