A note from Chris Rennie

Hi, I’m Chris Rennie, Chief Product Officer at Buildxact.

I wanted to share what we’re changing with Blu, why we think it matters for builders, and where we’re taking it next.

The future of estimating is taking shape.

Every job you’ve ever won started with a number. And for a lot of builders, getting that number right is still where the evenings go.

We’re building Blu to give you some of that time back.

For the past 15 years, Buildxact has given you the tools to estimate, run your jobs, and know your profit. You did the work. We made it easier.

18 months ago, we started giving Blu new skills across estimating, including Recipes, Takeoff, and Estimate Review.

Today, Blu, our proprietary AI built for builders, does more of that work with you in one connected workflow.

Start with the job details or an estimate you already trust. Once the estimate is there, Blu can work through it with you. Bring in plans and documents for context, ask Blu to change scope, quantities or pricing, review the estimate for things you may have missed, or create the documents you need to keep the job moving. You review the work and decide what moves forward.

Next, we're building Blu to look beyond the estimate: helping you coordinate projects, manage trades and suppliers, and spot margin slipping on a live job while there's still time to act.

One intelligence layer across your whole business, with the skills to support you from estimate to job, so you spend less time behind a screen and more time building.

And it compounds. Every job you finish can make the next estimate and project sharper.

Where Blu is going

We’re building Blu in stages so you get useful improvements along the way rather than waiting for some distant finish line. We're working toward:

• Blu being able to take your full plan set, specs, engineering drawings, and subcontractor quotes and turn them into a highly personalised estimate, then help turn that estimate into a schedule built around the way you run your jobs.
• Automated takeoffs measuring floor areas, elevations, and item counts from your plans and flowing those quantities into your estimate, with visibility into where key measurements came from.
• Generating trade-specific packages for work like painting, plastering, tiling, flooring, and timber, including cut lists.
• Asking Blu Business Assistant how your jobs are tracking, where margin may be moving, and what deserves your attention across the business.

The direction is simple: one connected way to estimate, manage, and run a residential construction business.

Why only Buildxact can do this

Anyone can sign up to the same AI models. That’s not the hard part.

What makes Blu different is context.

• The right model for the right task. Buildxact is running more than 10 models across the major AI providers, with each step sent to the one best suited to the job.
• 15 years of builder workflows. More than $50B in projects and 180,000+ completed jobs give Blu deep residential construction context.
• Your way of working. Your plans, rates, templates, suppliers, and past jobs already live in Buildxact. Anyone can generate a standard estimate. Blu can generate one around how you work.
• Numbers you can stand behind. Every change waits for your OK, and we’re building greater visibility into where measurements and pricing came from so you can understand the work before you accept it.

That’s context a general AI tool simply doesn’t have.

What our customers are saying

“It has definitely cut down the time it takes to create estimates, and it's been surprisingly accurate. It also catches items I would have otherwise missed, which has made a big difference. It’s definitely improved my workflow.”
​- Kate

“I was very sceptical of the entire AI thing because we use recipes and custom assemblies so heavily. However, I do really like using previous estimates that contain many of our assemblies and then just changing the overall square foot to get us into a better ballpark very quickly!”
​- Brian

“It understands the project I'm working on and the plans I've uploaded... It already has the context of the job.”
​- Salvatore

“ It has been a fabulous tool to use, I'm new to the industry, so having the assistant has been a huge help with creating estimates. The assistant has given me a good baseline to start the quote, then I can change/add to it from there. Very happy with it.”
​- Nathan

Our promises to you

AI is moving fast. Your margin can't afford surprises. So here's what you can hold us to.

1. You stay in control. Blu suggests. You decide.
2. We show our working. We want you to understand the quantities, calculations, and sources behind the number.
3. Your business stays yours. Your data helps Blu work better for you, and we’ll continue treating privacy and security with the same seriousness we always have.
4. We keep Blu current. As better AI models emerge, we can put the right ones to work behind Blu without you having to chase every new release yourself.
5. Real people are still here. AI should make Buildxact more useful, not make us less available when you need help. We’re still just a message away.
6. We’ll be straight with you, and keep building with you. If something isn’t ready, we’ll say so. If it can’t do something yet, we’ll say that too. You’ve already helped shape Blu, and your feedback will keep shaping what comes next.

If something isn’t ready, we’ll say so. If it can’t do something yet, we’ll say that too. You’ve already helped shape Blu, and your feedback will keep shaping what comes next.

The best way to build

We've spent 15 years earning your trust, one estimate and one project at a time.

Blu is one of the biggest steps we've ever taken to protect the thing every builder lives or dies by: the number. And we're only getting started.

I invite you to watch the video and to try Blu on your next job. Reply in-app to tell me what you think. I read the feedback, I appreciate it, and our team is building from it.

Thank you for being a Buildxact customer. I’m genuinely excited about where we’re taking this with you.

Chris Rennie
Chief Product Officer, Buildxact