#34 Agentic AI in Skilled Trades: Scaling Productivity and Private Equity Value Creation | Wyatt Smith

About the episode

Wyatt Smith, founder of Upsmith and former Uber executive, outlines the strategic application of agentic AI within the U.S. skilled trades and home services sectors. Modern trade businesses face a 1.5 million-person labor shortage, a gap increasingly bridged by probabilistic AI agents designed to drive 50X increases in operational productivity. Automating administrative tasks at the application layer allows firms to expand top-line revenue and free cash flow without scaling indirect labor costs.

These deal mechanics underpin current institutional demand and the historically high multiples paid by private equity for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical service businesses. This transition toward competency-based credentialing positions technology as a primary lever for U.S. labor productivity and economic competitiveness.