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Published by J9 Systems. What's new in business tech, and what it means for yours.

From the brief of Wednesday, October 28, 2026 · No. 15

From the daily brief · AI

Procore adds AI crew-ranking SmartBench to Boards, live Oct. 26 for Resource Planning users

If you already pay for Procore Resource Planning, morning dispatch just got a ranked shortlist; if you don't, this is not a reason to buy it.

By Carter Josephson · · 2 min read

What happened

On Oct. 26, 2026, Procore made a rebuilt Procore Boards generally available as part of Procore Resource Planning, with SmartBench, an AI assistant that ranks available workers for an open slot by skill and tag match, availability and proximity to the job. The update also totals each person's workload across all their assignments, lets dispatchers assign or transfer several people or pieces of equipment across jobs at once, and adds Org Chart and Resource Breakdown views.

What it means for a 10-to-50-person business

This only matters to contractors already on Procore Resource Planning, which is a separate product from core Procore project management. Everyone else can ignore it. Take a 30-person electrical subcontractor with 18 field staff across 5 jobs. Assume the office manager spends 25 minutes each morning reshuffling crews after call-outs and early finishes, at $35/hr. Over 250 workdays that is about 104 hours, or roughly $3,650 a year. If SmartBench cuts that by a third, the shop saves about 35 hours, or $1,200 a year. That is useful if the feature comes with a plan you already pay for. It is not enough to justify a new Procore module, and Procore does not publish a price for Resource Planning. One catch: Procore says the ranking works "according to your data". If worker skills, certifications and tags in Procore are out of date, the shortlist will be too. Budget an hour or two to clean those fields first.

What to do
Try it

If you already use Procore Resource Planning, update your crews' skill and certification tags, then run SmartBench alongside your usual dispatch for one week and compare its picks to yours; if you don't use Resource Planning, skip the demo.

What it costs
What it costs
SmartBench for existing Resource Planning customers
included in Resource Planning per Procore; no separate price listed
Cleaning skill and certification tags, 18 field staff
2 hrs (≈ $70 at $35/hr)
One-week side-by-side test
about 1 hr extra (≈ $35 at $35/hr)
Possible dispatch time saved, assume 1/3 of 25 min/day
≈ 35 hrs/yr (≈ $1,200 at $35/hr)
Resource Planning for non-users
price not published; quote required from Procore
Doing nothing
$0; your current whiteboard or spreadsheet keeps working
Sources
procore.com (primary) · Procore Support

Questions owners ask

Does SmartBench cost extra?

Procore's announcement says Boards, including SmartBench, is generally available as part of Procore Resource Planning. It lists no separate price. Confirm with your account manager before assuming it is free on your contract.

Can I use it with core Procore project management alone?

No. It sits inside Procore Resource Planning, part of Procore Resource Management. If you only use Procore for projects, documents and financials, you do not have it.

How does it decide who ranks first?

Procore says it orders available people by skill and tag match, availability across all their assignments, and proximity to the job, based on the data in your account. Missing or stale tags will produce weaker suggestions.

Three to five of these, every weekday morning.

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