Automate Subcontractor Coordination with Custom AI

General contractors use project management platforms like Procore or Autodesk Construction Cloud. These tools are excellent for managing structured information, but they depend on humans to input that information correctly. A subcontractor who submits an RFI through the official Procore portal creates a clean, trackable record. But in reality, that same subcontractor will email a PDF with a question scribbled on a drawing.

This forces a project manager into a manual, 15-minute workflow for a single document. The PM must open the email, download the PDF, interpret the request, log into Procore, create a new RFI, transcribe all the relevant details, upload the original file, and assign it to the right person for review. This process is repeated dozens of times a day, turning highly-paid project managers into data entry clerks. Trying to manage this with Outlook rules only files the emails; it does not extract the critical task information within them.

The structural problem is that project management software is a database with a user interface, not an intelligence layer. It cannot read or understand the unstructured content of an email or PDF. The entire system is designed to store data that a human has already processed. This architectural choice creates a permanent bottleneck where the project manager's time is the only resource that can bridge the gap between messy, real-world communication and the structured world of the PM platform.

The first step would be a workflow audit. Syntora would analyze your current communication channels: dedicated email inboxes, Procore messages, and even text message archives. We would map the complete journey of a typical RFI and submittal, from receipt to resolution, to identify every manual step. You receive a detailed process map showing exactly where an AI parser can remove bottlenecks.

The core of the system would be a data processing pipeline built in Python. An AWS Lambda function would trigger whenever a new email or file arrives. This function sends the content to the Claude API, which is trained to classify the document type (RFI, Change Order, Submittal) and extract key information like due dates, material specs, and subcontractor details. A FastAPI service then takes this structured data and makes the correct API call to create an item in your project management system.

The delivered system runs entirely in your own AWS account, giving you full control. Your project managers would see new tasks and submittals appear automatically in Procore, pre-filled and linked to the source document. A simple dashboard, built on Vercel and Supabase, would provide a log of all processed items and flag any low-confidence exceptions for human review. You receive the complete source code and a runbook for maintenance.