How Swain Electric Transformed Its AP Workflow with AI
At this month’s EKC Construction Technology Webinar, Matt Robinson, CFO of Swain Electric, joined Rishi, CEO and Co-Founder of Beiing Human, and Erin (host) to tackle one of construction’s biggest back-office challenges — accounts payable (AP) document routing.
From paper invoices to AI-powered automation, Matt shared how Swain Electric reimagined its AP process to save time, reduce errors, and give people back their attention.
The Hidden Work Behind Every Project
When we think of construction, we picture job sites — not invoice approvals. Yet behind every project sits a maze of costs, purchase orders, and delivery tickets that must be verified, coded, and approved.
“We process over a thousand invoices a month,” Matt explained. “Matching delivery tickets to invoices and keying everything manually used to take forever — and even small errors could cause delays.”
Automation That Thinks Like a Human
That changed when Swain Electric adopted Beiing Human, an AI-based workflow automation platform built for construction finance.
Rishi shared how it works:
“Our system combines computer vision, layout detection, and language understanding to interpret invoices the same way a human would — but faster and more accurately. And we keep the human in the loop, showing confidence levels so users know where to focus.”
Now, invoices are emailed directly into Beiing Human. The system extracts vendor names, dates, amounts, and cost codes automatically — while AP staff simply verify and approve.
“It does the data entry for us,” said Matt. “Our people spend time checking accuracy, not typing.”
Smarter Approvals and Instant Access
With Beiing Human, Swain Electric moved approvals upstream, routing them directly to the right project managers before payment. Each invoice is also indexed and linked in Foundation Software, making it easy to pull up records instantly.
“No more file cabinets,” Matt said. “If someone wants to review an old invoice, they just click and it’s there.”
Overcoming Tech Adoption Challenges
Matt admits the biggest challenge wasn’t technical — it was human.
“Some people love new tools. Others don’t. We start with a few early adopters who test it and become champions. Once the rest see the time savings, it clicks.”
Rishi agreed:
“We don’t lead with the tech. We lead with the problem. Once people realize automation frees their time, not replaces it, adoption becomes much easier.”
AI Beyond Invoicing
Beyond AP automation, AI is beginning to transform other areas of construction finance — from converting PDFs into structured data for sureties to automating reporting.
“AI is becoming the bridge between systems that don’t talk to each other,” Rishi said. “It helps vendors and ERPs connect seamlessly.”
What’s Next for Beiing Human
Rishi also revealed new updates coming soon:
- Smart notifications so no comment or task gets missed
- Q&A threads tied directly to specific invoices
- Generative AI summaries that condense long back-and-forth activity into a quick, five-line recap
“We’re careful with generative AI,” Rishi added. “It should bring clarity — not complexity.”
The CFO’s New Role
For Matt, automation hasn’t just changed workflows — it’s reshaped how he sees his own role.
“The question is always: does this add value for our customer? The less friction in our processes, the better our data and decisions. That’s the future of construction finance.”
Connect with the Speakers
Rishi, CEO, Beiing Human — rishi@beiinghuman.com | LinkedIn
Matt Robinson, CFO, Swain Electric
Watch the full webinar recording → here
