Half the Office Staff, Same Output with TJ Laury
TJ Laury of Ben's ProServ on cutting office staffing needs by nearly half with AI, while keeping the human touch that makes home service businesses work.
About This Episode
TJ Laury, President of Ben's ProServ, joins Mustafa on the AI in Trades Podcast to talk about how AI helped a family-run home service business maintain full productivity while cutting its office staffing needs by nearly half.
TJ walks through the practical side of that shift. At Ben's ProServ, AI handles meeting transcriptions, customer communications, blueprint-to-scope-of-work conversions, and field diagnostic support. The result is that staff spend more time on work that actually requires them, while TJ keeps oversight on the decisions that matter most.
He's also deliberate about what AI shouldn't touch. Voice agents started with after-hours calls only, and TJ is in no rush to push them further until the experience is right. His position is consistent throughout: technology should make the team better, not substitute for the relationships that keep clients coming back.
Chapters
- 00:00 Introduction
- 00:29 TJ Laury's journey in the trades
- 06:41 Growing without private equity
- 09:16 Using AI to improve efficiency and profitability
- 12:56 Comparing ChatGPT, Grok, Copilot, and Claude
- 14:04 Turning construction plans into scopes of work
- 17:23 A gradual rollout for AI voice agents
- 18:56 Why customers still want to speak with people
- 20:03 Serving different generations across multiple channels
- 23:26 How AI helps managers, CSRs, and technicians
- 24:25 Increasing revenue by doing more with less
- 28:57 Closing thoughts
About the Guest
TJ Laury is the President of Ben's ProServ, a family-operated HVAC, plumbing, and electrical company serving South Jersey. After growing up in the trades and helping launch the business with his father and brother-in-law, TJ became president following his father's retirement.
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.
