How AI Found $225K in Lost Work with Josh Campbell
Josh Campbell walks through a decade of early AI adoption at Rescue Air, including a $225K work recovery and how tech-forward operations affect valuation.
About This Episode
In 2025, AI-generated follow-up at Rescue Air and Plumbing sold roughly $225,000 in work that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. That number is a useful entry point into a longer conversation about what more than a decade of early technology adoption actually produces.
Josh Campbell, founder of Rescue Air and Plumbing, joins Mustafa on the AI in Trades Podcast to share what he learned building a technology-forward HVAC and plumbing company in Dallas-Fort Worth, taking it through a private equity partnership, and serving as an early design partner for several AI platforms now used across the trades.
The conversation covers the practical side of that journey. Josh explains how tools like Rilla, Avoca, Hatch, and UpSmith showed up in the business before most operators had heard of them, and what that willingness to experiment produced in call coverage, technician coaching, and sales support. He also argues that early AI adoption is not just an operational advantage but a valuation one. A single additional turn in an EBITDA multiple, he points out, can create millions of dollars in value. Beyond the numbers, Josh addresses AI search, Yelp's possible comeback, online pricing visibility, back-office automation, and the internal champion every AI platform needs to actually work.
Chapters
- 00:00 Introduction
- 00:23 Josh Campbell's path from the trades to entrepreneurship
- 01:51 Selling the business and working with private equity
- 03:26 From Yellow Pages to AI-driven marketing
- 06:30 Why Rescue Air became an early AI adopter
- 09:52 How AI adoption can increase company valuation
- 13:29 Scaling without adding unnecessary labor
- 15:00 Building AI products as an early design partner
- 15:47 How AI recovered $225,000 in overlooked work
- 17:20 Using AI to coach technicians and support sales
- 18:36 When AI should answer customer calls
- 21:56 How Yelp could influence AI search
- 24:00 Lead quality from chat and messaging platforms
- 25:04 Why Yelp may make a comeback
- 26:38 Online pricing and AI visibility
- 28:43 Using AI in bookkeeping and the back office
- 30:13 Why every AI tool needs an internal champion
- 31:41 Josh's personal AI toolkit
- 34:18 Closing thoughts
About the Guest
Josh Campbell grew up in a multi-generational trades family and founded Rescue Air and Plumbing in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2014. Over the following decade, he built it into one of the more technology-forward residential HVAC and plumbing operations in the region, adopted AI tools well ahead of the broader market, and led the company through a private equity partnership. Along the way, he became an early design partner for several AI vendors now serving the trades at scale.
About AI in Trades
AI in Trades is a podcast from Peaka exploring how artificial intelligence is changing home services, field service operations, contractor growth, and the future of work in the trades. Each episode features operators, technology leaders, and business owners discussing practical ways AI is showing up in the field, in the office, and across trade businesses.
