How SketchDeck AI helps construction companies grow
Picture an estimator at work on a Sunday night, surrounded by paper blueprints, painstakingly counting steel beams one by one.
There are hundreds of pages. The bid is due Monday. And this is just one of a dozen projects the company could be pursuing, if only it had the time.
That's the reality that Daniel Kamau, founder and CEO of Edmonton-based SketchDeck AI, saw up close during his time as a structural engineer. It's the problem he decided to tackle.
As soon as a steel fabricator receives plans for a hospital, school or office tower, the race to bid for the work begins.
It starts with an estimator poring over hundreds of pages of engineering drawings, identifying every beam, column and brace to calculate quantities and costs.
This has long been manual work. The main tools: highlighters, rulers, spreadsheets and calculators.
"It's painful," says Kamau. "Companies spend an inordinate amount of time extracting information from these drawings.”
They are sometimes forced to turn down opportunities, he adds. Not because they don't want the work. Because they can't get through all the drawings in time.
Combining AI and construction expertise
Kamau knew there had to be a better way.
After six years as a structural engineer, he returned to school to complete an MBA and an M.Eng. in construction management. Around 2018, long before generative AI had entered the mainstream, his professors were talking about the transformative potential of AI and machine learning.
When he graduated into the tough job market of the early pandemic, he decided to start his own company, and he knew it would involve AI.
"I didn't know anything about software or building start-ups," says Kamau. "But I knew there was an opportunity to merge my passion for AI and machine learning with my passion for the construction industry."
The combination of technology plus humans makes for phenomenal outcomes. Technology is an enabler.
Daniel Kamau
Founder and CEO, SketchDeck AI
Turning days of work into minutes
Founded in 2021, Edmonton-based SketchDeck AI developed LIFT, an AI-powered platform that automates structural steel takeoffs.
A takeoff is the process of sitting down with plans to painstakingly count and measure every item needed to build a project, such as:
- beams
- columns
- braces
- connection plates
- other structural components
SketchDeck AI can identify and quantify these materials automatically.
Tasks that once took hours, or even days, can be completed in the time it takes to go buy a coffee.
"You can feed the drawings to the computer and get everything counted up in literally minutes," says Kamau.
The software uses proprietary machine-learning models trained on one of the largest available datasets of structural steel drawings. Because it’s built for this industry, the software delivers the accuracy customers need while freeing estimators to focus on higher-value work.
It's not about replacing estimators, says Kamau. It's about helping them harness the power of AI.
"The combination of technology plus humans makes for phenomenal outcomes," he says. "Technology is an enabler."
Helping other companies grow
The impact can be dramatic. Customers report benefits like:
- completing estimates in days instead of weeks
- doubling or tripling estimating capacity
- bidding on more projects
- improving accuracy
- reclaiming evenings and weekends
A prospective SketchDeck customer told Kamau recently that an estimate that once took a month could now be finished in three days.
Most estimating teams find they can double or triple their capacity using LIFT, says Kamau.
"If you have two estimators, you can function like a team of four," says Kamau. "If you have seven, you can function like 14."
The added capacity enables companies to bid on more projects and grow revenue without dramatically increasing the number of estimators they need.
The estimators themselves report greater peace of mind.
"We've had them tell us, 'I can sleep at night because I'm not worried that I missed something,'" says Kamau.
Others say the technology has improved their quality of life by reducing the weekend work associated with preparing bids.
There's a lot of hype around AI for the sake of AI. But technology should be anchored on the pain points and challenges customers have.
Daniel Kamau
Founder and CEO, SketchDeck AI
Building trust and surviving close calls
But getting SketchDeck AI off the ground wasn't easy.
As a non-technical founder launching an AI company, Kamau struggled to raise capital at first.
Fortunately, several early industry partners believed in the concept enough to pay for pilot projects. Those projects helped the company refine its first product while generating revenue and customer feedback. That early traction supported profitability long before SketchDeck began signing commercial software customers at scale.
Still, there were moments of uncertainty. By 2023, after investing heavily in product development, SketchDeck had only weeks of runway left, and its efforts to raise more capital had not yet paid off.
Kamau decided to stop looking for investors and focus entirely on customers. In September of that year, the company signed its first commercial customer. Five more followed in October, then three in November and three more soon after.
"We went from being a month away from extinction to customers buying us time," says Kamau.
Today, the company has about 30 employees (and growing) and serves customers across North America. Kamau says more than $25 billion in bid volume has flowed through its software.
Kamau credits much of that success to staying close to customers.
"There's a lot of hype around AI for the sake of AI," he says. "But technology should be anchored on customers’ pain points and challenges."
Accelerating growth with investment
In spring of 2026, SketchDeck closed a funding round led by Boreal Ventures with participation from BDC Capital and BKR Capital.
The investment is allowing the company to accelerate product development, improving the detection, speed and accuracy of its machine learning model for structural steel. It is also enabling the firm to expand its team and scale across North America.
"We’re investing heavily in our ability to meet demand," says Kamau.
One focus is a new product called Delta, which will help estimators manage design revisions.
Construction projects can change late in the bidding process, forcing estimators to compare new drawings with previous versions and identify differences manually. That process can take several days, often on short notice.
Early users are reporting time savings of 60% to 75% using Delta.
"In some cases, revisions that took five days can now be done in one," says Kamau.
The technology also helps contractors justify changes and avoid disputes with customers by documenting what has changed.
It's rewarding to know we're helping people get home a little earlier. AI applied in the right place can be a massive unlock.
Daniel Kamau
Founder and CEO, SketchDeck AI
Building the future of construction
Competition in AI solutions for construction is increasing, but Kamau sees that as validation rather than a threat.
It's not about being first to talk about AI. It's about delivering value where it matters, says Kamau.
"When we first started the company, very few people were focused on the problem. Now more businesses are recognizing the opportunity."
His broader ambition is unchanged: to accelerate the adoption of AI across the construction industry and eliminate repetitive work.
For Kamau, the ultimate measure of success isn't the technology itself.
It's what the technology gives back to people.
"It's rewarding to know we're helping people get home a little earlier," he says. "AI applied in the right place can be a massive unlock."
Next step
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