The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade released an AI adoption report this year that should have every contractor in the Okanagan paying attention. Most haven't read it.
The headline: 68% of B.C. businesses haven't considered AI at all. Construction sits at the bottom of every sector breakdown, roughly 11% below the Canadian average. Regional data in the same report suggests Interior businesses are meaningfully behind Lower Mainland firms on adoption, though the gap varies by sector and firm size.
For trades and construction companies in Vernon, Kelowna, and across the Okanagan, the adoption gap is a competitive position.
Why the Okanagan trails on construction AI adoption
A Vernon excavator and a Burnaby excavator are often bidding the same scope, in the same labour market, for the same kind of client. If the Vancouver firm turns proposals around in 90 minutes and the Interior firm is still on three-day cycles, that gap shows up directly in win rates and quarterly revenue.
A few things keep the Interior behind.
Most national AI coverage comes from tech and professional services firms. Those companies look nothing like a sheet metal shop or a framing crew. When trades owners read about AI, the examples don't translate and they tune out.
Vendor pitches reaching the region are mostly generic software rebranded as "AI for construction." A 20-minute chatbot demo doesn't solve a trades problem.
People who understand both how a job site runs and how to implement these tools are rare in the Interior. So the technology stays theoretical.
What AI looks like in a trades business that's already moving
I work with contractors in the Okanagan who are past the experimentation phase. Proposals get drafted in the time it takes to drink a coffee, reviewed by the estimator, and sent before the lead goes cold. Project closeout documentation gets built as a byproduct of the work instead of a four-hour task at the end of the job. The senior estimator's pricing judgment gets captured in a format the team can actually query, instead of staying locked in his head until he retires.
None of that requires a six-figure platform. It requires mapping the existing workflow, finding where AI fits, building governance, and training the team.
Why moving imperfectly still beats standing still
Plenty of Lower Mainland firms are jumping in without proper governance. Wrong outputs will land in front of clients. Data will end up where it shouldn't. Decisions will be made that nobody can explain. That's coming for some of them.
The firms iterating now will still be 18 months ahead of the ones starting then. Messy progress beats a clean start line.
If you're in construction or trades in the Okanagan and waiting for AI to mature before you engage with it, the math is moving against you.
How to start
The starting point is a clear picture of where AI fits in your specific operation and what governance needs to be in place before any rollout.
The free AI Readiness Assessment is 15 questions and takes about 10 minutes. It produces a score across the areas that determine whether an AI rollout succeeds or stalls, and surfaces the use cases already hiding in your current workflows.
If a real fit exists, you'll see it. If you're better off waiting, the assessment will tell you that too.
Either way, you'll know where you stand.