AI for construction companies. Less paperwork between the bid and the closeout.
AI can level subcontractor bids, draft estimates from plans and past jobs, track RFIs and submittals, pull job cost reports together and send owners and homeowners regular project updates. Modern Thesis helps owners of construction companies put that to work with the project management and accounting software they already use.
At a glance
- Who it's for: owners, presidents and COOs of construction companies with $10M+ in annual revenue: home builders, commercial general contractors, concrete contractors and specialty subcontractors.
- What Modern Thesis does: AI strategy, change management, implementation and ongoing stewardship, from one team.
- How it starts: a strategic assessment that measures how the work moves today and ranks where AI pays first. See the assessment.
- Where: based in the Denver area, with an office at 11001 W 120th Ave, Ste 400, Broomfield, CO 80021. On site across the Denver metro and Colorado, and remote anywhere in the US.
- What it doesn't do: replace your project management or estimating software, give legal or engineering advice, or publish a rate card. Each engagement is priced to its scope after a first conversation.
Who is this page for?
This page is for the people who run a construction company and see their project managers and estimators buried in paperwork. Bids are due on short notice. RFIs and submittals pile up during the job. The job cost report is a week behind, so problems show up late. Owners and homeowners want updates the team doesn't have time to write. If that describes your company, the useful question is which of those costs you the most.
Where does AI help construction companies?
AI helps most with the documents that surround the build. Four areas are common across builders and contractors:
- Bid and estimate prep: read bid documents, level subcontractor bids and draft estimates from plans and past jobs.
- RFIs and submittals: log, route, track and draft responses, with the relevant drawings and specs attached.
- Job costing and reporting: pull cost, commitments and progress together each week and flag jobs drifting from budget.
- Project updates: turn daily reports and photos into regular updates for owners, architects and homeowners.
Which parts of construction does this cover?
The work differs by type of company, so each has its own page: residential and home builders, commercial general contractors, concrete contractors, including GPR scanning and coring, and specialty and finishing subcontractors. These pages explain how AI applies to each. They are not a claim that we specialize in any of them.
What does Modern Thesis do for a construction company?
Modern Thesis covers four disciplines with one team. In strategy, Jim Coleman and the team map how bids, projects and money move through your company. In people, we work with project managers, estimators and superintendents on training and incentives, because tools the field doesn't trust don't get used. In implementation, our AI specialists and Forward Deployed Engineers build the workflows and connect them to your project management, estimating and accounting systems. In stewardship, we stay to check accuracy and report the return against the baseline.
How does an engagement start?
Every engagement starts with a strategic assessment. We sit with the people who do the work, map how it moves through the company today, and measure a baseline on the workflows that matter most: estimator hours per bid, RFI and submittal turnaround, how late the job cost report runs, project manager hours per job and change order cycle time. Then we rank the opportunities by return and define the first build. If AI won't pay for itself somewhere in your business, we'll tell you.
When is something else the better choice?
If your project management platform's own AI features cover what you need, use them. If one estimating tool solves your bottleneck, buy it. An outside team earns its cost when the work crosses several systems and has to keep running through every project. Our comparison of an AI agency and an AI partner covers when a one-off build is enough.
How Modern Thesis handles this
We put AI to work inside xFusion, the 70-person company Jim co-founded, and then for several of its clients. We start where project managers lose the most hours, and we measure it. Ongoing stewardship has no set end date, and you own your data, accounts, code and documentation throughout.
Questions
Where should a construction company start with AI?
Usually where project managers lose the most hours to paperwork: bids, RFIs and submittals, or job cost reporting. Each is easy to measure in hours per project and response times, and each repeats on every job. The assessment picks the one that pays first for your company. Sometimes it's estimating, sometimes it's the weekly owner report.
Will AI work with Procore or our project management software?
It should work alongside it. Keep the platform your project teams know. Most construction software has ways to read and write data, and many vendors now ship their own AI features. We build around what you run and connect the pieces it doesn't cover, such as email, accounting and your estimating spreadsheets.
Can AI read construction drawings?
It can do useful first passes on clear drawings and specifications: finding relevant sections, counting some items and comparing a submittal against the spec. It is not a substitute for an estimator or a project engineer. We set it up so a person checks every quantity and every answer that goes out.
Does Modern Thesis specialize in construction?
No, and we don't claim to. These pages explain how AI applies to construction work. What we bring is a method: map how work really moves, measure it, build what pays first and stay to keep it working.