Meet the Leaders Bringing AI to the Frontlines of Preconstruction

Preconstruction is where projects are won or lost. Before a single shovel hits the ground, teams are already deep in drawings, takeoffs, and estimates, racing against tight timelines to put together competitive bids. It’s detailed work. It’s time-sensitive. And for the most part, still manual.

That’s where the pressure builds. Because no matter how many opportunities are out there, teams can only bid on what they have the capacity for. And for most, that limit shows up during takeoffs.

That’s the gap a new generation of leaders is working to close.

Meet Shiva Dhawan, Co-Founder & CEO, and Rishabjit Singh, Co-Founder & CTO, of Attentive.ai, a company focused on bringing AI directly into the day-to-day reality of preconstruction. With Beam AI, their flagship product, their focus is on making estimating faster by removing the bottlenecks that slow teams down.

The idea is simple, but it solves a long-standing problem that has plagued the construction industry for way too long. Instead of spending days manually measuring plans, Beam AI analyzes construction drawings and automatically generates detailed takeoffs and structured estimates. This allows bids to be completed significantly faster, allowing teams to respond to more opportunities without stretching themselves thin.

But speed, on its own, doesn’t mean much in preconstruction. Every number carries weight. Every missed detail can impact margins. And that’s exactly why Beam AI doesn’t rely on automation alone. It combines AI with a human-in-the-loop quality-assurance process, ensuring the outputs are reliable and ready to bid.

That balance is intentional. Because at its core, preconstruction is a responsibility. A function where trust matters. Dhawan and Singh’s approach reflects that understanding: build technology that empowers estimators, rather than aiming to replace them.

The result is a meaningful shift in how teams operate. Estimators no longer need to be selective about which bids they pursue. They’re not forced into trade-offs between speed and accuracy, or between one opportunity and another. With less time spent on manual work, they can simply do more, with better consistency. And that changes the game.

Because in a competitive market, the ability to respond faster might just be the difference between winning the project or missing out. AI, in this context, becomes a practical advantage on the frontlines.

Beam AI sits right in the middle of that transition. Reducing time spent on takeoffs and estimates frees teams to focus on higher-value activities, such as reviewing risks, refining pricing strategies, value engineering, relationship building, and much more.

And maybe that’s the bigger shift here.

For Dhawan and Singh, the mission goes beyond efficiency. It’s about giving time back to construction teams and, with it, the ability to operate at a level that wasn’t possible before.

As AI continues to find its place in construction, it’s leaders like them who are helping shape how it actually gets used in day-to-day work.

About the Founders

Shiva Dhawan, Co-Founder & CEO of Attentive.ai, leads the company with a clear belief that AI should solve real, everyday problems for contractors. A mechanical engineer from IIT Delhi, he started Attentive.ai with a simple idea: that AI can unlock immense potential for an industry like construction. Under his leadership, the company has grown rapidly, helping teams rethink how they approach takeoffs and estimating, with Beam AI now supporting 1,200+ customers across the US and Canada.

Alongside him, Rishabjit Singh, Co-Founder & CTO, leads the technology behind the platform. With a background in electrical engineering from IIT Delhi and experience in building scalable systems, he brings deep expertise in computer vision and AI. He drives the engineering efforts that power Beam AI’s accuracy and performance.

Together, they bring a blend of product thinking and technical depth, focused on combining advanced AI with a human layer in order to create a system that prioritizes both speed and reliability.

And today, they continue to lead Beam AI with a clear focus on helping construction teams bid more, improve accuracy, and bring greater efficiency to the frontlines of preconstruction.