Hello There! Thank you for joining me for the inaugural edition of The Moving Edge. Technology is evolving rapidly, and the moving industry is no exception. My goal is simple: provide a concise regular roundup of the tools, innovations, and ideas that are helping movers work smarter.
Clear practical news, in simple language. No hype, no future predictions.
Today’s Edge: AI surveys, moving software choices, data analysis, and how search is changing.
The View from the Edge
Should you be “AI-Surveying”?
From ‘wow’ to expectation. A few years ago, AI-based surveying was the innovation edge: one or two providers using image and video recognition to turn a customer’s walkthrough into a usable estimated moving inventory. That has changed quickly. I currently count 17 dedicated surveying applications in the moving industry, plus around 10 more built into larger systems. Of those, at least 5 now offer AI-based surveying (3 new this year!). On top of that, you can now also create your own AI agent to generate a survey lists from photos, in just a few minutes.
It isn’t Magic. At its simplest, AI image recognition identifies objects in photos or video. Some systems then match those items to an inventory list (using structured standards such as ISO 17451-1, or even to a mover’s own list), while others use a more general AI model to identify the closest likely household item. Either way, the output still needs context that the AI cannot replace (things like packing complexity, condition, density, access issues, etc).
Avoid the Hype. “AI survey” is not a product category. The best choice depends less on the AI label and more on the workflow that fits you best. Here are some questions to ask yourself before looking for a solution:
Looking for self-serve, onsite or video surveys?
Need a stand alone solution or integrated into a CRM?
Looking for a ‘survey’ tool only, or need other features too?
How much configuration control is required over the inventory list?
The Real Bottleneck. AI can most definitely improve the speed of completing a survey. But if it only moves the bottleneck somewhere else, such as booking the appointment, reviewing the output, correcting the inventory, pricing the move, training your experienced surveyors, or following up with the customer, your business has not gained much. AI should not be treated as the solution by itself. It is a tool within the solution.
Takeaway: As with any technology it isn’t for everyone. The goal must remain to build the most reliable survey workflow for your company. Find your bottleneck first, then find (or build) the tool that addresses that.
Industry Tech Watch
Tips and tools for AI use in your office
AI avatars and website chatbots for movers. Tavus has launched Image-to-Replica, which can create a real-time AI human from a single image, while tools like CrafterQ are turning static websites into conversational AI experiences trained on company content. For movers, these can be very useful customer-facing assistants: answering common questions, explaining services, qualifying enquiries, collecting move details, and handing off to a person when needed. And now the moving industry has, to my knowledge, at least one dedicated player in this space called TWOMC (which I had the pleasure of meeting at the recent Kyoto Omni conference). You can also now hire an AI Sales rep.
Claude is becoming a stronger business operating tool. Anthropic has launched Claude for Small Business, connecting Claude into tools such as QuickBooks, PayPal, Google Workspace), with prebuilt workflows for finance, sales, marketing, documents, and admin. Claude is also expanding inside Microsoft 365, where it can work across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook while carrying context between files and conversations. This is a great entry point to AI, available inside the systems you already use to manage your moves.
Personal AI assistants with computer control. Companies like Vellum are positioning their assistant as a personal AI that can learn preferences, remember context, and work across local and cloud environments, while Perplexity (a leader in this area) has now brought Personal Computer into its Mac app, using agents across frontier models to act on local files, native apps, and browser workflows with user authorization. You can use this to save tons of time “connecting” information across all your disconnected systems: emails, spreadsheets, portals, CRMs, calendars, and file folders.
ChatGPT for movers! ChatGPT can now use images and voice to help complete forms: Simply take a photo of a form, talk through the information, and get a completed version back. For moving companies, this is a game changer! The industry runs on forms, inventories, claims documents, customs paperwork, access notes, insurance details, and customer declarations. The practical opportunity here is huge to reduce manual entry and turning messy customer information into structured documents faster. See how it works in the link included above.
Tools and Workflows
There is more moving software than you realize
There are now well over 150 software tools serving specifically the moving industry, covering everything from move management and ERP systems to CRMs, survey tools, quoting platforms, dispatch, and more. You have more choice than ever, but the market is also harder to navigate.
