There's one figure I can't get out of my head. According to the digitalisation survey by the German chambers of commerce, around 38 percent of German companies now use AI. In the trades, it's 8 to 10 percent. That gap isn't a statistic — it's an open flank.

Don't get me wrong: I don't think this caution is stupid. A trades business has bigger worries than the next tech toy. Full order books, a shortage of skilled workers, materials getting more expensive. Understandably, "artificial intelligence" isn't top of that list. It sounds like Silicon Valley, not like the workshop.

But that's exactly the point

Leads aren't built when everyone sets off at the same time. They're built in precisely this moment — when most are still hesitating and a few have already started. Whoever takes the first steps in 2026 builds something the hesitant will have to buy in expensively two years from now: routine, experience, a feel for what works and what doesn't.

And no, this isn't about replacing your master craftsman with a robot. The craft itself stays the craft. It's about everything around it — the paperwork, the marketing, the communication that eats up the time you'd rather spend on the actual job.

Let's drop the big word and talk about Tuesday morning. Here are things that already work today, without you having to study computer science:

• Write quotes and emails faster. The same old customer enquiries, the standard quote, the polite rejection — a first draft in seconds instead of over your lunch break.
• Finally keep your website filled. References, service descriptions, a post that explains what you do. Exactly the kind of material that makes you visible on Google and in AI search — and that there was never time for.
• Social media without the drama. A photo from the building site turns into a post with text. No agency contract, no weekend shift.
• Reply to reviews. Politely, professionally, even with the tricky three-star review, without losing your temper in the evening.

How to start without getting lost

My honest advice: start small. Pick a single annoying, recurring task — the one that makes you sigh every time. Solve that one with AI. If it works, take the next one. Nobody has to turn their whole business upside down. The trick isn't the grand move, it's the first step.

The eight to ten percent who've already started aren't smarter than you. They just took the first step earlier. And that's the only hurdle that really counts.