Bots and Bosses: AI for the Trades

Speed is the New Skill Set: How a 25-Year Contractor Is Using AI to Win More Jobs

In this first episode of Bots and Bosses: AI for the Trades, host Jessica Hensley sits down with Brian Hensley, owner of Rave Renovation a roofing and renovation company serving the Greenville, SC area. Brian has been in the trades for over 25 years and will be the first to tell you he is not a tech guy. But somewhere between the clipboard estimates of the Blackberry era and today, AI quietly changed the way he runs his business, and he has the closed jobs to prove it. In this episode, Brian shares how he went from skeptic to daily user, how he builds estimates from his customer's driveway before he even leaves, and why he believes contractors who are not using AI right now are already losing jobs. We also talk about the moment a 75-year-old customer climbed a ladder with ChatGPT to question his roofing work and how Brian used AI to handle it on the spot. If you are a contractor who has been curious about AI but not sure where to start, this one is for you. Connect with Rave Renovation: Website: raverenovation.com Facebook, TikTok, Instagram: @RaveRenovation Phone: (864) 203-2173