What does AI actually look like on a construction jobsite in 2026 — not the hype, the reality?

In this episode of Voices of CFMA, host Sal Marino talks with Cindy Ly, founder of ToolBox Consulting, about her unconventional path from industrial construction cost control to yoga teaching in Europe to leading AI strategy for hundreds of construction companies.

Cindy shares what she's seen across the industry in the last six months, where AI adoption is accelerating, where it's stalling, and why data standardization matters more than the tools themselves.

In this episode:

- Cindy's path from $500M industrial mega-projects to yoga teacher training in Europe and back to construction

- Why she believes AI is a catalyst, not the solution, and data is the real work

- The gap between field operations and financial control, and how AI is starting to close it

- Common mistakes leadership teams make when rolling out AI tools

- Her advice for CFOs and controllers navigating AI adoption right now

Chapters:

00:00 Intro & welcome Cindy Ly

00:35 What Cindy does now

01:11 Growing up near Chicago, drawn to construction

02:06 From pharmacy major to construction management at Purdue

02:36 Industrial construction: blast furnaces and coke batteries

03:04 Burnout, and becoming a yoga teacher in Europe

05:26 The pivot into construction technology

06:36 Hiding her career changes from her parents

07:35 How yoga reshaped her approach to work

09:30 Reconnecting with the industry

10:10 The data problem before AI was a buzzword

12:49 What pulled her toward AI specifically

15:38 Her first AI project: Groundbreak 2025 and Procore

18:01 Why she started ToolBox Consulting

20:50 Hard lessons and the value of a slow burn

23:33 Where AI adoption is accelerating and stalling

25:27 Field operations vs. financial control

27:33 Hackathons and vibe coding, explained

30:27 Common mistakes in AI rollouts

32:07 Her #1 piece of advice for CFOs and controllers

32:59 Life outside work: DJing

34:06 Final advice: keep an open mind

Connect with Cindy: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ly-cindyt/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ToolboxTechTalk

About Voices of CFMA: Voices of CFMA brings you conversations with construction financial professionals and industry leaders on the trends, tools, and ideas shaping construction finance. Learn more at cfma.org. #ConstructionAI #ConstructionTechnology #CFMA #ConstructionFinance

From a refugee boat in 1978 to chapter president, Tiffany Trang's journey into construction finance is one of resilience & reinvention.

On this episode of Voices of CFMA, sponsored by Premier Construction Software, Tiffany talks about the mentor who put her next to him in every meeting, what her CCIFP credential did for her practice, and how CFMA helped her find the confidence to speak up in rooms where she was often the only woman.

Her advice for anyone sitting quietly in the background?

Speak up. It's the only way you'll be heard.

Recorded live on site at CFMA's Annual Conference & Exhibition in Phoenix.

🎧 Listen, subscribe & share with someone in the industry who could use it.

#VoicesofCFMA #CFMA #ConstructionFinance #CCIFP #ConstructionIndustry #Leadership

Claire Wilson is the co-founder and CEO of Siteline, but she started her career as a civil engineer and project manager at Tishman Construction — working on Hudson Yards and JP Morgan's corporate headquarters.

In this episode, Claire talks about what she saw in the trenches, why Siteline was built specifically for subs (not GCs), and what it actually looks like when a contractor goes from scattered spreadsheets to a centralized billing system.

She also shares her take on peer groups, the CFMA community, and why "this is just how the industry works" is the mindset holding construction financial management back.

