Bricks And Bytes 90% of Construction Firms Have ZERO Employees - The Reality of Residential Construction in America
Nov 18, 2025
Dmitry Alexin, Founder and CEO of Handoff, brings a wealth of experience as a former data scientist and IMF economist to the world of residential construction. He discusses how AI is revolutionizing the industry, especially with 90% of firms operating without employees. Dmitry shares insights on building the first real-time construction pricing API, using voice commands for workflow, and attracting contractors with instant value. He also highlights the shift towards tech-savvy professionals entering the field and aims to lower housing costs through innovation.
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Most Residential Contractors Are Solo Owners
- About 90% of U.S. residential construction firms are one-person operations with no employees.
- This explains extreme time pressure and minimal back-office capacity across the industry.
From A Cost Book To An API
- Dmitry found the only available cost reference was a physical pricing book when budgeting CloudKitchens projects.
- That discovery led him to build a real-time construction pricing API to replace the book.
Domain Data Makes AI Practical
- Aggregating real-time pricing enabled training construction-specific ML models and powering Handoff.
- Domain-specific data made their AI far more accurate than general LLMs for estimating.