On episode 57 of the On Site Podcast, Brandon interviews Tobiasz, founder of Handshake, about using an AI voice response agent (“Julia”) to help contractors and other service businesses stop missing calls and capture more opportunities. Tobiasz shares his background in Ontario, building and exiting his first venture Reeby (a retail circulars app) after growing it to 7–8 million Canadian users and selling into enterprise customers. He explains how Handshake works via call forwarding so businesses can route unanswered or after-hours calls to Julia, get transcripts, and toggle use as needed, then expand to top-of-funnel capture across phone, lead emails, social DMs, and ads. The conversation emphasizes AI adoption, data, communities for learning, and using tools like call recordings and transcripts to improve sales, operations, and decision-making.
00:00 Podcast Kickoff
00:15 Meet Tobiasz
01:19 Startup Origins
03:16 Enterprise Lessons
05:30 Why Small Business
06:36 Handshake Explained
08:17 Beyond Phone Calls
09:50 Contractor Mindset
13:55 Backpack Analogy
17:00 AI And Job Value
19:22 Schools Vs AI Tools
24:12 Adopt Early Or Lose
26:32 Setup And Call Routing
27:49 Transcripts And Insights
29:12 Real Workflow Example
34:26 Customer Experience Win
35:25 Tech Driven Disruption
38:45 Using AI Beyond Search
39:06 AI With A Heartbeat
40:07 Always On Agents
40:51 Real Time Tax Claims
42:19 CRM Foresight Engine
43:20 Selling With Data
45:18 Living Business Dashboard
48:01 AI Skills Arms Race
51:17 Learn With AI Help
52:19 Tech Changes Weekly
54:03 Dreams And Discipline
58:05 AI Is Not A Checkbox
01:00:20 Reps And Community
01:04:00 Try Handshake Free
01:05:48 Small World Big Goals
01:08:37 Compounding Improvements
01:12:09 Final Encouragement
01:13:51 Episode Wrap Up
Connect with Tobiasz Dankiewicz:
Website - https://www.handshake.app/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/handshake.pro/
Connect with Brandon Fuchs
Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_contractorcoach
Join the Elite Builder Society
Website: https://ebsworks.com/