How many? How old?

According to a 2025 survey of more than 400 skilled trades professionals by Housecall Pro, nearly 40% of them are using AI in some form.

Of the most popular uses, the majority, 65%, employ AI to create marketing copy, emails and social posts. A smaller group, 29%, is using it for automatic review requests and target ads.

Not surprisingly, tradespeople under 35 are almost twice as likely to use AI as those over 65. But of the 65+ group, almost 60% have tried AI tools, revealing a widespread interest across all age groups. 

Does AI really save time?

Short answer, yes. All of the AI users surveyed—100%—report that they’re saving an average of 3.2 hours per week. That may not sound like much, but when you multiply 3.2 hours by 52 weeks, that’s 166 hours; a savings of nearly 21 8-hour days per year. 

Does it help grow the business?

Here again, the answer is yes. A majority, 57%, responded that AI had helped, or had somewhat helped, their businesses to grow. And 12% said they’d booked more jobs by using AI.

Interestingly, the more AI tools used, the better the chance a business would grow. Of those surveyed, 56% said they were more likely to grow using two or more tools than those only using one tool. 

So why aren’t some businesses adopting it? 

Size is one issue: 27% believe their businesses aren’t big enough to benefit—although adopting AI can help streamline a smaller company to better compete with the big guys. (Remember that earlier figure on hours saved.)

Cost is a factor, albeit a small one. Only 3% felt that they couldn’t afford AI.

The biggest barrier among non-users? 39% said they couldn’t understand what AI could do for them. 

Were those who used AI satisfied with it?

Very much so. 83% of those surveyed said that AI either met or exceeded their expectations by:

• cutting administrative costs

• boosting efficiency 

• strengthening customer retention 

Caution: one size does not fit all.

Simply “using AI” shouldn’t be your goal. You need to sit down and consider what exactly you want it to do. 

At The Graphite Lab, we start by asking you what task is wasting the most time and money. There’s a good chance we have an automation that will address it almost immediately; if not, we’ll build one for you. 

Once you measure the results—and maybe fine tune a bit—we can move on to your second-biggest time-waster. And so on.

Best of all, The Graphite Lab’s automations snap neatly into your existing tech stack, without disrupting your workflow. It’s like an invisible assistant, working in the background to make your operations more efficient.

To find out how AI can work for you, schedule a no-obligation discovery call. 

Our wide-ranging AI platform can help you:

• slash the time you spend on repetitive payroll tasks

• manage your online reviews

• track your techs in real time

• locate phone call recordings almost immediately

And much, much more. Schedule your discovery call now, and learn how The Graphite Lab can help you save time, save money, and grow faster.