When a local service business owner complained about scheduling chaos — lost paper schedules, no-shows, and manual routing — I saw an opportunity. Six months later, ClearCrew App was handling 500+ workers with an unexpected addition: an AI-powered compliance assistant.
The Problem
Running a service business sounds simple until you think about logistics:
- 50+ employees with different skills, availability, and locations
- 100+ jobs per week scattered across a county
- Constant changes — cancellations, add-ons, rainouts
- Regulatory compliance that required hours of research
The owner was spending 20+ hours weekly just on scheduling and compliance questions.
Building the Solution
I approached this as a mobile-first problem. Field workers needed information on the go.
The Workforce Management Side
- React Native + Expo for cross-platform mobile
- Python + FastAPI for the backend
- Socket.io for real-time updates
Key features:
- Smart scheduling with drag-and-drop
- Route optimization to minimize drive time
- Offline mode for areas with poor connectivity
- Customer self-service portal
The AI Compliance Side
I added a RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) system for compliance:
- Ingest regulatory documents into a vector database
- When users ask questions, find relevant passages
- Generate answers backed by official regulations
This kept AI responses grounded in source material.
Technical Challenges
Offline-First Architecture
Field workers can’t rely on constant connectivity. The app needed to:
- Cache schedules locally
- Queue actions when offline
- Sync automatically when connection returns
AI Accuracy
Preventing “confidently wrong” answers was critical. I implemented confidence thresholds — if regulations don’t clearly support an answer, the system says “I don’t know.”
Results
- 40% reduction in scheduling time
- 60% reduction in compliance research time
- 60% fewer no-shows
- 500+ active users
ClearCrew proved that combining practical workforce management with AI assistance transforms small business operations.