In this section of the newsletter I’ll regularly introduce new and existing tools that I think deserve a look. Before sharing that, it is important to understand the different types of software available to movers. Have a read here.
For this first edition, I’ll leave you with one simple workflow that most office teams can get value from and use immediately: talk to your systems instead of typing everything. Voice is one of the easiest AI workflows to use straight away.
Tools like Wispr Flow, Streva, and Lemon let you speak into your existing apps and turn your voice into clean, usable text. You can use them inside Outlook, email apps, Word documents, CRM notes, spreadsheets, and other tools.
For moving companies, this can help with everyday office work: drafting customer emails, writing job notes, capturing survey observations, preparing CRM updates, summarizing conversations, writing internal handovers, or creating better prompts for AI tools.
There are two main benefits: speed and language flexibility. Specially useful for international movers: you can speak in one language and ask the tool to write the final message in another.
The Learning Centre
Analyze Your Moving Data With AI
Export a spreadsheet from your CRM, move management system, accounting system, or dispatch board with move information (ideally including data such as Move date, Lead source, Salesperson or coordinator, Move type, Origin city, Destination city, Estimated weight or volume, Quoted price, Booked or lost status, etc)
Remove private customer information
Upload the spreadsheet and enter this prompt:
I run a moving company. This is a spreadsheet with move information from the last [X days]. Analyze the data and give me practical insights focusing on sales performance. Give me 3 key findings, 3 actions to consider to increase sales, and create 3 useful charts to support my decision making. Do not guess. If the data does not show something clearly, tell me what is missing.
Dedicated AI Data and Reporting Tools
Alternatively, check out the tools below if you want more personalized reporting, dashboard creation, or AI-assisted data analysis from your moving company data.
ChartCool: Create charts and visual reports from spreadsheets
Julius: Analyze spreadsheets and generate charts with AI
Basedash AI: Analyze data from internal systems and databases
Supadash: Build simple dashboards from business data
Taskade: Turn insights into tasks, workflows, and action plans
Upsolve: Analyze business data and create AI-assisted reports
Worth your Attention
Subtitle
The AI tool you rely on today may not be here tomorrow. Mocha, a popular AI no-code app builder, has announced it will shut down on August 1, 2026, citing high acquisition costs, expensive AI-token economics, support costs, and the inability to raise enough funding. When testing AI tools, this is the risk behind choosing young software vendors. Monthly subscriptions may look more expensive than annual plans, but they can greatly reduce your exposure (financial and workflow fit). Choose and test short term.
AI is not the same as job replacement. I get asked this often. The better approach right now is to use AI to raise productivity where it can, not to assume it should replace roles. Apollo’s Torsten Slok says weekly employment data shows “zero evidence” of AI-related job losses, with AI demand also driving hiring in many areas. For you this means you probably should focus on using AI to handle more volume, faster follow-up and better admin support without needing headcount to grow linearly with revenue. This is the new CEO challenge.
Search is changing, so your marketing has to change with it. Google is rebuilding Search around AI-powered answers and agent-style actions, while companies like Exa are raising major funding to build search infrastructure for AI agents instead of only human users (bots surpassed human surfing of the internet!). Your customers may not just type “moving company near me” and click through ten blue links. They are asking an AI assistant to compare movers, summarize reviews, check service areas and narrow choices before they ever reach your website. Your marketing strategy needs to be built for answer engines: Clear service pages, structured FAQs, accurate local listings, strong reviews, useful move guides and consistent company information matter more thatn ever.
You may not be as far behind on AI as you think. Are you using some form of paid AI? You may be in the top 0.1% of early AI adopters. AI adoption is still early, and the attachment points to the skills gap as a major barrier. While ChatGPT hit 1 Billion users (fastest app ever to reach this point), the next step is moving beyond individual staff using AI toward shared workflows, shared data and agreed rules. That is where movers will get more value: sales, dispatch, operations, claims, finance and customer service using AI against the same clean information instead of isolated experiments.
Before you go
Ready to take the next step?
Whether you're evaluating new software, exploring AI opportunities, improving operational workflows, or simply trying to understand where to start, we can help moving and storage companies make informed technology decisions and execute with confidence. Learn more at MovingTech.ai
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Until next month,
Ramiro Quiros
