Engineering firms
AI for engineering firms: the back office around the engineering
Search for AI for engineering firms and you'll find tools for calculations, code, and design. This page covers the rest of the work at a small civil, structural, or MEP firm: statements of qualifications for public RFPs, proposals that need follow-up, project correspondence to track, timesheets to collect, and invoices against each task to chase. TeamShift gives small engineering firms a hosted team of AI workers for that back office. Professional engineers keep the engineering and approve what goes to clients.
Get started free Or text us what is slippingDirect answer
Engineering firms: the short answers
What can AI do for a small engineering firm?
Outside design and analysis tools, AI for engineering firms can run the back office: finding public RFPs and RFQs that fit your services, drafting statements of qualifications from past projects, drafting proposal and invoice follow-ups for a principal's OK, tracking project correspondence and deadlines, and collecting staff timesheets. Calculations, design, stamped documents, and professional judgment stay with licensed engineers.
Can AI help an engineering firm respond to RFPs and RFQs?
Yes, with the engineers in charge. TeamShift's Research worker finds solicitations that match your services and summarizes requirements and deadlines with sources. The Sales worker drafts the statement of qualifications or proposal from your past project descriptions and resumes. A principal sets the approach, checks every claim, and approves the submission.
Is it safe for engineers to use AI on project work?
Use AI for administration and sourced research, and keep it away from engineering judgment. TeamShift doesn't perform calculations or design, and it doesn't sign or stamp anything. It reads only what you allow in Company Brain, and anything sent to a client or agency waits for approval, with an audit trail of every step.
Who does what
The jobs your team takes
Operations lead
- Tracks project correspondence and deliverable dates and lists what's waiting on an engineer in the morning brief.
Sales worker
- Drafts statements of qualifications and proposals from past project sheets and resumes, and drafts follow-ups on proposals awaiting award for your OK.
Finance worker
- Drafts follow-ups on invoices by project and task for your OK and keeps the firm's QuickBooks reconciled at month-end.
People worker
- Collects weekly timesheets by project, screens applicants for drafter and EIT roles, and proposes interview times for your OK.
Content worker
- Drafts project profiles for your website and LinkedIn from completed work.
Research worker
- Finds public RFPs and RFQs that match your disciplines and summarizes scope, requirements, and deadlines with sources.
Stays with you
What never runs without you
- Calculations, design, and engineering judgment
- Stamping and signing documents
- Fees, scope, and proposal commitments
- Approving submissions and client messages
Anything that sends, pays, publishes, or deletes waits for your OK, and every step is recorded. How approval works.
By the numbers
The numbers behind it
- U.S. engineering services establishments (NAICS 54133): 62,590 establishments with 1,199,635 employees
- Office clerks, general (43-9061): $45,010 median annual wage
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
FAQ
Questions owners ask
Does TeamShift do engineering work?
No. It handles proposals, correspondence, timesheets, invoicing, and hiring admin. Engineering stays with your engineers.
Can it submit a proposal to an agency?
It can prepare the submission. Sending it waits for a principal's approval.
Will it overstate our experience in an SOQ?
It drafts from your own project records, and the Research worker says when evidence is thin. A principal checks every claim before approving.
How is it billed?
The workspace is free and work is billed by usage at 3x compute cost, with a maximum quoted before each job starts. There are no seats or subscription.
Pricing
Pay by usage, not per seat
Creating your workspace is free. The work your team runs is billed at 3x its compute cost, quoted with a maximum before it starts. No subscription, no seats, no per-job products. See pricing.