A commercial construction bid rests on drawings, addenda, subcontractor proposals, emails, and historical pricing. In most organizations, all of this still gets assembled and reviewed by hand across separate software, folders, and spreadsheets. One missed line item can take a project’s margin with it.
Vision Builders is a RapidCanvas video series featuring business leaders who are out in front on AI transformation. In this episode, we go inside commercial construction and the value AI brings to estimating, one of the most detail-heavy jobs in the industry.
Brie Bearden is Estimating Lead at RJB Contracting, a leading contractor that has planned, built, and maintained stores and warehouses since 1992. RJB works across forty-eight states for grocery, retail, quick-service restaurant, warehouse, and healthcare clients. Brie got her start in construction right out of college in the wind turbine industry and has spent close to twenty years building deep expertise in the challenges of estimation.
But Brie is far more than an estimator. She likes building businesses and processes, and she spends time at home thinking about how to make the work better. At RJB, she got the rare chance to build an estimating operation from a clean slate, and she now serves as the liaison between the estimating team and the developers who build its tools.
Interviewer Jenny Moshea is AI Advisor and AEC Industry Champion - Enterprise AI Solutions at RapidCanvas. She works with enterprise leaders to turn AI from an interesting idea into something practical and tied to real business value. She has extensive experience as an operations leader and as a key advisor to CIOs on how to leverage AI across organizations.
These two sat down to discuss what AI can do for construction estimators and the companies that depend on winning profitable work. Here’s just some of what you’ll learn from this video:
Where an estimator’s time goes
Estimators are paid for judgment about scope, risk, and strategy, yet much of their week disappears into organizing documents and chasing information. AI can take on a large share of that administrative load by organizing files, flagging gaps, and surfacing what needs attention before a deadline. Brie explains where AI fits in that work and where the human estimator must stay firmly in charge.
Process first, then AI
RJB started by building a start-to-finish estimating process, from opportunity intake through document control, sourcing, invitations, and tracking. Only then did the team turn it into its own software. RJB Live was built in partnership with RapidCanvas and layered with AI. Jenny describes the result as a bid management and preconstruction estimating platform combined, feeding straight into bid leveling. Brie walks through how RJB Live came together and why the company gave it a name of its own.
A subcontractor network that stays current
A nationwide contractor needs reliable subcontractors in whatever state the next job lands, and third-party directories are often out of date. RJB’s platform checks its subcontractor contacts on a regular schedule and handles outreach by text and email from one place, work that could otherwise eat a full day. Brie talks about how the system keeps subs informed even while the team waits for client input and decisions, and what that does for the relationships that RJB and project success depend on.
Protecting margin before the bid goes out
Scope gaps are where construction margins quietly leak. A missed item worth a few thousand dollars can turn a winning bid into a losing project. Significantly, the damage often shows up only after the job is handed off to project management. Faster, more complete takeoffs improve results at every stage, from the go/no-go decision to buyout. Brie shares what AI-assisted takeoffs now surface in minutes, and the turnaround goal RJB has set to take on more work with the same team.
Teaching AI one trade at a time
Jenny calls construction one of the most risk-averse industries, and points to the human in the loop as fundamental to any successful AI solution. Brie shares how RJB kept its core process clean and added AI in layers, testing each capability before trusting it with the next. Brie describes how the team verified the system’s counts trade by trade, ran the old and new processes in parallel, and retained the ability to override anything.
Adoption starts at the top
Estimators are creatures of habit, attached to their spreadsheets and familiar platforms. Moving a whole team onto a single system takes leadership that’s committed to AI and an early adopter willing to ‘own’ the new tool every day. Brie talks about the reservations she worked through, how she orchestrated broad-scale adoption, how other departments at RJB are starting to use the platform themselves, and what comes next as the company expands the work.
Watch the interview now to see what AI can do for your estimating team.
