Making technology work for you, not the other way around

By Emma Peterson.

Incorporating AI into your operations in a safe and secure way.

Technology is constantly developing and there can be a lot of pressure to keep up with the newest software and updates. With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), a lot of contractors and professionals in the field are going through growing pains of how it fits into their operations. In this episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Karen Edwards sits down with Rachel Wrobel of Tremco Roofing to explore how they incorporate new technology in their operations.  

Rachel has a background in mechanical engineering and found her way to Tremco in 2017 as one of the engineers on the RoofTec Drying Technology project. From there, she has grown into her current role as their director of product operations. In that position she works with data science, rooftop solutions, project management and more, giving her a front-row seat to how new technologies are affecting the industry, on and off the roof.  

When it comes to working with AI, Rachel made it clear that Tremco is not shying away from it, saying, “My data science manager and everyone on our data science team have been investigating and researching how AI could impact our day-to-day, what's happening, just keeping up with the trends of AI for the last few years.” They’ve also been working with the AI task force at RPM Inc, which Tremco Roofing is a part of. Rachel elaborated on what they do, sharing, "The AI task force is there to help explore those platforms while keeping in mind the security and streamlining common ways to use the AI. And then also having that governance behind it because it can get scary. It can be scary if you don’t understand AI's capabilities.”

One example of how they have been working with AI is the Scribe platform. Rachel explained, “It’s a very popular documentation platform that has an AI built into it. So we're using it to document our internal processes or external processes.” As they do this, they make sure to touch base with RPM to ensure the way they are working with it is safe and secure. An example of what using it safely means for Tremco is avoiding putting proprietary or identifying information into open-source AIs like ChatGPT (i.e., a formula for a product).  

At the end of the day, AI is the next development of technology. When it is used incorrectly, it can be damaging for your company. But when it is thoroughly researched and managed, it can be a big asset to your operations. Rachel shared a bit of how Tremco is able to use it successfully, saying, “RPM is giving us support and guidance as we explore new tools that are going to make our day-to-day more efficient. They have been really helpful as we navigate that kind of thing to and make sure that people are using it the right way.”

Read the transcript or Listen to the episode for more about incorporating technology into your business in a way that works for you.