(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
Let’s Recap:
- New AI Agents for construction firms
- New AI Agents for accounting
- New AI agents for property management
- New AI agents for healthcare firms
- New AI agents for marketing professionals
Construction ERP Provider CMiC Launches AI Agents That Can Create Jobs, Budgets and Invoices Using Natural Language
At its Connect 2026 conference CMiC — a Toronto-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software provider for the construction industry — introduced NexusAI. The artificial intelligence platform is designed to help construction companies streamline project management, financial operations and administrative tasks. Users can create construction jobs, budgets and invoices through conversational requests. Teams can access project updates and alerts and can upload documents or enter natural-language instructions to initiate business processes. The company also highlighted improvements to payroll security and project visibility across the platform. CMiC’s chief product officer Steve Cangiano commented on the efficiency that NexusAI offers, “With these new AI-powered capabilities, job costing runs more efficiently and accurately, payroll data is better protected, and project teams have real-time visibility across every phase of work.” (Source: GlobeNewswire)
Why this is important for your small business:
Construction firms, historically understaffed, are very much in need of automation to streamline their back office and better cost jobs. They’re still waiting for robots to put up drywall or lay foundations, but those days aren’t here yet.
Collective Raises $100 Million to Automate Accounting, Bookkeeping, Payroll and Taxes for Solo Entrepreneurs
With the number of solopreneurs hitting record levels, fintech firm Collective which specializes in services for self-employed entrepreneurs and small businesses, has raised $100 million to expand its AI-powered financial management platform. The company plans to use the funding to further develop the technology. Key features include LLC formation to help entrepreneurs with important business and tax structures. An accounting and bookkeeping feature automates categorization of expenses, salary processing, and tax management. The platform also includes AI-powered customer service support that can resolve approximately 50 percent of support requests. Collective describes the platform as a “self-driving operating system for businesses of one” and estimates it has helped self-employed entrepreneurs collectively save approximately $350 million in taxes. The $100 million funding includes a $40 million Series B investment led by General Catalyst, QED Investors and Gradient Ventures, with participation from Intuit Ventures and other investors. (Source: Collective)
Why this is important for your small business:
There are a number of AI-powered bookkeeping and financial solutions maturing in the marketplace now and it’s not surprising, considering how so much of these tasks are mundane, repetitive and easily automated. I like the business formation capabilities of Collective. This type of app is right up the alley of startup entrepreneurs and freelancers, and considering there have been millions of these in the past few years it’s a market with many opportunities.
MRI Software Introduces AI Agents That Automate Rent Collections, Leasing and Property Maintenance
MRI Software — a Cleveland-based global provider of real estate management software — has expanded MRI Agora — an AI-powered platform with new features designed to automate leasing, property management and financial operations. The system provides 20 automated real estate workflows powered by nearly 250 AI agents to help commercial and residential property managers reduce administrative work, improve rent collection and respond to leasing and maintenance inquiries at any given time. Agora Intelligence and Agora Orchestrator are two core facets of the technology: Agora Intelligence analyzes leasing, financial and operational data to identify potential problems, such as overdue rent. Agora Orchestrator uses AI agents to automate workflows involving rent collection, leasing and financial management. According to the company, MRI Software serves more than six million users across more than 45,000 clients in over 170 countries. (Source: MRI Software)
Why this is important for your small business:
I have a number of clients that serve as landlords and property managers and it’s not surprising that AI can help them automate many of these processes. There is a lot of time being spent by these companies doing these tasks with humans, when AI can make these resources much more productive.
Cordial Launches Platform That Lets Marketers Access Customer Data Directly Through ChatGPT, Claude and Microsoft Copilot
San Diego-based marketing tech company Cordial has launched a new headless customer data platform (CDP) to help businesses access and analyze customer information directly through AI assistants. The company which specializes in AI-powered customer engagement focuses on providing marketers with valuable insights as they manage and analyze data. Marketers can ask conversational questions to examine customer purchasing patterns, preferences and engagement histories. The AI identifies valuable customer groups based on purchasing behavior, preferences, and the likelihood of making future purchases. Businesses can combine Cordial’s customer information with data from Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Shopify, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Databricks and Snowflake. Retailers including Boot Barn and Torrid are already using the technology to analyze customer audiences and pinpoint marketing opportunities. (Source: Cordial)
Why this is important for your small business:
It’s the smart move. Software companies that enable their systems to be connected to the popular AI chatbot platforms are positioning themselves for the future where most of the work will be done out of those systems, but driven by their data.
Assort Health Expands AI Receptionists to Handle Patient Registration, Insurance Information and Payments
Assort Health — a San Francisco-based healthcare technology company specializing in AI-powered patient engagement — has expanded its Patient Journey Platform with new digital intake and payment capabilities to automate administrative tasks and simplify interactions between patients and healthcare providers. The enhancements extend Assort Health’s existing AI agents beyond appointment scheduling, referrals and patient outreach to include patient registration and payment collection. Features include automated patient intake via AI agents that fill out forms and retrieve data from health records; the agents can coordinate scheduling and referrals while storing information about patients’ medical needs; and follow up on incomplete registration forms, outstanding payments and unresolved referrals. The goal is to give healthcare professionals more time with patients rather than dealing with an overload of paperwork. (Source: Assort Health)
Why this is important for your small business:
AI is expanding among small businesses and one area that I see very much impacted is virtual receptionists, which are getting smarter and more reliable daily.
