Genevieve Davis spent 20 years in store development, overseeing over a billion dollars in capital programs and building thousands of remodels. Then she left to co-found Surfaice, an AI platform built specifically for retail construction.
Why? Because she lived the pain.
Here's the math: 100 projects with 100 milestones equals 10,000 dates you need to hit. That's 10,000 opportunities to fall behind. Delays mean lost time, lost momentum, lost money.
With AI, instead of chasing down why dates are slipping through weeks of detective work across departments, you ask one question: "Why are my dates changing within 30 days of turnover?" AI analyzes all your systems instantly, gives you a clear answer, and provides a mitigation plan.
AI sits on top of all your existing platforms—project management, email, scheduling, budgeting. Instead of you logging into six different systems, you interact with AI. AI interacts with the systems.
Simple lookups: "What's the status of my store in Dallas?" Logic questions: "Which projects are at risk due to delay?" Analytical questions: "What patterns am I missing?"
What used to be completely manual—creating bid packages, inviting bidders, fielding RFIs, analyzing submittals—now looks like this:
Milestone triggers → AI auto-creates bid package → You confirm bidders → AI distributes, fields RFIs, analyzes submittals → AI recommends → You verify and decide → AI routes to contract generation.
"What had been all these multi-steps that you personally had to touch, now things are happening while you're busy doing something else," Davis said. "AI is making us all into superhumans."
AI sends morning summaries to your team: here's what changed, here's what I need you to look at, here's what you need to do.
It reviews closeout packages for completeness. It reviews leases. A PM in the field texts: "Paint damaged behind manager office door." AI logs it, creates the punch list, asks for verification, distributes it.
"AI will not take your job, but the people who use AI are going to take your job."
Davis's advice: AI augments people, it doesn't replace them. It sits on top of your existing tools. And don't wait—start experimenting now.
"The future isn't five years from now. The future is here today."
Watch the full talk below 👇