19 March 20265 min readEstimating
The instinct in many AI estimating pitches is to replace the estimator. That is the wrong frame, and it is the reason most estimating AI tools fail to land.
Senior estimators are the judgement layer. What they want is fewer hours spent reading PDFs, fewer hours chasing missing scope information, and a cleaner handover into pricing.
Practical AI for estimating means: tender summarisation, scope extraction by trade, risk and exclusion flagging, and structured handover into the cost workbook the estimator already uses.
Done well, the estimator keeps full control of pricing, but starts pricing days earlier.