Episode Overview
Before becoming service manager at Murphy Co., a Denver-based mechanical contractor, Lindsay Williams completed a rigorous survival training while serving at the Air Force Academy.
How rigorous? To survive with just a limited food supply, Williams and her team of five ate leaves covered with Tabasco sauce.
With that kind experience testing her mental and physical mettle, venturing into the world of artificial intelligence was far less taxing for her than it is for many people with a built-in fear of AI.
Williams says AI shouldn’t be feared, rather, it ought to be seen as a helpful business tool for the trades.
“AI is already starting to impact us… in our proposal management and our contract management places where we're becoming more efficient and we're minimizing risk,” she says. “We're identifying risks that maybe a human would miss.”
Rather than take away jobs, Williams believes AI can help people do their jobs better.
“ What we're seeing is that now we have people coming in with a little less experience and these [AI] tools are helping them be successful,” she says. “It’s helping them follow best practices for troubleshooting, and resolving issues.”
Williams says the number of trade industry tasks that AI can make more efficient is nearly limitless.
Even something that’s not most folks’ favorite task: billing.
“ The best-use case that I have worked on personally – this was one of my absolute favorite projects [with AI] – was automating billing.”
That’s highly impactful. But…still not as impressive as surviving in the wild on Tabasco-covered leaves.
Lindsay Williams recently joined ServiceTitan’s Jackie Aubel on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included Williams’ thoughts on:
[2:45] Lessons from USAF survival school that translate to the trades
[12:45] The future of AI tools to improve the trades
[21:15] How to build trust in a time when teams are uncertain about AI
[29:03] Creating a “Culture of Respect” to bring diversity to the trades
[33:15] Work-life balance as a mom
To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or anywhere you get podcasts.
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