How I'm Using Claude to Run a Roofing Company in 2026

Watch the full conversation with Tim Brown at Hook Agency on YouTube: "How Roofers Can Utilize Claude w/ Brad Strawbridge".

The Question Every Contractor Is Asking Me

I recently sat down with Tim Brown at Hook Agency to talk about how we are using AI at Capital City Roofing. The conversation lit up my inbox for a week.

Contractors want to know one thing: "What do I actually do with this stuff?"

Not the theory. Not the buzzwords. The practical play.

Here is the unfiltered breakdown of how I run parts of my business with AI, what is working, and the exact places every contractor should be looking to get started.

The Real Problem AI Solves in Home Services

The bottleneck in most roofing companies is not lead volume. It is the gap between lead and revenue.

Missed calls
Slow follow-up
Inconsistent proposals
Estimates that go cold
Dispatching confusion
Training gaps
Tribal knowledge that leaves when an employee quits

Every one of these has an AI solution in 2026. I am running most of them inside Capital City Roofing right now. If you want the deeper version of this argument, read my piece on why AI is a growth question, not a cost problem.

My AI Stack (As of April 2026)

1. Claude Co-Work for Reusable Workflows

Claude Co-Work is the engine. I use it to build workflows I can reuse every single week. Think of it like hiring a digital employee who remembers every SOP you have ever written.

What I have running right now:

Automated multifamily deliverable packages (proposal, executive summary, photo report, speaker scripts)
Sales rep dispatch based on zip code, lead source, and division
Post-job review request sequences
Estimate follow-up cadences that sound like me, not a bot
EOS Level 10 meeting prep and scorecard compilation

I broke the full mindset shift down in The Mental Model Shift From Operator to Architect.

2. The Teach Feature for Repetitive CRM Work

The part most people sleep on: you can record yourself clicking through a CRM process once, and AI can repeat that process forever.

I trained it on our proposal workflow. What used to take 20 minutes now takes 90 seconds. That is not a marginal gain. That is an unlock. I went deeper on what happened when I let AI take over real work in I Asked AI To Do My Job. Here's What Actually Happened.

3. Capital City University on Notebook LM

Every contractor has a training problem. Product specs change, manufacturers update warranty language, certifications expire, and new reps walk in the door.

I built Capital City University inside Notebook LM. It is a living knowledge base of every product, process, script, and certification we operate under. My team queries it like a coworker. I never have to answer the same question twice.

4. BuilderLync, the CRM We Are Building for the Industry

The existing roofing software market is a mess. Most contractors stack GoHighLevel plus Roofr plus QuickBooks plus three other tools that do not talk to each other.

BuilderLync, which we co-founded, is the consolidation play. Cold outreach, lead nurturing, scheduling, dispatching, supplements, bookkeeping, and payment in one system. Built by roofers, for roofers. This is the CRM I wish I had five years ago.

5. The 10-Agent AI Workforce

I am currently rolling out a 10-agent AI workforce across every department at Capital City Roofing. Read the launch context in Capital City Roofing Launches AI Ops Platform for Licensees and the long-form story in How Brad Strawbridge Scaled Capital City Roofing to 10M with AI.

What I Would Tell Any Contractor Getting Started

Start with the task you hate the most.

For me, it was proposal assembly. Gathering measurements, pulling product specs, building the scope, formatting the document. Hours a week. The moment I automated it, everything else got easier because I had the time and the belief that this stuff works.

Your list is probably:

Estimate follow-up
Review requests
Missed call response
Training documentation
Recruiting outreach

Pick one. Build it. Ship it. Then stack the next one on top.

The Mindset Shift That Matters More Than the Tech

The contractors I know who are falling behind are not losing because they are slower to adopt AI. They are losing because they still think of AI as a gimmick.

AI is not a gimmick. It is a permanent operating advantage.

The companies who build this into their operating system over the next 24 months will own their markets. The ones who wait for it to be "proven" will be competing on price against guys who already automated their way to better margins. Best Choice Roofing just validated everything we built from day one.

I know which side I am on.

Why I Built This in the First Place

The point of automating the back office is not efficiency for its own sake. It is leverage to do the work that actually matters. For me, that means leading my team well, building BuilderLync into the CRM the industry deserves, expanding the Capital City Licensing model, and funding meals through the Feed The Future Project. The nonprofit story is in Capital City Roofing CEO Founded Feed The Future Nonprofit Addressing Food Insecurity.

What's Next

I am preparing to license the full AI stack through the Capital City Licensing Model so other contractors can deploy the same systems without having to build them from scratch.

If you are a contractor who wants to see how this looks in your business, reach out through Business Leadership Advisory.

bradstrawbridge.com
brad@capitalcityroofing.net