2025 wasn’t just a big year for the trades; it was a defining one.

Commercial contractors across the industry have found themselves at the center of something rare: record demand, a tightening labor pool, rising project complexity, and the first wave of practical AI powerful enough to change how work gets done. And through it all, the message from the field was unmistakable:

The world is changing fast, but the trades still keep it running.

That truth shaped everything we built this year at BuildOps. It shaped every updated feature, every conversation, every product release. And as we look back at 2025, the story isn’t just about software.

It’s about the people who build, repair, maintain, and keep the modern world alive — and the tools they need to lead the next chapter.

Let’s dig in.

The Trades Stepped Forward — And the Data Proved It

In The Pivot Point: AI and The Future of Commercial Contracting, our industry-wide report with Kickstand, commercial contractors told us that they’re ready for AI.

• 78% are already using or testing AI
• 80% say AI will be essential within the next three years

But 74% of contractors surveyed also said their role will stand the test of time. This is not an industry holding its breath. This is an industry pressing on the gas pedal.

During Forge 2025, Harvard Business School Professor Chris Stanton put it plainly:

“Over the long term, jobs that have a physical or manual component will be the durable jobs in the economy.”

Technology isn’t replacing the trades — it’s racing to keep up with them.

And Demand Didn’t Slow Down — It Surged

Service teams grew and regional markets exploded around:

• Data centers
• Electrification and EV
• Healthcare infrastructure
• HVAC modernization

In just 12 months, BuildOps customers completed:

• 2.3 million jobs
• $3+ billion in job value 

Commercial contractors aren’t just “adopting tech.” They’re putting it to work. They’re scaling operations, winning more business, and meeting demand that keeps rising.

The work is out there for the teams ready to take it on.

But the Labor Crunch Hit Harder Than Ever

The Pivot Point: AI and The Future of Commercial Contracting gave data to what many contractors and back office teams already know. They’re being stretched thin and burnout is on the rise. 

• Nearly half of contractors have 20–25% of roles unfilled
• 76% of contractors surveyed say skilled labor is still in short supply

The industry isn’t short on opportunity; it’s short on people. Which means every hour, every job, every workflow matters more.

What 2026 Workforce Policy Means for Today’s Contractors

2025 brought a clear signal from Washington: the skilled trades are becoming a national workforce priority.

1. The “Trades Initiative” Executive Order (April 23, 2025)

President Trump signed an executive order directing the Departments of Labor, Education, and Commerce to review and modernize federal workforce-training programs.

The goal: expand access to registered apprenticeships and strengthen non–college career pathways.

The order doesn’t create new programs on its own, but it formally centers the trades in federal workforce planning.

2. 529 Plans Now Cover More Trade Training

Updates to Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code now allow families to use 529 funds for a wider range of workforce training, credentialing, and licensing programs — not just traditional college tuition.

For contractors, that means more workers can finance trade education with pre-tax dollars.

Why It Matters

These shifts won’t solve the labor gap overnight, but the direction is clear:

• More support for apprenticeships
• More flexible paths into the trades
• More accessible funding for training and credentials

For an industry starved for talent, it’s momentum worth watching.

2025 Became the Year Practical AI Reached the Trades

For contractors, AI didn’t arrive as robots or sci-fi predictions. It arrived as relief.

As Chris Stanton put it: AI turns workers into “information routers.” It doesn’t replace them.

And the field told us exactly where they needed it most. They weren’t asking for flash. They were asking for time back:

• Get the right person to do what needs doing.
• Make sure they have the right tools. 
• Give them the right information so the job goes smoothly — not sideways.

So across BuildOps, AI became one thing: A tool to take the busywork off the trades’ plate.

And that meant delivering– not demoing.

Here’s what shipped.

What We Built in 2025 (And What It Changed)

1. Smart Recap

Instant notes. Cleaner history. Zero extra work.

Techs talk. BuildOps writes. Office teams get clarity. No one spends Sunday catching up on paperwork.

2. Scheduling + Dispatch

AI-powered recommendations that find the right tech for every job. Better assignments. Happier customers. Less wasted time.

3. Smarter Profitability Insights for Service Agreements 

A single, dynamic view of budgets, costs, revenue, and profitability — giving you clearer, faster insight into the performance of every agreement.

4. Time Tracking Advances

Bulk overtime allocation and smarter labor costing logic that make time tracking faster and more accurate — from applying overtime rules in a few clicks to automatically selecting the correct labor rate on every timesheet. 

5. A New CRM Built From the Ground Up

Real-time visibility into your entire sales funnel with dashboards, reporting, and forecasting built to help you plan revenue and manpower with confidence.

The Message From the Field in 2025 Was Clear

Contractors aren’t asking for more buzzwords. They’re asking for help.

• Help cutting the busywork.
• Help fighting burnout before it takes another good tech out of the field.
• Help protecting margin.
• Help keeping up with the datacenter boom.
• Help building the next generation of the trades.

And that’s the mission behind every BuildOps release this year.

2025 Set the Stage. 2026 Turns the Page.

Contractors built the backbone of this country. BuildOps exists to help them build what’s next.

To everyone who partnered with us this year: who gave feedback, pushed us, challenged us, and believed in what we’re building:

Thank you.

The trades deserve world-class technology. 

We’re building it together.