A pair of experienced construction professionals are using AI to tackle the persistent industry issues of time-consuming paperwork and late payments.
Andy Clarke and Ash Abbas took advantage of the University of Salford’s six-week BUILD AI programme to accelerate two different technologies inspired by problems they encountered during their careers.
With almost 20 years’ experience in construction and utilities, Andy Clarke is the founder of ACD3.ai. He’s developing his Utility Docs AI app to cut the time project and site managers spend writing risk assessments, method statements and compliance documentation.
Using AI and image recognition, the app analyses a job, identifies relevant compliance requirements and helps produce the necessary documentation.
Reducing five hours paperwork to 30 mins
Clarke estimates paperwork that can take five hours could be done in around 30 minutes while retaining human approval at key decision points.
“What I value most about BUILD AI is that every session gave me something practical I could implement straight away,” he said.
“I’d leave every session with new ideas, new contacts and a clearer plan, then go away and put those ideas into practice. That momentum has been invaluable in helping turn years of industry experience into a technology business with real commercial potential.”
Ash Abbas is drawing on his own experience in construction to tackle late payments and the financial uncertainty they can create for contractors and suppliers.
Having worked in the industry since he was 18, from working on the tools to running his own business, he has experienced the impact of payment problems first-hand.
His ViSurety app is an AI-powered trust and compliance platform designed to reduce financial risk and improve transparency between clients and contractors.
From raw concept to prototype
It uses open banking to verify client liquidity before work begins and AI-powered computer vision to help independently verify completed work before payments are released.
BUILD AI helped him take the concept to a functional prototype that is now heading towards its next stage of development and live industry testing.
“Thanks to BUILD AI, the project has progressed from a raw concept to a highly developed functional prototype that’s now ready for the next stage of development,” said Abbas.
