Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quickly changing how the world does business. Some call it a virtual assistant, others a necessary technology for staying competitive.

“AI is not going to replace you. Somebody using AI will,” said Hamzah Shanbari, Director of Innovation for Dysruptek, Haskell’s innovation and venture capital arm. “We need to be aware of and utilize it to make our jobs easier, better, more efficient and safer.”

Dysruptek has been involved with AI since 2018, when it was established to ensure that Haskell would be a leader in identifying, innovating and investing in technology to benefit the construction industry. Earlier in 2023, global insurance carrier AXA XL ranked Haskell No. 1 in its Technology Adoption Maturity Index (TAMI), its proprietary benchmarking system to help contractors measure their tech adoption against an industry index and their peers to determine optimal investment in new construction technology.

“That’s our whole mission as Dysruptek – to keep up with technologies and keep an eye on what’s coming,” Shanbari said. “We’ve been working with AI since about 2018, so it’s not something that we are just starting to dabble in.”

When OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public in November 2022, Haskell technology leaders came together to better understand what it meant for the company and determine the next steps for usage. Mark Trednick, Haskell VP and Chief Information Officer and a member of the group, supported team members learning how to utilize this technology in their everyday workflows.

Rather than block the site, Haskell developed a strategic plan with clearly defined policies and educational measures to ensure that team members understood the proper use cases for the chatbot and security concerns with AI.

“Our first step was to ensure we had a policy in place to educate team members, and then we had to find the specific use for this technology in our company,” Trednick said. “Our AI strategy is essentially the same as our social media strategy: Don’t share company, client or trade secret information, and understand that anything shared on here becomes public knowledge. We really did not have to change much when developing our strategic plan because this is something all team members respect and understand.”

Haskell was recently asked to be a part of a case study executed by Placer Solutions in their “Technology Excellence in Construction Report Series,” which highlights the rapidly growing construction technology industry and provides reliable information for use cases and everyday applications.

“Placer’s report demystifies AI with actionable insights for the industry,” said Rose Hall, AXA XL Senior Vice President and Head of Innovation, Americas.

Meanwhile, Haskell’s technology team and Dysruptek are working together to uncover specific use cases and the best applications for AI technologies. Currently, in-use applications include simplifying and summarizing construction contracts, knowledge management, meetings and other documents. Additional applications include generative design, estimating, scheduling, inspections and progress tracking.

“We’re in a constant conversation about the endless possibilities of what AI can provide across our industry,” Shanbari said. “It will be absolutely essential in driving the business forward from now on.”

Through Dysruptek, its innovation and venture capital arm, Haskell leads the construction industry in technological development and adoption. Contact the Dysruptek team to discuss your idea “For the Betterment of the Industry.”