For decades, estimators in the dirt world have done the impossible: pricing multi million dollar jobs with fragmented tools, tribal knowledge, and mountains of spreadsheets.

Dirt world means infrastructure work: folks who move dirt, put pipe in the ground, lay asphalt, pour concrete, and build the heavy civil infrastructure that keeps us moving.

But that era is ending.

The future estimator isn’t buried in Excel. They’re strategic, data-driven, and backed by automation. The companies that adapt to this shift will pull ahead. The ones that don’t will fall behind.

📉 Why Spreadsheets Are Holding Us Back

Most infrastructure contractors still run preconstruction on spreadsheets. Business development, estimating, backlog, bid tabs — it’s all stitched together manually. Every handoff is a chance to miss something critical.

• You can’t scale AI on spreadsheets.
  

• You can’t run forecasting models across disjointed files.
  

• And you can’t compete against teams using real-time tools to price smarter and faster.
  

We’ve reached the limit of what Excel can do. The tools of the future aren’t spreadsheet-based. They’re AI-native.

🧰 Estimating Software Was a Step Forward - But It Wasn’t the Finish Line

In the 1980s, VisiCalc was the go-to tool for estimating. Then came Lotus 1-2-3. Eventually, Microsoft Excel took over and became the standard. In the early 2000s, platforms like HCSS and B2W took things further - giving contractors structured tools to break down costs, apply templates, and speed up reviews. Adoption wasn’t easy at first, but once teams switched, no one wanted to go back. The imports, templates, and validation tools were just better - and estimating finally started to feel more repeatable.

But these tools focused only on one slice of the preconstruction process: the cost estimate.

Everything else - from finding leads to reviewing bid tabs to planning backlog - still happens in disconnected systems and spreadsheets. That’s the bottleneck.

🚀 AI Is the Biggest Shift Since the Industrial Revolution

I remember when the iPhone came out. I was in college. It was cool, but nobody knew what it would become. Nobody predicted the explosion of mobile apps, or that we’d be running our businesses from our phones.

AI feels bigger.

We’re in a real paradigm shift - not hype, not future talk. Right now.

It’s not without its perils and risks. I believe those can be mitigated with proper guardrails, especially regarding security.

This isn’t just new tech. It’s a new foundation. It’s changing how we work, how we price, how we build.

👷 AI in Construction: Real Use Cases, Right Now

You don’t have to guess where this is going. Companies are already using AI to summarize plans and specs, speed up takeoffs, and improve estimating accuracy.

At Edgevanta, we’re building intelligent agents to automate and enhance the entire preconstruction workflow - from document review to pricing, CRM, team collaboration, cost analysis, and much more.

And it’s not just software. Look at Bluelight Machines — they’re running fully autonomous rollers using AI and machine learning. No operator in the cab. That’s not “coming soon.” That’s already happening on jobsites.

These tools aren’t theoretical. They’re working right now, helping teams reduce manual effort and move faster where it counts. The tech is so good it’s caused me to sleep a lot less tinkering with it - and I’m perfectly fine with that.

What matters most is this: AI won’t replace estimators. It will make them faster, sharper, and more strategic. Just like Excel made math easier and estimating software made pricing more consistent, AI takes the grunt work off their plate and frees them up to focus on what really matters - building winning bids.

🔄 The Role of the Estimator Is Evolving

Tomorrow’s best estimators won’t just understand costs - they’ll understand data. They’ll know how to spot pricing trends, measure performance across regions, and identify which jobs they’re best suited to win.

And nobody - myself included - knows how good these foundational models will become. They’re evolving at breakneck speed, with billions in funding and healthy competition between OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, and more. No one company should control this market - and that’s exactly why we’re seeing breakthroughs weekly.

And they won’t be doing it with a whiteboard and a stack of emails. They’ll have an AI copilot - surfacing insights, automating grunt work, and letting them focus on strategy.

🕰️ You’re Not Behind - You’re Early

A lot of people feel like they’ve already missed the boat on AI. You haven’t. 

This is just getting started.

Every major leap in technology feels chaotic and intimidating at first. When the bicycle was invented, people tried to ban it. Doctors warned it would destroy society. The same fear came with the tractor - and yet it revolutionized agriculture, shifting us from 40% of Americans working on farms to under 2% today, while increasing output tenfold.

AI is the next shift like that. It’s not here to take our jobs - it’s here to amplify what we’re capable of. To remove the busywork, surface insights, and let humans do what they do best. 

🌅 We’re Entering an Era of Abundance

This shift isn’t just about doing the same work faster. It’s about doing better work - with more clarity, less waste, and more time to think strategically. For construction, it means finally having the visibility, precision, and speed that estimating has always needed but never had.

So buckle up. You’re not behind.

You’re right on time.

💡 Ready to Move On From the Spreadsheet Era?

We know what it’s like to price work under pressure, dig through spreadsheets, and hope the numbers work out.

That’s why we’re building Edgevanta: for estimators who are ready for what’s next. No more duct tape, no more pivot tables - just one connected, intelligent platform built for the dirt world.

We sit on the same side of the table. Reach out if you want to talk about building the future of preconstruction.

We are entering an era of abundance - and it’s going to be awesome.

Best,

Tristan

In Case You Missed It:

Making Work Fun with Jay Winford

Links to Nerd Out:

TechnoOptimist Manifesto - pmarca’s take

Machines of Loving Grace - How AI Could Transform the World for the Better (Anthropic CEO)

Situational Awareness: the Decade Ahead - Ex OpenAI Researcher on the Future of AGI

All In Pod - AI and Naval Ravikant

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About the Author

Tristan Wilson is the CEO and Founder of Edgevanta. We make software that helps contractors win more work at the right price. He is a 4th Generation Contractor, construction enthusiast, ultra runner, and bidding nerd. He worked his way up the ladder at Allan Myers in the Mid-Atlantic and his family’s former business Barriere Construction before starting Edgevanta in Nashville, where the company is based. Reach out to him at [email protected]