The background
Pariseault Builders does a lot of business in healthcare—a sector that demands prior experience and deep knowledge. COO Chris Integlia explains it: “Anyone can’t walk off the street and do a project in a healthcare facility. One of the barriers to entry is, how long have you been working in healthcare?”
This prerequisite in turn requires something most contractors struggle to track: detailed knowledge of who has done what, where, and when. For years, Pariseault tracked this data the way most builders do: in a spreadsheet.
The challenge
Chasing accuracy with spreadsheets
Before Bridgit, Pariseault was attempting—and often failing—to track the ins and outs of their workforce in an ever-evolving spreadsheet.
“The data that was in that Excel spreadsheet was typically characterized by one person’s memory—or lack thereof—and qualitative assessments of role capabilities by employee,” Chris explains. “It was difficult to harness. It was difficult to implement and update consistently. It just took a long time. At best it was probably 50% accurate, and it was 100% inaccurate within about an hour and a half of being deployed.”
The spreadsheet wasn’t just unreliable, it was also a blocker for collaboration.
Field operations didn’t talk to HR. Training and certifications had no link to upcoming projects. The active project list got pruned because keeping the spreadsheet alive was exhausting on its own, never mind layering in pursuits, certifications, or future staffing needs.
Downstream costs showed up everywhere. Field crews felt yanked from job to job without notice. “There was a perceived disrespect,” Integlia says. “There was no real disrespect there, but they felt disrespected. They were sent to jobs where they weren’t really needed.”
To compound the issues, project executives chasing pursuits had no way to see whether the team they wanted would actually be available a year and a half out.
The solution
The right tool without a fight
Integlia is candid about what usually happens when he rolls out new software. “Normally when I have to implement a new tool, I have to push for a long period of time to get people to see it.”
Bridgit was different.
“Bridgit was able to effectively convince a wide range of people from different walks of life in this industry to accept it. And that’s pretty atypical,” he says. “I got project executives, I got field operations people, I got superintendents, all jumping on board and contributing. We are making keystrokes in the system, which speaks to the functionality of the tool.”
Within months, operations, HR, and the field were working from a single source of truth for who was on what, who was coming off, and who needed certifications before the next job kicked off.
From silos to a team event
Ask Integlia what’s changed in a year with Bridgit and it all boils down to coordination.
“Now we not only have all the active projects, we have all the pursuits,” he says. “From a project executive viewpoint, they’re less excited about what’s going on in real time and more excited about what’s coming up. Can you fulfill my staffing needs? Am I going to get this job? Now with Bridgit, all of leadership is able to see one platform and they’re collaborating across the board, which is making us very effective.”
That collaboration shows up in places Pariseault never had visibility before. “We’ve got guys already on an existing job, already pre-planned a year and a half out for the next job, getting certifications and training that might be unique for that job so they can just hit the road running when they get there. We never had that before.”
People in the field feel the difference too.
“Now, because we’re doing the proper planning, things are smoother. There’s more proactive communication. There’s a higher level of respect,” Integlia says.
HR isn’t getting ambushed anymore, either. “No one’s running into their office and saying I need a superintendent tomorrow. Which is what used to happen.”
Unlocking data insights
Bridgit AI enters the chat
Building on the value Bridgit has unlocked so far, Ask Bridgit was introduced to Pariseault. This conversational AI assistant lets their team query workforce data in plain language. It was an immediate hit with the team.
“The very first thing I did, I started typing. I said, ‘show me all the employees with AED certification.’ Normally I’d have to run a report, but bang, up it came. Then I started saying, ‘tell me all my employees with OSHA 10.’ Then OSHA 30, because they may not have 10, they may have 30.”
“These are all things that I was getting answers to within seconds that historically I’d have to run a report for, and under our old Excel method could never have gotten. I’d be in an HR file, waist deep in antiquated information to try to figure that out.”
The reaction wasn’t limited to the C-suite. One of Pariseault’s business unit directors used Ask Bridgit to instantly pull up length of service for team members with healthcare experience, the exact stat project owners want to see. “The ability to answer these questions and to harvest this and to show our clients, or even show ourselves, is fantastic,” Integlia says.
Ask Bridgit is also the moment data entry started paying dividends.
“People appreciate that all the work they’ve done building a database comes full circle and is useful,” he says. “Ask Bridgit is giving us actionable data that management can use. It’s making the case for putting the data into Bridgit. Spend the time, put it in, because later on you’re going to get the benefits of it.”
Asked how he’d explain Bridgit to a peer, Integlia doesn’t hedge. “Unless you’re addicted to pain, you’ve got to move over to this platform. It’s efficient, it’s accurate, it gives you actionable management data. You’re going to go from a siloed event to a team event, and you’re going to be making team decisions.”
“Unless you’re addicted to pain, you’ve got to move over to this platform. It’s efficient, it’s accurate, it gives you actionable management data. You’re going to go from a siloed event to a team event, and you’re going to be making team decisions.”
Chris Integlia
Chief Operating Officer, Pariseault Builders
What’s next?
Pariseault is still in what Integlia calls “the infancy” of its journey with Bridgit, and he’s already looking at where to push next. Project tagging is high on his list: capturing the unique characteristics of a job (complicated MEPs, ground-up builds, accelerated schedules) and connecting those tags to experience tracking so BD can pitch with confidence.
The team has also started using Bridgit beyond traditional projects, tagging training as its own category and tying scheduled training to the certifications people need on the job. “We’ve gone from clawing our eyes out to get training scheduled and completed, to it’s just a matter of course now.”
For Integlia, the reason Pariseault keeps leaning in is part platform and part the people behind it.
“Open, honest, two-way dialogue is what makes a true partnership. Someone wrote good code, they made great functionality. But at the end of the day, it has to evolve through dialogue. And Bridgit has great people. Whoever gets this platform also gets the people.”
