Construction Company Triples Time Savings and Turns AI into a Structured, Scalable Strategy

From Fragmented AI Efforts to Measurable Business Impact

This $120-million construction organization had already begun exploring AI across different teams, but those efforts were happening in isolation. Separate groups were using different tools, holding separate conversations and duplicating work without a shared direction.

Leadership had a clear goal: use AI to improve efficiency and scale the business. However, without a coordinated approach, the organization faced a growing risk of wasted spend, inconsistent adoption and missed opportunities.

Like many companies early in their AI journey, the challenge wasn’t access to tools. It was a lack of structure, alignment and strategic direction.

A Structured, CIO-Led Approach to AI Adoption

Rather than introducing new tools, Thriveon’s Fractional CIO focused on creating alignment, establishing guardrails and building a repeatable AI strategy.

The first step was consolidating fragmented efforts. Separate ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Claude groups were merged into a single, unified working session. This created a centralized forum where forward-thinking teams could collaborate, share insights and learn from one another.

From there, Thriveon established a structured cadence of bi-weekly AI working sessions focused on real business outcomes. These sessions became the engine for identifying, testing and scale AI use cases across the entire organization. Insights and successes from the core group were expanded to other teams, helping scale the impact of AI beyond early adopters.

Thriveon acted as both facilitator and strategic guide, driving accountability, assigning action items and challenging the team to think more strategically about where AI tools could deliver the greatest impact. We provided best practices and guidance on how to effectively leverage tools without allowing efforts to fragment again.

This approach also enabled more advanced use cases. For example, Thriveon helped develop a contract review GPT that reduced a 4.5-hour manual process down to 15 to 30 minutes. Additional custom GPTs and targeted AI solutions were implemented to address specific workflow challenges, often in collaboration with specialized third-party AI resources.

Adoption and Cultural Shift

One of the biggest challenges in getting the company to embrace AI wasn’t technical; it was behavioral.

Adopting AI required the organization to rethink how teams worked, shared knowledge and evolved standard operating procedures in a rapidly changing environment.

Teams moved from isolated experimentation to shared learning. AI became a regular, structured part of business conversations, not a side initiative. Wins were consistently surfaced, shared and built upon, accelerating momentum within the company.

This cultural shift was critical. Without it, AI value would have remained siloed at the individual level instead of scaling across the business.

Accelerated Adoption and Measurable Time Savings

The shift from isolated experimentation to structured collaboration and an organization-wide approach to AI adoption had an immediate and measurable impact:

• In the first month alone, the organization saved 137 hours through AI-driven efficiencies
• In the most recent month, that number tripled to 470 hours saved
• The company reduced duplicated efforts across teams, improved alignment on AI tools and investments and increased faster identification and scaling of high-value use cases

Teams moved from working independently to learning together. AI became an ongoing, organized conversation rather than a side initiative. Wins were consistently shared and built upon, accelerating momentum across the construction organization.

Beyond the numbers, the organization gained clarity on how to apply AI throughout the business. Instead of isolated wins, AI is now delivering repeatable, scalable value. The company is now actively evaluating how to reinvest these time savings into higher-value work, further increasing operational efficiency and impact.

Executives Turn to Thriveon When...

Thriveon stands as the leading IT partner across Minnesota, Florida and beyond, dedicated to helping mid-size companies achieve enterprise-level outcomes. Chief executives turn to Thriveon when they are facing strategic IT gaps, under mounting pressure to strengthen their cybersecurity defenses, committed to optimizing ROI on substantial IT investments or frustrated with stalled IT projects and underperforming teams.

Our comprehensive IT service combines Fractional CIO expertise, cybersecurity and proactive IT management into one cohesive solution. You'll receive:

• A Fractional CIO is embedded in your business, crafting strategies and budgets that drive scalable profitability and security.

• Proactive technology audits align with over 500 proprietary best practices, preempting issues and fortifying defenses to enhance productivity and reduce risk.
• Comprehensive oversight of your technology ecosystem - hardware, software, and services - so everything works seamlessly together, preventing overspending on unnecessary tools or personnel.
• By deeply understanding how you use your line-of-business applications, we identify opportunities to improve efficiency, enhance data quality and maximize your return on investment.
• Leadership in cybersecurity readiness, including preparing for third-party audits, conducting tabletop exercises, leading company-wide security meetings and developing IT policies, all while ensuring robust defense strategies.

Discover how Thriveon transforms IT into a strategic advantage, fostering growth and resilience for our clients.