Titans of the Trades | Straight-Talk for Scaling Your Construction Business

Revolutionizing Construction Estimating with AI

Jan 14, 2026

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If you’ve ever lost a bid, missed a spec, or wished you could clone your best estimator, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Titans of the Trades, host Ryan Englin interviews Patrick E. Murphy, Founder & CEO at Togal.AI. Raised in one of Florida’s largest construction companies and a former U.S. Congressman, Patrick brings a fresh perspective to construction’s most persistent challenge: the time-consuming, error-prone estimating process.

Now he’s built Togal.AI, a cutting-edge platform that uses AI to automate takeoffs, spot missed scope items, and support junior estimators in bidding more work, more accurately and faster than ever before.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

What sparked the idea for Togal and why Patrick left politics for construction tech.
Why takeoffs are the biggest overhead cost in pre-construction.
How AI is helping small contractors compete with the big guys.
What AI in construction will look like in 5 years and why it’s closer than you think.
Why the next generation of estimators is excited to work with AI (and how to recruit them).

Plus, don’t miss Patrick’s exclusive 20% discount offer for Titans of the Trades listeners!

Takeaways with Time Stamps

1:05 - Patrick’s journey from family construction to politics and back to construction tech.
5:00 - The moment Patrick realized estimating was the biggest cost in pre-con.
7:15 - What Togal.AI does: instant, AI-powered takeoffs with 97%+ accuracy.
9:20 – Why estimators aren’t going away, but AI makes them more valuable.
10:40 - How a small painting contractor used Togal to grow 40%.
11:50 – The “Total Chat” feature that saved a painter $250,000 on one job.
14:45 - Estimators can now auto-build material assemblies with one click.
18:30 – Patrick’s 5-year prediction: full project plans generated from a single prompt.
21:00 - Why AI is making estimating attractive to younger generations again.

Connect With Patrick:

Website: https://www.togal.ai/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-e-murphy-79318832b/

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