Start your AI strategy with the problem you need to solve

By Heidi J. Ellsworth

Roofing businesses can get more value from AI by defining a measurable business challenge before choosing a platform.

In my ongoing conversations with Brian Behe, CTO of RIIG Technology, artificial intelligence continues to generate discussion across the roofing industry. Contractors are exploring how it can help their teams work more efficiently and improve customer service. But before choosing an AI platform, contractors should answer a more fundamental question: What does the business actually need to solve? Behe shared his perspective on this important starting point. “A lot of AI strategies start in the wrong place,” he said. “They start with the platform, not the problem.”

It is easy to understand why. A technology demonstration can make new possibilities feel immediate and exciting. For a roofing company managing busy schedules and demanding customers, the promise of saving time can be especially appealing. Yet an impressive demonstration does not prove that a tool will address the challenges employees face every day. Behe understands the excitement, but his conversations with business leaders ultimately return to a practical question: “What are you actually trying to solve?” That, he confirmed, is where the conversation should begin.

For roofing contractors, the answer might involve reducing the time required to prepare a proposal. Before evaluating technology, however, it is important to understand what causes the delay. An estimator may be entering the same information into multiple systems or waiting for missing details from the field. Those situations require different solutions, even though both make proposal preparation take too long.

Customer communication offers another example. If homeowners repeatedly call for project updates, the business should examine how scheduling information is captured and shared. AI may be able to support that workflow, but the team first needs a dependable process for recording accurate information and communicating changes.

Behe also cautions against allowing AI initiatives to become disconnected from business priorities. When an initiative develops its own team, budget and roadmap without a strong connection to daily operations, it can drift. The company may begin focusing on what a platform can do rather than why the investment matters.

As Behe explained, “You end up choosing tools based on impressive demos instead of real business fit.” That distinction matters for roofing companies, where any solution must work within the realities of both the office and the jobsite. A tool can perform as designed and still fail to improve the work that needs attention.

A better starting point is to define the challenge clearly and identify a measurable outcome. If proposal preparation is taking too long, establish how much time it currently requires and where that time is being spent. Then determine what level of improvement would be meaningful without compromising the accuracy customers expect.

That preparation gives the technology conversation a clear purpose. A contractor can ask a vendor how a platform would improve a specific workflow and then evaluate whether the potential benefit justifies the effort required to introduce it. The discussion becomes grounded in the company’s needs rather than a broad promise of transformation.

Employees should be part of that conversation from the beginning. The people preparing estimates or answering customer calls often understand the obstacles in ways that are difficult to see from a leadership meeting. Their experience can help define the problem and show whether a proposed solution will genuinely make their work easier.

Once the challenge is understood, the next question is whether AI is the right tool to address it. As Behe explained, “Sometimes the answer will be yes. Other times, a clearer process or better use of existing software may provide the improvement the company needs.” Evaluating those possibilities keeps the business outcome at the center of the decision because, as he noted, “AI isn’t the strategy. It’s just one tool in the toolbox.”

For roofing professionals, that is a useful reminder to connect every technology investment to the work it is intended to improve. As your company explores AI, begin with one operational challenge and a clear definition of success. Include the employees who understand the work, then evaluate each tool against that need. To continue the conversation, follow Brian Behe’s LinkedIn posts and consider which business problem would be most valuable for your team to solve.