The Briefing · For contractors
What AI can and can't do for a contracting business: general contractors, subcontractors, and the trades. One real job per piece, including when not to bother.
For the systems these businesses run and where an agent fits, see the Library: General contracting · Commercial subcontracting · HVAC, plumbing and electrical.
Reorganize and the job disappears
Austin's electric utility dropped a separate form and reads the permit application instead. The same move works on the forms you send your subs.
Buy this instead of hiring
Checking a supply-house invoice is three questions, and many offices skip the price. What a new FlexTecs module checks, and what it leaves to you.
Buy this instead of hiring
Xero's app for Google Gemini answers questions about cash, profit and who owes you. What that covers, what it cannot see, and why daily bookkeeping matters more.
Reorganize and the job disappears
A distributor took over one customer's supply room and the counting and reordering stopped being the customer's job. What that move means for a contractor's shop and truck stock.
Nothing off the shelf fits
Tool trackers see more of the jobsite, but knowing who has a missing tool means joining location to the crew schedule. When to build it.
Nothing off the shelf fits
As of October 2026, Business Central can bundle and email the monthly financial reports. It cannot touch the WIP schedule your bank wants, and here is why.
Reorganize and the job disappears
Minneapolis dropped plan review for flat roofs, siding and replacement windows. The same move works on the approvals inside your own company.