00:00 From Engineering to Project Management

02:24 Identifying Industry Challenges

05:25 Siteline: A Solution for Subcontractors

08:49 The Importance of Community & Peer Support

12:36 Lessons Learned & Writing for Professionals

15:08 The Value of In-Person Connections

19:32 What's Next

21:13 Changing Mindsets in Construction Finance

Links

• Learn more about Siteline: https://www.getsiteline.com
• Connect with Claire on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/construction-claire
• Join CFMA: cfma.org

#CFMA #VoicesofCFMA #ConstructionFinance #Subcontractors #CashFlow #LienRights #ConstructionTech #Siteline #ConstructionBusiness #FinancialManagement

In this episode of the Voices of CFMA, sponsored by Premier Construction Software, Sal Marino sits down with Lynne Pace, CFO at Danson Construction in Arizona. Lynne didn't plan on a career in construction — she spent 20 years in transportation before a recruiter and a boss who just kept saying "just go" landed her at her first CFMA Annual Conference & Exhibition in Phoenix. A day and a half in, she was a member. Nearly two decades later, she's helping shape where the association goes next. T

hey dig into what it really means to get involved — from being "voluntold" onto the membership committee at the Valley of the Sun chapter, to the moment Lynne realized CFMA's community was the reason she could do her job confidently. She also makes the case for why "I don't have time" is the wrong reason to stay on the sidelines, and what it felt like to get that call from Jennifer Murphy asking her to join the Exec Committee. Learn more about CFMA membership and volunteer opportunities at cfma.org.

In this episode of the Voices of CFMA Podcast, sponsored by Premier Construction Software, Tobin Paxton, co-founder of Miter — CFMA's newest Elite Partner — stops by to discuss how a Thanksgiving payroll run with his bookkeeper mom, a co-founder obsessed with construction accounting, and a series of Bay Area job-site visits sparked the idea for a human capital management and workforce platform now used by 1,500+ contractors daily.

The conversation covers the labor shortage reshaping construction, the "data backbone" problem costing finance teams time and visibility, and how Miter thinks about automation — not as replacing people, but as equipping them. Tobin also talks about what drew Miter to CFMA, what he hopes the Association becomes, and how he's balancing 18 weeks on the road with life as a new dad.

Visit cfma.org to learn more about CFMA membership.

In this episode of Voices of CFMA, we are joined by Craig Gramlich of Lonewolf Consulting to unpack the real-world numbers behind fleet decisions. We dig into equipment economics — where money leaks across the equipment lifecycle, how internal rates influence behavior, and what it takes to get equipment, operations, and accounting aligned around smarter decisions.

In this episode of Voices of CFMA, Jacqueline Stensland, CCIFP, talks about what makes construction work rewarding, what contractors can do to make audits smoother, and the lease surprises that catch many companies off guard. They also dig into the “green flags” of strong financial operations and wrap with simple ways to get more involved with CFMA, including the mentor program.

Kyrah Coker, President and CFO of National Roofing Partners, joins Voices of CFMA to share how she aligns finance and operations through stronger WIP education, projected billings, and practical data analytics. She talks about right-sizing an overgrown tech stack, using dashboards to connect daily billings, backlog, and pipeline, and why mentorship, authenticity, and creating more seats at the table are essential for the next generation of construction financial leaders.

Former pro snowboarder turned carpenter and now co-founder, Lou Perez of Lumber traces his path from Idaho–Oregon farm roots to the jobsite and, eventually, to leadership. We dig into what hands-on carpentry taught him about crews, why day-to-day praise and recognition matter, and how he thinks about mental health in construction.

Links to check out

CFMA: https://cfma.org/

CFMA Suicide Prevention & Mental Health Resources (STAND Up): https://cfma.org/chapter-suicide-prevention

CIASP (Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention): https://www.preventconstructionsuicide.com/

CIASP STAND Up Pledge: https://www.preventconstructionsuicide.com/take-the-stand-up-pledge

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: https://988lifeline.org/

Lumber: https://www.lumberfi.com/

BuilderFax: https://www.builderfax.com/

iOS App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/builderfax-by-lumber/id6754037484

In the October episode of Voices of CFMA, we sit down with Alex Hershey, TRINITY’s VP of Accounting & Finance and Chair of CFMA’s Residential Subcommittee. Alex shares jobsite lessons from his dad, why a move to a smaller GC sharpened his impact, where AI is delivering ROI in AP, and how the residential community can plug into CFMA.