Andy Burrows — The Trades Coach — says it seems that everyone these days is talking “AI” and the influence it is having on many businesses. He presents some practical ideas to implement AI into your company’s processes.
When you hear of AI you might think it’s all complicated coding or robots on site. The good news is you don’t need to be tech-savvy to get practical value out of AI tools right now.
The trick is to focus on where they can save you time, money and mistakes in your day-to-day operations.
So, where can you start to use AI tools to improve efficiency? Here’s some practical ideas to introduce AI into a small-to-mid-sized construction company like yours:
Office/admin time savers
• Quoting and emails: AI tools such as ChatGPT or Xero add-ons can draft professional quote letters, proposal templates, or follow-up emails in minutes instead of you spending an evening doing it.
• Policies and documents: Health and Safety policies, subcontractor agreements, or client information sheets can be quickly drafted — then you just adjust to suit New Zealand regulations or your unique situation.
• Meeting notes: Record site meetings on your phone and use AI transcription to auto-create minutes and action lists.
Financial visibility
• Cash flow forecasts: Some AI-powered add-ons for Xero/QuickBooks can automatically pull data and forecast your cash position so you can see when money will be tight (instead of running blind).
• Job pricing and back-costing: AI can analyse material and labour costs across projects to spot where you’re losing margin. This helps tighten up estimating.
Marketing and sales
• Web site and social posts: AI can draft blogs, Facebook posts, or newsletters that educate home owners. You can then tweak them to sound like you.
• Ad campaigns: AI-powered ad managers (Google, Meta) now automatically optimise campaigns so you don’t need an expensive marketing agency.
• Lead nurture: Tools such as Mailchimp or HubSpot (with AI built in) can send automated follow-up emails to prospects who’ve enquired but gone quiet.
Operations and projects
• Scheduling: AI-enabled project management tools such as Buildxact or even MS Project with AI assistants can suggest better sequencing, or flag clashes in your schedule.
• Site safety and quality: AI photo apps can scan site photos and flag hazards or quality issues (useful if you manage multiple sites).
• Document search: Instead of digging through folders, AI search tools let you instantly find plans, contracts, or supplier pricing.
People and training
• Onboarding: AI can build simple training guides, toolbox talk cards, or checklists in plain English for apprentices or new staff.
• Recruitment: AI can screen CVs, draft job ads, or even generate interview questions so you hire better and faster.
Example: Meeting notes and action items
This can be one of the “low-hanging fruit” wins. Having accurate notes plus action items saves you chasing people (or forgetting key points).
Here are some AI meeting/notetaker tools you should test. Some have free tiers so you can trial without commitment.
• Otter.ai: Great for design meetings, client consults, subcontractor coordination.
• Jamie.ai: Cleaner privacy controls, no visible “bot” in meetings.
• Zoom AI Companion: If you already use Zoom Pro/Business, this can summarise meetings and generate follow-ups.
Here’s how you might embed one of these tools into your meeting workflow:
Before the meeting:
• Put in the agenda (topics, desired outcomes).
• Schedule the meeting using Zoom/Google Meet (whatever you use).
• Inform participants that the meeting will be recorded (for notes).
During the meeting:
• The AI notetaker listens/records.
• Use the agenda structure — eg “Topic A”, “Topic B”, so the AI has cues.
• Ask for “confirm action items” or “summarise” at the end.
After the meeting:
• The tool produces a transcript plus summary plus action items.
• Review and clean up any
mis-transcribed items.
• Distribute summary plus action list to attendees.
• Enter actions into your project software (or tracker).
Follow up:
• At the next meeting, review last meeting’s action list.
• Link decisions/summaries into your job folder so people can refer back.
I don’t see the day coming any time soon that AI will take over the role of a builder in producing a building.
However, I do see the day that builders who are more efficient and automate parts of their back-office operation will dominate the marketplace. That day is pretty much here now. Time to dip your toes into the AI pond, if you haven’t already done so.
• For more business tips, visit www.tradescoach.co.nz.
