AI for commercial general contractors. Project managers back on the project.

At a glance

• Who it's for: owners, presidents, COOs and operations leaders of commercial general contractors and construction managers. Usually $10M+ in annual revenue and no CTO.
• 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 estimating or project management software, give legal or engineering advice, or publish a rate card. Each engagement is priced to its scope after a first conversation.

What makes AI different for a commercial GC?

Commercial general contracting is a document business wrapped around a construction business. A single project can generate hundreds of RFIs and submittals, each with a deadline and a chain of reviewers. Bids require leveling dozens of subcontractor proposals with different exclusions. Monthly pay applications, often on AIA G702 and G703 forms, need backup from every sub. Closeout requires warranties, O&M manuals and as-builts from everyone. Project managers spend much of their week on this, and it's work AI handles well.

Where does AI help?

These are examples of what can be built, not past results:

• Level subcontractor bids by scope, flagging exclusions, qualifications and gaps for the estimator.
• Log RFIs and submittals, attach the relevant drawings and specification sections and track each one through review.
• Check a submittal against the specification and flag deviations for the project engineer.
• Gather pay application backup from subcontractors, check it against the schedule of values and flag what's missing.
• Assemble closeout packages (warranties, O&M manuals, attic stock lists) and chase what's still outstanding.

How does AI help with job cost reporting?

It closes the gap between the field and the books. Job cost reports often run late because the data sits in different places: accounting, commitments, change orders and the project manager's forecast. AI can pull these together weekly, compare them with the budget and progress and draft a short note on the jobs drifting. The project manager confirms the forecast. Problems show up weeks sooner.

What does Modern Thesis do here?

Modern Thesis covers four disciplines with one team. In strategy, Jim Coleman and the team map how bids, jobs and paperwork move through your company. In people, we work with estimators, project managers and foremen on training and incentives, so they use what gets built. In implementation, our AI specialists and Forward Deployed Engineers build the workflows and connect them to the software you already run. 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, pay application prep time, how late job cost reports run and closeout duration. 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 AI features handle RFIs and submittals well, use them. If bid volume is low, the assessment may point to job cost reporting or closeout instead. An outside team earns its cost when the work crosses several systems and has to keep running on every job. 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 the paperwork costs you the most, and we measure it. Ongoing stewardship has no set end date, and you own your data, accounts, code and documentation throughout.