How roofing contractors are putting AI to work

Artificial intelligence. 

Everyone is talking, posting, and thinking about it. But how do you wade through the hype and evaluate it for your business? 

I caught up with a few roofing contractors at ServiceTitan’s Pantheon conference early this month to learn how they’re implementing the technology today — and their wishlists for the future. 

What’s happening: Several contractors have built their own apps, automations, or dashboards using tools like ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude. 

• One contractor “vibecoded” an app that tracked bourbon supply and demand in his home state of North Carolina. 
• Then he took on a much more ambitious project: A universal pricebook to track all vendor and materials costs, an “exhaustive” process “with over half a million unique SKUs.”
• “I would recommend to anybody if you’re interested in coding in AI, start with something fun. I did it in [ChatGPT]… I had to really learn how to collaborate with it,” he said, pointing to the bourbon app as his first taste of AI success.

The big picture: Based on my conversations, the biggest problem contractors hope to solve is the mismatch between a great sales team — light on details and heavy on charm — and the production team, which makes the company run. 

• “We’re specifically looking to let the tool free up salespeople,” said a representative for Florida-based Arry’s Roofing. 
• “They can just focus on what they do really well: Closing deals, hunting, and killing, and [AI] helps prepare all the paperwork, all the logistics, and everything downstream, so then production is happy … and it brings unity,” he added.

Yes, but: A few contractors want everyone to slow their roll on AI.

• “I have concern[s] with people just creating their own tools and then writing things, and then you just get more and more ideas … then one day you wake up, and everything is in Chinese and all your files are locked,” said another representative for Arry’s, who the company hired because of his computer science background.
• “When they bring up AI, they bring it up as, like, ‘I could replace you and have five AI agents do the entire office’s job.’ And I have a problem with that, because I think if I’m gonna give someone AI, I should be able to empower them and make one person work like five people. Not make a team of five people replaced by AI,” he added.

Go deeper: Another Florida roofing contractor uses the voice capabilities of ChatGPT to challenge his sales team. 

• “I try to have our sales guys break the AI or sell it. [Then ask it], ‘Be real with me, tell me where I was weak, what I could’ve done better.’ Even the top guys get stumped, and it’s pretty cool to see. It’s interactive, and everybody’s laughing and joking afterwards.”

Between the lines: Still, AI implementation can be polarizing. Older employees may struggle with the tech, and younger employees may be suspicious. Contractors agreed that the secret is in motivation. 

• “We have a 30-year-old sales guy. He does not want anything to do with AI,” said Megan Harcrow of Alabama-based Bluewater Exteriors. “So we have to take a different approach and really show him, ‘Hey, this is gonna be better for you. It’s gonna make your life easier or make you more money, and that’s how we’re able to motivate him.”

What we’re watching: One contractor said he just wants AI to “simplify” his business.

• “I’m taking off roofs and putting on roofs. It should not be so hard. I shouldn’t have to hire people just to run my IT platform. It just seems counterintuitive to me.”