Finding and keeping skilled electricians is harder than ever. The demand is high, the labor pool is shrinking, and the pressure to do more with less is growing. The biggest challenge? It’s not just about wages. Many techs leave because of burnout, chaos, and a lack of career growth.
But what if you could make the job easier without hiring more people? That’s where AI is changing the game.
For commercial electrical contractors, AI isn’t about futuristic robots—it’s about solving real, everyday problems. AI-powered tools are already making an impact by cutting down admin work, cleaning up job reports, and improving scheduling—so techs can actually focus on their work instead of the back-and-forth.
At Classic Electric, Toby Mitchell’s team uses AI-powered grammar correction to clean up visit reports. Instead of messy, unprofessional notes AI automatically formats reports into customer-ready summaries. That means fewer headaches for techs and a more professional experience for customers. For example, one of his techs once wrote:
Hooked up battery for generator began the testing process but found out the cheap *** customer who wanted to save a nickel ordered the wrong fuel type of generator. This rocket surgeon thinks he is smart enough to change out the fuel parts himself. Going to bring popcorn to keep watching this s**t show.
That's not a summary you want to share with a customer! So, his team ran it through AI (built right into the BuildOps platform) and walked away with this:
The battery for the generator was connected and the testing process was initiated. However, it was discovered that the generator was not compatible with the fuel type. The customer informed us that they would have the fuel lines changed and would notify us whey they are ready to resume the startup process.
Much more customer friendly!
One of the biggest wins we're seeing come to light? AI-powered scheduling can assign the right tech to the right job based on location, availability, and expertise—reducing travel time and cutting out inefficiencies. Instead of the old way of juggling calls and schedules, AI makes sure work gets done faster with fewer headaches.
Here’s the thing: AI isn’t magic. It’s only as good as the data it works with. If your system is full of outdated info, missing job details, or inconsistent records, you’re not going to get useful results. It’s like trying to navigate with an old map—you’ll end up in the wrong place.
Toby put it best: “Garbage in, garbage out. If your data is messy, no AI is going to turn it into gold.”
That’s why the best electrical shops are starting by cleaning up their records first, ensuring that every job, asset, and technician detail is accurate. Only then can AI truly deliver valuable insights.
One mistake contractors make? Trying to overhaul everything at once. The best approach is to start small.
Classic Electric first experimented with AI to make safety meetings more relevant, using ChatGPT to generate weekly safety topics based on real-world conditions. Instead of generic training sessions, their team got timely discussions—like the types of bug bites and stings to watch out for in spring on the Central Coast of California.
Once they saw the value and felt more comfortable integrating this type of tech into their day-to-day, they moved to AI-powered tools to improve reporting and documentation. Now, AI automatically refines visit summaries, reducing errors and saving time on invoicing.
AI isn’t a magic button that fixes everything overnight—but it is a tool that, when used strategically, can help electrical contractors scale in ways that weren’t possible before.
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