NEW ON BEYOND THE BID
This week I sat down with Kelly, founder of Ion Automations. We talked about the AI risk most builders don't see coming, and how to get your whole team using AI the right way.
What we covered
Why locking down AI can make your data less safe
The one document every company needs before rolling out AI
What "vibe coding" can build for you, and where it falls short
Here's the scary part. When owners block AI tools at work, the work doesn't stop. Your team just opens a free chat window and pastes in your P&L, your bids, or a sub contract. Now that data is outside your control.
If you don't give your team a safe way to use AI, they'll find an unsafe one.
How to roll out AI the right way
Write the policy. Put an AI policy in place, just like your employee handbook. Spell out what's OK to share and what's not.
Use a business plan. Move your team to a team or enterprise AI plan, so you control where your data goes.
Check skill levels. Find out who's already using AI and who's never touched it. Train from there.
Build reusable tools. Stop living in one chat thread for months. Save your best prompts as skills and SOPs your whole team can use.
About vibe coding
Tools like Lovable and Claude Code let anyone build software just by describing it. That's huge for builders who know their workflow better than any software company. But most of these apps skip real security. If it touches client or company data, get a software engineer to check it before you roll it out.
Steal this for your company
You can't automate the takeoff yet. It still needs a human. But you can automate everything around it: the proposal, the contract, the emails, and the signature. That's how you get a quote out in hours, not weeks, and beat the builder down the road.
Want help finding where AI fits safely in your business? That's exactly what the Diagnostic does.
THE VALUE VAULT
SkillMatch — AI Estimate Tool
Answer 26 questions. Get a prioritized list of the AI skills that will have the biggest impact — personalized to your revenue, team, and project mix.
Beyond the Bid — YouTube
Every episode, uncut. Watch full conversations with the operators, consultants, and builders who've already figured it out.
Claude — AI Writing Tool
Draft review responses, client communications, and SOW language using your own project context.
Hit reply and tell me: does your company have an AI policy yet?
Grant