Blue Collar Techie.
AI strategy for plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing & paving businesses

AI STRATEGY FOR
TRADE BUSINESSES
BUILT ON SWEAT

You didn't build your business by guessing. Don't let the hype replace your instincts. I help trade businesses stop losing missed calls, follow up on every lead, and get hours back each week — without tearing out how you already run the shop.

Book a Strategy Session — $250Free 5-Minute Self-Check

Full refund if you don't leave with an actionable roadmap — just say so within 30 days. See how it works

10+
Years Engineering
Queens
NYC Business Owner
Real
Trade Experience
10+
Years as Software Engineer & Tech Lead
Queens
NYC — 1-800-STRIPER Business Owner
Both
Sides of the Table — Tech & Trades
Real
ROI Focus — No Fluff
The Process

HOW IT WORKS

From booking to a roadmap you can act on in three steps. Fewer missed calls, faster lead follow-up, hours back each week — real recommendations for your specific business, not generic advice.

  1. $250 Strategy Session

    Book & Pay

    Book your 45-minute session online. You'll get a confirmation email with your calendar link and a personal intake link.

  2. Just talk — no forms

    Five-Minute Voice Intake

    Before we meet, a short voice conversation asks what you do, how big the team is, and what you want to dig into. I use it, plus my own research, to come in prepared.

  3. 45 minutes with Rakin

    Your Strategy Session

    We skip the catch-up and go straight to strategy: your highest-leverage opportunities and a tiered roadmap — quick wins, team empowerment, and long-term systems.

Inside the Process

SEE WHAT ACTUALLY
HAPPENS

Not a pitch deck. Here's the real workflow — from the moment you speak to the moment you leave with a roadmap.

Listening...

The intake asks the questions Rakin would ask first — so the session starts where a normal first call ends.

Conversation
2:14
R
Tell me a little about what you do — what kind of business is it, and how big's your team?
M
HVAC, mostly residential. Twelve guys in the field, one dispatcher. Jobs come in by call or text and she writes them on a notepad.
R
Got it. And what are you hoping to dig into with Rakin — what's top of mind right now?
M
Honestly it comes to me. I'm out in the field most days so she just calls or texts. Half the time I'm on the roof when she reaches me.
R
How many of those calls are you fielding from the job site in a typical week?
M
I don't know, maybe 10? 15? Some days it doesn't stop. It's a lot.
R
Step 1 of 5
Services

THREE WAYS
WE WORK TOGETHER

Every engagement starts with the session. That clarity shapes everything that comes after.

Compare all three side by side →

Start Here

Strategy Session

$250
Voice intake + 45-minute session

A fraction of what generic AI consultants charge for a first meeting — and yours comes with a roadmap, not a slide deck.

A prepared, one-on-one strategy session that leaves you with a clear, prioritized roadmap across three horizons of your business.

  • Quick wins — tools that pay off in 30 days
  • Workforce enhancement strategy
  • Long-term systems roadmap
  • Tiered priority recommendations
  • Take-home implementation guide
  • Full refund within 30 days if it wasn't worth it
Book Now — $250
Most Popular

Implementation & Team Uplevel

Custom
Scoped per project

Scoped and quoted in writing after your session. You see the number before anything gets built.

Hands-on implementation of the tools and workflows identified in your session. We build it with you, not just for you.

  • Tool selection & setup
  • Team training & adoption
  • Prompt and workflow design for your team
  • Agentic workflow design
  • 30-day check-in & optimization
Book a Session First
Full Partnership

Systems & Data Strategy

Retainer
Ongoing partnership

Monthly retainer, quoted after your session. No long-term lock-in.

Purpose-built systems powered by your proprietary data. This is where your moat gets built.

  • Proprietary data strategy & architecture
  • Custom agents and automations you own
  • In-house software you own
  • Data governance & compliance
  • Ongoing operations support
Book a Session First

Full refund if you don't leave with an actionable roadmap — just say so within 30 days. Secure checkout by Stripe.

No free discovery call

WHY I CHARGE FOR
THE FIRST CONVERSATION

Most consultants offer a “free discovery session.” That's a sales call with your name on it. You spend 30 minutes explaining your business so they can sell you into a five-figure commitment.

I don't do that. For $250 you get an affordable, technically in-depth conversation with an expert who shows up already knowing your business. The advice you leave with is the product, not the pitch — and a bigger build only happens if it makes sense for you.

That $250 can save you from a $5,000 build that was never going to move the needle in your business to begin with.

Book a Strategy Session — $250

I do the homework first

Before we ever get on a call I've listened to your intake, researched your trade and your market, and mapped where technology actually pays in a business shaped like yours. Hours of prep go in before the 45 minutes start.

An expert, at a price that makes sense

For $250 you get a technically in-depth conversation with someone who has run crews and shipped production systems — the kind of talk a company pays a fractional CTO or a forward-deployed engineer for. Not a sales rep reading from a script.

Wins you take with you either way

You leave knowing where you actually stand, with short-term wins you can act on this month. If a bigger build makes sense for you, we talk about it. If it doesn't, you still got your money's worth — and I'll tell you so.

Money back. No questions asked.

If you don't leave with an actionable roadmap, tell me within 30 days. I refund the $250 in full to the card you paid with. No forms, no argument, no hard feelings.

Client Work

REAL AUTOMATION. REAL RESULTS.

From restaurant back-offices to design studios — bespoke automation built for how each business actually works.

