Josh Levy, Founder and CEO, and Trent Miskelly, COO, Document Crunch

In a world where everyone is rushing to develop, adopt or understand artificial intelligence, some might say Document Crunch’s vision for the future of AI in the construction industry is somewhat unexpected.

After all, Document Crunch is an award-winning company that built its AI foundation to tackle specific construction contract challenges. It’s a company that leverages state-of-the-art language models and develops purpose-built models to spot key contract concepts with remarkable accuracy. It's a company that built a powerful AI engine that speaks the language of construction. It’s a company that now automates certain jobs to be done specific to construction. AI isn't a buzzword for Document Crunch. It's the backbone of its tools designed to make a real difference in how construction projects are managed and executed.

So, for a company on the forefront of technology that has been in the game long before the recent AI and Large Language Model boom, what's the unexpected part?

The technology is not Document Crunch’s focus.

It’s people. It’s solving real problems for the industry. It’s making complicated things simple. It’s making projects more profitable. It’s making sure project teams know what to do 100% of the time. It’s creating workflows. It’s automating risky jobs to be done.

It’s making the industry better for the people who work in it every day.

It’s contract compliance powered by CrunchAI™.

Document Crunch defines contract compliance as “a measure of how effectively your daily decisions align with the complex contractual commitments undertaken by your company” or simply a way to set and stick to your commitments to deliver successful project results.

The idea of contract compliance comes from deep, industry-specific knowledge. Document Crunch co-founders Josh Levy and Adam Handfinger, both with careers as part of the legal teams of some of the country’s preeminent general contractors and construction law firms, respectively, started Document Crunch more than five years ago because they knew the industry needed to be better about contracts and especially compliance. Back then, AI was a lesser-known technology, but Levy and Handfinger saw the future of it, and Document Crunch’s product and engineering teams, led by COO Trent Miskelly, knew the power of it.

Together, they started building Document Crunch’s tools powered by CrunchAI.

CrunchAI is a powerful proprietary AI engine that speaks the language of construction and taps into the latest large language models from industry leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic. The result is a custom AI orchestration system that combines these advanced models with construction-specific knowledge. Think of it as a construction genius that can generate contract summaries, create project team playbooks and even automate compliance tasks during construction.

What sets it apart is the ability to provide high-quality, fact-based results that are directly tied to source documents. It's like having a very smart assistant that not only gives you answers but shows its work—allowing users to trust the information while still verifying its accuracy.

Importantly, Document Crunch also understands the unique challenges faced by contractors of all sizes. Its solutions are designed to be scalable, allowing both small local contractors and large multinational firms to benefit. The user-friendly interface integrates seamlessly with existing project management tools, minimizing disruption to established workflows.

Document Crunch also recognizes the critical importance of data security in the construction industry. As a SOC 2 Type II-compliant company, it maintains the highest standards of information security, ensuring that sensitive project data remains protected.

Document Crunch is not just applying general AI to construction. It’s creating specialized tools that understand the nuances of construction contracts and documents, contract compliance and project management. Being recognized with the 2024 AI Breakthrough Award in the Large Language Model category in the annual awards program by AI Breakthrough underscores Document Crunch’s unique approach in using advanced AI to solve real-world construction challenges, and notably, the award is the very same one that OpenAI won in 2023.

Today, Document Crunch continues to leverage state-of-the-art language models to translate complex contract knowledge into practical tools for legal and risk managers, operations leaders and project teams, and the company is pushing into new territories of automation, simplified and standardized workflows, and prompting teams to act when—and even before—critical events occur on their projects.

Moreover, Document Crunch created a Blueprint for Contract Compliance, a five-step guide of best practices that ensure better project outcomes, spanning from the back-office to project kickoff, into the field and beyond project completion.

Soon, CrunchAI won’t just answer questions, it will anticipate needs. Imagine AI that flags potential compliance issues before they become problems or one that suggests contract modifications based on a project's unique risks. Document Crunch is at the forefront of this evolution, developing systems that don't just provide information but offer guidance on the next best action. This guidance isn't generic. It's tailored to a specific situation, incorporating both industry best practices and a company's data.

The ultimate goal? Fully automating contract compliance and proactive decision support. It’s a future where routine compliance tasks, which create risk with human error, are handled automatically, freeing up teams to focus on what really matters—delivering successful projects.

As the construction industry evolves with trends like increased prefabrication and sustainable building practices, Document Crunch is committed to staying ahead of the curve. Their AI systems are continuously learning and adapting, ensuring that contractors have the tools they need to navigate the changing landscape of construction technology and regulations.

By focusing on practical applications that directly improve project profitability, reduce risks and save time, Document Crunch is not just envisioning the future of AI in construction—they're actively building it.

The impact on construction is already proving to be monumental. It will evolve into an intelligence and automation solution for all documents that impact the built world, but its focus will always be making the construction industry better and helping people get better project outcomes on every project, every time.