Most contracting firms that have not moved on AI yet are not short on interest. They are short on clarity. They have seen the headlines, sat through a conference session or two, and heard the word “AI” more times in the last eighteen months than in the previous decade combined. They are not skeptical that it works. They just do not know where to plug it in without creating more chaos than they started with.
That is a solvable problem. But it requires being honest about where firms actually get stuck.
The first mistake most firms make is treating AI like a software purchase. They go looking for a tool when what they actually need is a workflow decision. The question is never “which AI should we use.” The question is “where are we losing time, burning margin, or missing something we should be catching, and can AI help us close that gap.” Start there and the tool selection becomes obvious. Skip that step and you end up with a subscription nobody uses.
The second mistake is trying to do too much at once. AI touches almost every part of a contracting business. Estimating, scheduling, field documentation, cost tracking, safety, business development, and more. That scope is real and the opportunity across all of it is legitimate. But firms that try to address five things simultaneously end up making meaningful progress on none of them. The firms getting real traction right now picked one workflow, proved value in a specific place, and built from there.
So where should a contracting firm actually start? The honest answer is that it depends on where your pain is sharpest. But a few areas tend to deliver visible results quickly.
Estimating support is one. Not replacing estimators, but reducing the administrative drag that pulls them away from the judgment work only they can do. AI is genuinely useful for cross-referencing historical job costs, flagging scope gaps in bid documents, and keeping pricing current against what the market actually looks like today rather than what it looked like a year ago.
Field documentation is another. Daily reports, progress notes, and project logs are among the most time-consuming and least loved parts of field operations. AI tools that help generate, organize, and capture that documentation accurately save real hours and create a paper trail that matters when disputes arise.
RFI and submittal management is a third. Response times that used to take days can move significantly faster when AI is helping draft responses from existing specs and drawings. For firms managing multiple projects simultaneously, that speed compounds quickly.
None of this requires a major technology overhaul. It requires a clear decision about where to start, the right guidance to set it up properly, and a team that understands how to work with the tools rather than around them.
That last part matters more than most firms expect. The technology is rarely the hard part. Getting a team to adopt a new workflow, trust the output, and build it into how they actually operate is where implementation either holds or falls apart. AI literacy across the team is not optional. It is the difference between a tool that changes how your firm works and a tool that sits unused after the first two weeks.
The contracting firms pulling ahead right now did not start with a perfect plan. They started with a specific problem, a willingness to test something, and the right support to make it stick. That is a reachable bar for most firms. The main thing standing between where they are and where they want to be is the decision to begin.
People Say
We recently had Chris Carr present to our members on behalf of Dynaimix, and it was an overwhelming success. We had a full classroom, and the engagement throughout the session was outstanding. Many attendees who initially felt intimidated by AI left feeling empowered and confident in how they can begin applying it in their work.
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Brubacher engaged Chris , founder of Dynaimix, in a two-day mind-stretching exploration of current AI capabilities, future direction, and most importantly he outlined the likely impacts to our business. He introduced us to a variety of AI tools to explore using to increase efficiency. Some participants immediately identified ways to save hours per week while others began using AI-enabled tools to offset areas in which they lack skills. Chris is high-energy, kept our attention, and has been attentive in follow-up.
We had the pleasure of having Chris Carr present at our annual planning meeting at Oliver Fire Protection & Security, which is a critical event for setting the direction of our year. Our goal was to give our strategic leadership team a stronger understanding of artificial intelligence and how it will impact our business. Chris delivered his state of AI presentation and completely blew our team away. His depth of knowledge, paired with practical, real-world examples, made the topic both clear and compelling.
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I had the opportunity to bring Chris Carr to the NECA Districts 6 and 9 Summer Conferences on the North Shore of Hawaii, where he came in locked and loaded and delivered two impactful sessions—one for each district. What I appreciate most about Chris and the Dynaimix team is his genuine passion for what he presents and his constant focus on applying AI in practical, meaningful ways for the electrical contracting industry.
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I’ve had the opportunity to see Chris’s State of AI presentation multiple times, and each experience reinforced his strong grasp of AI—where it’s going, how quickly the landscape is changing, and what that means for electrical contractors. What sets Chris apart is his ability to take an incredibly complex topic and make it both approachable and immediately relevant to our industry.
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At the 2025 WICA Annual Convention in beautiful Lake Tahoe, Chris Carr presented on the State of AI for our Insulation Contractor and Associate members. He emphasized the importance of AI literacy, the role of AI governance through an AI council, and how to effectively pair AI with custom code to drive real business impact. Chris has a gift for explaining complex topics in a way everyone can understand, and the session was engaging and highly relevant. Our members found it captivating, the feedback was excellent, and I would highly recommend Chris and the Dynaimix team.
We were extremely pleased with the Program that Dynaimix provided for our Members. From the feedback I received from our Members, it was easy to understand and provided practical grass roots education on understanding how AI could increase time saving skills and knowledge about subject matter. The process of booking the presentation was seamless and the communication with dynAimix leading up to the event was outstanding. We look forward to hosting another presentation with them in the near future.
We had the privilege of having Chris Carr present to our leadership team after first seeing him speak at a peer group event. That experience led us to bring him in for a two-day Intro to AI training where he covered the foundational elements of artificial intelligence. Prior to the training, Chris met with us to understand our business, which allowed him to tailor the content specifically to our needs. What impressed us most was his ability to explain complex concepts in a clear and easy-to-understand way.
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Partnering with Dynaimix AI has been a tremendous step forward for our organization. Their customized, in-person training reached more than 300 of our employees and consistently exceeded expectations. The sessions were engaging, practical, and highly relevant, and many team members shared that they learned far more about AI than they anticipated.
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Chris presented at our Annual Summer Membership Meeting for the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), Northeastern Illinois Chapter, and our members were absolutely blown away. The response was so strong that his team followed up with a two-day Intro to AI training for our members, hosted at our location in Illinois. The training was led by Todd Smith, and it was incredibly powerful, highly digestible, and easy to understand.
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Chris Carr
Mark Oestreicher
Todd Smith
Dan Callahan
Erin Larkin
Andrew Pilato
Dynaimix AI Public Speaking Schedule
One of the missions of Dynaimix AI is to educate businesses, industries, and professionals about the transformative impact of the coming wave of artificial intelligence. We aim to share insights into how AI will shape the future of work and provide practical lessons, techniques, and tactics to enhance AI literacy.
Below is our public speaking schedule. Please check back regularly, as new dates and events are added each week.