Bessou logo — Japanese restaurant at Pier 57, New York City, and a Blue Collar Techie automation client

Bessou

Pier 57, New York City

Japanese Restaurant
Purchase Order Automation

Scans the vendor email inbox and parses incoming order documents across a variety of formats and layouts. Maps vendor identities, order line items, and quantities to Shopify draft purchase orders via API — with custom rule logic for different vendor types. Notifies the internal team via Slackbot when a new PO is ready for review.

“Vendor orders land in Shopify before the next shift — no manual entry, no missed invoices.”
Bessou featured inBon AppétitNYTWSJEater
karlssonwilker logo — New York City graphic design studio and a Blue Collar Techie automation client

karlssonwilker

New York City

Graphic Design Studio
Proposal Intelligence Agent

Built a Claude-powered proposal agent connected to the studio's Google Drive. A memory layer of past proposals trains the agent on karlssonwilker's voice and style. For each new engagement, the agent researches the client, ingests project briefs and meeting summaries, and generates category-specific first drafts — covering signage & wayfinding, brand identity, environmental graphics, and more.

“First-draft proposals that sound like the studio, not a chatbot — ready in minutes, not days.”
Studio teamJan WilkerHjalti KarlssonVera Yuan
Rakin Zaman, founder of Blue Collar Techie Consulting and owner of 1-800-STRIPER of Queens, NYC

Rakin Zaman

Founder, Blue Collar Techie Consulting

The Engineer
  • —10+ years as a software engineer & technical lead
  • —JPMorgan Chase — enterprise systems at global scale
  • —Scaled a midsize edtech startup through successful acquisition
  • —Big data, ETL & data science for a national health nonprofit
The Business Owner
  • —Owner of 1-800-STRIPER, Queens, NYC
  • —Managed field crews, client relationships, and operations
  • —Understands scheduling, invoicing, and cash flow from the ground up
  • —Knows the difference between theory and what works on the job site
Goldman Sachs 10K Small Businesses AlumHarvard Data Science Intensive
1-800-STRIPER
Queens, NYC
About

I'VE BEEN ON
BOTH SIDES

I know what it's like to be on a job site at 6am coordinating a crew. I know what it's like to chase an invoice, handle a difficult client, and figure out if you can afford another hire. I built and run 1-800-STRIPER in Queens, NYC.

I also know what it's like to build systems that never sleep. I've engineered at JPMorgan Chase, helped navigate a midsize edtech company through a successful acquisition, and built big data pipelines for a national health nonprofit. Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alum. Harvard Data Science Intensive graduate.

Most AI consultants have never had calluses. Most business owners don't have a computer science background. I sit at that intersection — and that's exactly why I built this practice.

I'm not selling you hype. I'm telling you exactly where technology can reduce your costs, grow your margins, and build a business that compounds over time.

Let's Talk — $250 SessionWhat I've shipped lately →
The Real Advantage

YOUR MOAT IS
ALREADY BUILT

Every business guru is selling AI as the secret weapon. The truth? The businesses that win aren't the ones who adopt it first. They're the ones who understand what they already have.

Domain Knowledge

AI can't replicate 25 years on the job site.

A plumber who can sense water pressure problems by sound. A paving contractor who knows what the asphalt feels like when it's wrong. A roofer who can read weather patterns before the forecast. That knowledge is irreplaceable — and it's your edge.

Proprietary Data

Your client list, your reputation, your systems.

Every job you've completed. Every client relationship you've built. Every process your team has perfected over years. This is data no startup can buy, and no competitor can replicate overnight. It's your true moat.

The Amplifier

Not a replacement. A force multiplier.

When the right technology is layered on top of your domain knowledge and proprietary data, it becomes something powerful — a system that works for you, learns your business, and multiplies what you already do well.

“The businesses that will dominate aren't the ones chasing the newest tools. They're the ones that understand their data is the weapon.”

— Rakin Zaman, Blue Collar Techie Consulting
Built by Rakin

PROJECTS & AUTOMATIONS

These aren't concept demos. Every tool here runs in production, solving real problems in the real world.

Voice × AI

CallScope AI

Voice-first estimating for field service contractors. Record scope on-site → AI extracts details and matches pricing → send-ready estimate in under 3 minutes.

  • On-site voice recording + call import
  • AI scope extraction with pricing match
  • One-click PDF generation & email delivery
GroqWhisperClaudeGeminipgvector
Live site
Data × Civic

Pothole Politics

NYC housing data dashboard for community advocates and policy researchers. Surfaces hyperlocal insights across boroughs with trend overlays and exportable views.

  • Borough-level housing breakdowns
  • Trend analysis and data overlays
  • Exportable data views for research
Next.jsSupabasePostgreSQL
Live site
Automation × Personal

Concierge

Personal Airbnb agent that fully automates HOA rental application paperwork — watches reservations, fills forms, sends emails, and listens to voice commands from Mochi the robot.

  • Cron-scheduled PDF auto-fill & email submission
  • Voice control via Reachy Mini robot
  • Audit trail dashboard with live PDF preview
PythonFlaskSupabaseGuesty APIReportLab
Live site
FAQ

COMMON
QUESTIONS

Limited spots per month

READY TO BUILD
YOUR MOAT?

Your competition is already looking at AI. The question is whether they build it on hype — or whether you build it on the thing they can't copy: your knowledge and your data.

Book a Strategy Session — $250

Full refund if you don't leave with an actionable roadmap — just say so within 30 days.

Five-minute voice intake. 45-minute session. Take-home roadmap. Secure checkout by Stripe. Card details never touch our servers.