Operational Efficiency: AI?

Lots of us are cynical (or even snarky) about the potentially “transformative” impact of AI on our businesses, especially if we’ve ever struggled with clumsy software, poorly built systems, or tech solutions of any kind that aren’t what they’re cracked up to be. Nonetheless, artificial intelligence is upon us, and wise construction business owners are leveraging it for operational efficiencies. Their advice: don’t get left behind.

What Can Humans Do Uniquely and Best?

Weekends spent reconciling budgets or wrangling payroll intricacies, were not exactly what most of us envisioned when we set out to run a construction business. That’s why at For Construction Pros, venture capitalist, KP Reddy encourages builders to stop waxing cynical about whether or not AI will ever pour concrete, and instead use it to gain badly needed operational efficiencies, so that our human talents can get put to the best possible uses:

• Let me be direct about what AI can and cannot do. It cannot replicate the judgment of an experienced concrete superintendent who knows that today’s humidity and temperature combination means adjusting the mix design. It cannot build the relationship with a ready-mix supplier that gets you priority scheduling…. It cannot mentor a young finisher into becoming a craftsman. These are human capabilities rooted in experience, intuition, and relationship — exactly the intangibles that separate good…contractors from great ones.

• What AI can do is handle the operational tasks that consume time without creating value. Consider estimating. An experienced estimator brings judgment about productivity rates, site conditions, and crew capabilities that no software can replicate. But that same estimator might spend hours performing takeoffs, organizing subcontractor quotes, and formatting proposals. AI tools can now compress those hours into minutes, freeing the estimator to focus on the judgment calls that actually determine whether you win profitable work.

Going forward, thriving construction business owners will be those who have figured out how to balance what AI can do with what people do uniquely and best, and encourage their workers to do the same. As Allyson Sherrier observes, “The future is about using AI to take some weight off — not to take over.” People skills, for example, continue to be necessary in the AI era when it comes time to:

• Make Gut-Check Calls Mid-Task

…. Whether it’s feeling a piece of equipment strain before a gauge shows it, eyeballing a slab and knowing it needs another pass, or choosing to adjust a task based on conditions that aren’t in the plan — those snap decisions are built on hard-earned knowledge. AI can assist, but it can’t match the nuance of field sense.

• Handle On-the-Fly Field Fixes

Construction rarely goes exactly to plan. And when things go sideways, it’s not a software update that saves the day — it’s a creative fix with what’s on hand. AI doesn’t know how to troubleshoot breakdowns or adjust a piece of equipment to keep the job moving. It can’t grab tools, improvise a patch with leftover materials, or reroute a hydraulic line when things go sideways. Improvisation is an art — and the best field crews are masters.

Toward successfully adopting AI tools to reduce operational grinds and gain more time for “strategic decisions, relationship building, and craft development,” pros suggest starting with one time-consuming operational task “that doesn’t require field judgment,” such as something related to estimating, job costing, or documentation workflow, finding a tool that specifically addresses it, and assessing whether it actually saves time that can be put to something more valuable, keeping in mind: “The goal is to remove operational friction so you can focus on the work that builds your business: craft development, relationship building, and the problem-solving that separates you from competitors.”

Teamwork Still Makes The Dream Work

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