Building Beyond Bureaucracy

From paper to iPad – A decade in the dust

In 2011, we launched Finalcad with a simple idea: leverage the iPad to bring digital tools to construction sites. The iPad replaced laptops: 3x lighter, longer battery life, built-in camera. Instead of describing issues in writing, field leaders could drop pins on digital plans—just as they had always done with pen and paper.

In 10 years, we digitized dozens of business processes, equipped over 100K people, and saved 10M+ work hours. This success confirmed one truth: when a process is structured and repetitive, specialized tech solutions deliver massive ROI.

But after interviewing 50+ professionals, we made a shocking discovery: despite all these digital tools, paperwork had multiplied. Software designed to eliminate paper actually generated more—exported lists for different companies, printed reports for meetings and handovers. We had created digital tools, but not digital workflows.

The Office 365 paradox – Unavoidable

Ten years later, despite dozens of innovative solutions, Microsoft Office still dominates project environments. Word, Excel, Outlook—this trilogy remains the default tech stack worldwide.

Professionals spend 20+ hours weekly using them. Not because they're the best tools for construction, but because they offer freedom.

Construction is inherently unique. Each project brings together different companies, in new locations, under specific contracts. Rigid structures of specialized tools fail to adapt to this reality! Each document has its format, context, constraints, and unexpected events constantly evolve the templates. Facing this complexity, teams default to Word or Excel, even if it means hacking solutions together.

What persists adapts

Remember the countless predictions about "the death of email." Slack was supposed to disrupt it. Then WhatsApp. Then Microsoft Teams. Yet email is still here, as ubiquitous as ever. Why? Because it adapted and found its place in the ecosystem: asynchronous, formal, external communication.

Notice how the most advanced project management platforms had to integrate document-type tools: for example, Confluence in Jira. These documents persist because they offer freedom that structured forms cannot replace.

What stands the test of time isn't the most sophisticated interfaces, but those giving us the most freedom to adapt.

The Freedom of the blank page – Strengths and limitations

This freedom comes at a cost. 88% of Word documents and Excel spreadsheets contain human errors. On a project, a simple typo can lead to costly mistakes: wrong measurements, forgotten invoices, or undetected non-conformities. These challenges exist across all project-driven sectors, from engineering to event management.

Individual productivity takes a hit: tedious formatting, repetitive copy-pasting, "patchwork" documents, not to mention collaboration problems related to multiple versions and outdated information.

Specialized suites promise to solve these problems, but implementation requires considerable effort—framing workshops, configuration, team training, template maintenance—rarely cost-effective for non-repetitive tasks.

Old habits return: open Word and Excel, do it "manually," and send via Outlook.

Office Suites are designed for a fixed desk

Microsoft Office was designed for dedicated desk work, with a desktop PC and dual monitors, and standardized workflows. But that's not our reality anymore, where we switch between smartphones on the move and laptops in various environments.

Office's cluttered ribbon takes up precious screen space. Mobile experiences seem like afterthoughts, just like the Copilot button. Cross-company collaboration remains fragmented. The very concept of a "suite" seems disconnected—we copy-paste between applications that should work together seamlessly.

Google Workspace brought documents to the cloud with real-time collaboration but followed the same fragmented model. Neither approach has fully resolved the tension between structure and freedom that we face daily.

The Notion revolution

Notion revolutionized the approach by replacing cluttered interfaces with the "/" command and integrating databases directly into documents.

Notion popularized a "Block" logic, allowing any content to be modified in different forms, manipulated via drag-and-drop instead of copy-paste, and easily transformed.

Although Notion has attracted millions of users, it never truly penetrated project-oriented companies. PDF exports lack the polish needed for formal documentation, cross-company collaboration isn't optimized for the complex network of project stakeholders, and its learning curve is steep for those unfamiliar with database concepts.

The AI inflection point

ChatGPT transformed how we interact with software, allowing users to simply express what they want in natural language.

This paradigm shift inspired developers to rethink interfaces. Cursor and similar tools demonstrated how AI could transform productivity—quadrupling results without cluttered interfaces.

Now, AI brings unpredictability and non-linearity. As Linear's founder says, "Without boundaries, function gets lost. AI without limits is like a river without banks: powerful but directionless. Designers must build these banks to shape AI's potential."

These developments invite us to reimagine interfaces to combine structure and context to guide AI on one hand, and flexibility and freedom to let humans explore on the other.

Starting with a blank canvas

At there.do, we take a fundamentally different approach. Instead of starting with rigid structures and forms, we begin with the freedom of the blank page and add structure only where it creates value.

