In a sense, the construction industry runs on paper. From requests for information (RFIs) and change orders to certificates of insurance and project specifications, every building project generates thousands of documents that must be tracked, shared, and stored, sometimes for years. For most construction companies, this leaves administrative teams drowning in manual processing, project managers hunting through email threads for the latest drawings, and compliance officers losing sleep over missing insurance certificates.
NOVO Construction, a Bay Area general contractor expanding into Central Texas, found a better way. By implementing Box AI, they transformed their document chaos into a streamlined digital operation that processes certificates of insurance with 98% accuracy and centralizes 27TB of project data across all stakeholders.
Key success metrics:
- Centralized 27TB of project data,improving collaboration across teams and partners
- Achieved 98% accuracyin automating certificate of insurance processing with Box AI
- Streamlined RFI summaries for clearer communication and faster decision-making
27TB of project data everywhere — except where teams needed it
Before adopting Box, project documents at NOVO Construction were scattered across laptops, local servers, and endless email chains. This fragmentation slowed workflows and complicated communication among architects, subcontractors, and internal teams.
“Everything was decentralized,” recalls Colin Stoner, CIO at NOVO Construction. “A project file here, maybe a spreadsheet there. Moving to Box allowed us to centralize everything.”
Everything was decentralized. A project file here, maybe a spreadsheet there. Moving to Box allowed us to centralize everything.
But the challenge for NOVO wasn’t just simple file storage. In construction, every project generates critical paperwork that must be retained for years after completion to cover legal, liability, regulatory, warranty, and insurance requirements. Manually managing this sort of document retention complexity created administrative bottlenecks and created a high risk of error or information lost inadvertently. When NOVO evaluated Box, the company sought a solution that could unify content management, support collaboration, and make governance much more streamlined.
From manual processing to 98% automated accuracy
NOVO was an early Box adopter, initially using it to move away from Windows file shares. Over time, the company leveraged Box APIs to integrate content management into its own systems. But the real transformation came when NOVO tapped into Box AI capabilities.
Stoner highlights how Box AI revolutionized NOVO’s handling of unstructured data: “We started taking email threads with extremely unstructured content and forwarding those to Box, which pulls attachments out automatically, then summarizes RFIs with a consistent voice.”
Box AI automatically extracts attached documents from email threads, categorizes them, and makes them searchable within the centralized system, eliminating the manual work of downloading, organizing, and filing attachments. This complex automation delivers two critical benefits: It saves significant time and improves clarity across communications — essential when coordinating complex construction tasks.
By taking email threads with extremely unstructured content and forwarding those to Box, it pulls attachments out automatically, then summarizes RFIs.
The most dramatic improvement came in certificate of insurance (COI) processing. Previously, administrative staff manually reviewed and filed these critical compliance documents, which was a process that could take days or even weeks, especially when COIs arrived in batches. Now, Box AI automatically extracts key information from COIs, validates coverage requirements, and files them in the appropriate project folders with 98% accuracy. What once took hours of manual processing now happens within minutes of receipt, ensuring compliance without burdening staff with tedious manual work.
Building smarter workflows that scale with growth
The measurable benefits of Intelligent Content Management from Box extend across NOVO’s entire operation. By centralizing 27TB of project data, teams and partners can access the files they need instantly. Automated document extraction from emails eliminates hours of manual filing. Consistent RFI summaries, generated automatically using NOVO’s writing guidelines, improve decision speed by ensuring all stakeholders receive information in a clear, standardized format.
COI processing improvements alone have transformed compliance management. Accuracy from automation means administrative teams can now spend their time on exceptions rather than routine processing, while project managers have confidence that insurance requirements are met without delays.
By centralizing 27TB of project data, teams and partners can access the files they need instantly.
Looking ahead, Stoner sees endless possibilities for expanding AI-driven workflows at NOVO, but advocates a measured approach: “There’s some responsibility rolling these out slower — not doing too much at once — to avoid disruption.”
By embracing innovation thoughtfully alongside trusted tools like Box Consulting services (which helped ease transitions), NOVO Construction continues building not just structures but smarter ways to work in today’s fast-paced environment.
“Box has made our data stronger across the enterprise,” says Stoner. “It will be exciting to see how it evolves over the next six to twelve months.”
