On the fence about AI?
What are your service records worth?
Here's one thing AI is good for: AI companies are paying established trades businesses for the job records, estimates and know-how they already keep. CHI finds out what yours are worth and gets you paid.
Skeptical about AI? Fair.
Most of what you hear is hype. Here's what it's actually good for in a trades business, starting with money you can count.
It can pay you
AI companies license real job records to learn how work actually gets done. Your old files can become a check.
It can train your new hires
An assistant built on your own records answers "how do we do this job?" the way your best tech would.
It keeps what your best people know
When a 30-year tech retires, the way he diagnoses a unit doesn't have to leave with him.
What it isn't: a replacement for your crew. AI can't fix a roof. It learns from the people who can.
Definition
CHI Collective Human Intelligence
noun
- What artificial intelligence really is: the knowledge of many people, gathered and run through an algorithm to find an answer.
- Better answers come from more perspectives. Twenty people's records hold twenty ways to solve the same problem. There's more than one right way, and sometimes there's a best way. AI lets us learn from other people's trial and error.
What's happening
AI needs real work records
The internet can teach a machine what a roof is. It can't teach it how one actually gets fixed. That knowledge lives in the records established firms keep.
Buyers are paying for them
In October 2026, one buyer, micro1, committed $1 billion over twelve months to license company operating data. Another, Polyshares, has published construction-sector deals of $300,000 and $450,000.
Most owners don't know yet
The programs look for companies with 30+ staff and years of documentation. Plenty of Florida trades firms qualify and have never been asked.
Sources: The Next Web, Oct 2026 (micro1 program); DDIY, Oct 2026 (Polyshares published construction deals). Figures are each buyer's own published numbers, not offers. CHI is independent and has no agreement with any buyer named here.
Is your company a fit?
Three questions. You'll see right away which path makes sense for you.
What we do
One path from filing cabinet to paycheck. Every client leaves with something useful, even one too small to sell.
- 1
Talk
A free data inventory call. We go through what you keep and where it lives.
- 2
Value
The assessment puts a dollar range on your records and names the buyers who fit.
- 3
Choose
Sell older history, lease it for recurring income, or keep it.
- 4
Get paid
Buyers pay in weeks, not years.
- 5
Reinvest
Proceeds fund team bonuses and your company's own AI system.
What sells, and what never does
Buyers want the trail a competent crew leaves behind: service histories, estimates and work orders, SOPs and training material, photos and project files, and years of connected records that show how jobs actually run.
What never sells: your pricing, your bids, your customer lists, or anyone's personal details. Sell your history, not your playbook.
See what sells in your tradeWhy owners use CHI instead of applying alone
You can apply to buyer programs yourself, and some owners should. Here's what changes when CHI does it with you.
| Applying on your own | With CHI | |
|---|---|---|
| Who you deal with | Web forms and remote reps | Alexander, in person, in Manatee and Sarasota County |
| Removing personal details | Some programs leave it to you | We do it, and you check a sample before signing |
| Paper records | Usually don't count | Scanned and indexed so older years add value |
| Number of buyers | One application per program | We take your records to several buyers so you can compare offers |
| Exclusivity | Some buyers ask for a permanent exclusive license by default | We point it out in plain words and you decide |
| Your team | Not part of the deal | A share pool for the people who built the records |
| If you're too small | Turned away | We build your own AI on the records instead |
Where the money goes
Reward your team
The people whose know-how built the records share in what those records earn, through a contribution pool that partly vests over 12 to 24 months.
Build your own AI
Put the cleaned records to work on hardware in your building, so new hires can ask "how do we do this job?" and get your answer.
Strengthen the business
Cash to buy equipment, pay down debt or build a cushion, from an asset that was sitting in boxes and old drives.
Why CHI
I started my career in the trades. Then I spent fifteen years selling enterprise software, watching big companies turn their data into an advantage while the shops I came from kept theirs in filing cabinets.
Alexander Cook, founder
Local. In person. Florida only.
Read the storyQuestions owners ask
Will I lose my records?
No. You keep the originals. Buyers receive a de-identified copy of only what you sign off on.
Will competitors see my data?
No. Buyers are AI companies building models, and everything is de-identified first. Pricing, bids and customer lists are never part of a sale.
Am I too small?
Most buyer programs want 30 or more staff. If you're under that, we'll build your own AI on your records instead, so they still pay off.
Am I locked into one buyer?
Not unless you choose to be. Some buyers ask for exclusive rights, sometimes permanently. We flag that in plain words, compare it with offers that don't, and you decide.
What does the first call cost?
Nothing. It's 30 minutes on what records you have and whether a buyer would want them.
Find out what your records are worth.
The first call is free. Thirty minutes, no paperwork, no obligation.