We unify personal notes, formal documents, and email in a single workspace. Our blocks are specific to the needs of project-based industries—meeting block, progress block, task block—bringing structured data and elegant layout without ever leaving the natural flow of writing.

AI will play the role of a discreet but powerful copilot: suggesting appropriate blocks, auto-filling certain fields, and enriching content by fetching relevant data. AI will enhance the block, but humans will maintain control.

Writing and communicating without Friction

Today, there's a complete disconnect between our content production tools and communication channels. We write a report in Word, convert it to PDF, open Outlook to distribute it, and the recipient opens it in their browser... Pure friction!

Our vision: unique content should flow seamlessly from internal notes to final documents to email. In there.do, you can start with a personal draft, share it internally by formalizing it, then distribute it to clients with a polished format—all without changing context or exporting files.

AI helps at each stage: reformulating style, improving formatting, instant translation, generating cover emails. Writing and sharing becomes a fluid extension of note-taking.

Beyond the keyboard – Verba manent, machina scribit

Voice transcription transforms site visits or project meetings into structured notes. GenAI converts lengthy documents into targeted briefings. The Latin saying "verba volant, scripta manent" (spoken words fly away, written words remain) is replaced by a new reality: "verba manent, machina scribit" (words remain, machines write them).

For consumption, recipients get either an elegant mobile-optimized document or a clean PDF attachment. Recipients also benefit from AI for an enhanced experience, consuming the document according to their specific needs and location.

For example, a decision-maker on the move needs to listen to a 3-minute brief on key points with their smartphone, an expert needs a summary of the section relevant to them to give feedback, a project manager needs a visual slide version of the document.

The augmented digital workbench – Rethinking our interfaces

We're creating a "digital workbench"—a unified environment where all your tools exist in one place. Like a craftsman's workbench, it provides the organization and context needed to work efficiently.

Think about how trades operate on a construction site. Plumbers, painters, carpenters, tile setters, electricians, masons—each has meticulously assembled their personal toolbox over years of experience. These aren't random collections; they're carefully selected tool sets that enable optimal performance in any situation. Each professional knows exactly where each tool is and can grab it without thinking.

Project work environments aren't offices with desktop computers and dual monitors. They're dynamic, often mobile and multi-context. Your digital tools must adapt to this reality.

On this workbench, tools become AI agents that assist us daily. AI exists to augment your capabilities, not replace your judgment. With the right work context, it becomes a true teammate.

Systems of agents, Not systems of records

Traditional systems like EDM, ERP, and CRM won't disappear, but they'll fundamentally transform. Instead of humans structuring their thoughts for these systems, AI agents will serve as bridges—translating human intentions into structured data without forcing people to fill out tedious forms.

These systems will gradually become invisible infrastructure—like electricity that powers everything but remains invisible. Humans will stay in their environment of freedom and creativity, while agents handle administrative tasks in the background.

What does this mean concretely? An event project manager noting a timing change, or an engineer documenting a technical decision—there.do could trigger an agent to record this information in the dedicated application's form—like an assistant to whom you delegate the task.

If I send a purchase order email to a supplier from there.do, the agent can log both the email and the order in the company's CRM or purchasing tool. Humans no longer have to juggle between the free workspace and the rigid system: AI handles it behind the scenes.

Our role, as product builders, is to ensure this happens transparently, reliably, with human validation when critical. AI doesn't decide for the user; it executes, under supervision, the interface tasks with structured systems.

This is a paradigm shift: before, we asked humans to be the interface (manually filling databases); now, humans stay focused on what they want to accomplish, and the agent translates these intentions into underlying systems.

Building the workbench for those who shape the world

We observe that the digital transformation of construction has progressed through successive iterations: many trials, many errors, for few lasting changes (proof: Office still dominates). We're now entering a new era where everything in productivity tools needs reinvention.

At there.do, we're embarking on this adventure with ambition and humility. We draw inspiration from Linear, Notion, and ChatGPT, but we're building something that speaks directly to the soul of workers in the act of building.

Our mission: radically improve how professionals work, still anchored in office suites. We want engineers to focus on solving technical problems rather than struggling with report formatting. We want data to flow smoothly and securely where needed, when needed.

We're sharing a vision that evolves through contact with all those who, like us, want to change how we build. Your insights, ideas, and criticisms will shape a solution with real impact in the field. The road is demanding, but "we never give up." Step by step, block by block, we're bringing these next-gen docs to life.