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Dive Brief:
- Providence, Rhode Island-based contractor Gilbane Building Co. is banking on artificial intelligence, signing a deal with tech firm Trunk Tools to deploy its AI chatbot to workplaces across the country , according to a September 10 press release.
- Gilbane will scale the platform starting with ten projects representing its market sector portfolio, which includes healthcare, commercial, sports and entertainment and institutional projects, according to the statement.
- With the addition of Trunk Tools on more projects, Gilbane sees an opportunity to streamline operations, improve efficiency and increase productivity, according to the release.
Diving knowledge:
The move marks the latest volley in a rapidly heating up arms race among major contractors to harness AI. At the beginning of this year, Balfour Beatty, based in London i Skanska based in Sweden showed off their own AI tools to quickly collect and present project data to field teams.
Gilbane previously used TrunkText chat from New York’s Trunk Tools track nearly 21,000 documents through its work at the Baird Center in Milwaukee, which the contractor completed on a fast-track schedule in May 2024.
“We partnered with Trunk Tools for their innovative approach to document management and productivity improvement,” said Karen Higgins-Carter, chief information and digital officer at Gilbane. “We believe AI can transform our operations by reorienting the work of our teams into higher value, more strategic tasks.”
For Trunk Tools, which launched in 2021 with seed funding from Fifth Wall and Foundation Capitalthe win represents a huge advantage: a domestic contractor that can rapidly test and scale its technology while providing a showcase for other builders interested in deploying their own AI pilots.
“This partnership highlights our mutual commitment to empowering construction workers with tools that make them more productive, reduce labor by 65% and deliver exceptional value to our customers,” said Sarah Buchner, Founder and CEO of Trunk Tools, in the statement.
Project data analysis
The Trunk Tools platform allows builders to upload all their documents to the service, including RFIs, contracts and change orders. Once there, users can take advantage of TrunkText’s AI capabilities, acting as an information gopher to find answers to builders’ project questions.
At the Baird Center, for example, Gilbane staff used it to obtain specification information on duct work in a large chimney. The response they received helped them avoid costly work and wasted time.
AI is entering construction at a time when people in all industries are trying to figure out how to best use the technology. Contractors all over the world are publication of reports on the subjectexperimenting with new applications and internal technologiesi using solutions from other startups at their workplaces.
“We look forward to this national launch and seeing how TrunkText can be used in other projects to save time and improve work processes for our team members,” said Kelly Benedict, chief innovation and transformation officer at Gilbane, in an email with Construction Dive. “Our partnership with Trunk Tools has been very positive in terms of sharing and providing feedback and insights to leverage TrunkText to take its usage to the next level.”
