Fred Voccola, who took over as chairman and CEO of Simpro Group in October 2025, is leading the company's push to build what it calls the first AI-driven operating platform built specifically for the trades. The platform serves more than 24,000 commercial and residential trade businesses and 500,000 users worldwide.
"Commercial and residential trades represent more than $150 billion in global economic activity and are the backbone of modern society," Voccola said. "The Simpro Group builds the AI operating platform for those trades, helping contractors, technicians and field crews get paid faster, run smarter and grow stronger."
Voccola previously co-founded Kaseya and served as its CEO, growing the AI-powered cybersecurity and IT management software company to over $1.5 billion in annual revenue, completing 18 acquisitions and expanding to more than 5,000 employees. He remains vice chairman of Kaseya's board.
From cybersecurity to construction
Before Kaseya, Voccola co-founded and held executive roles at multiple software and internet companies, including Identify Software and Trust Technology Corporation. He also chairs the Cooper Voccola Family Foundation, a nonprofit supporting American-focused organizations and animal welfare initiatives, and serves as a trustee of Florida International University.
In late November 2025, Voccola published "The Coming Disruption: How AI First Will Force Organizations to Change Everything or Face Destruction," a book that distills his experience into a playbook for what he calls the AI-First era of business. The book is a call to action for leaders, entrepreneurs and workers facing what he describes as the fastest transformation in human history.
Voccola said his current focus is helping Simpro deliver the first AI-first operating platform purpose-built to double the profitability of its trade customers. He pointed to Simpro's Miami headquarters as evidence that the city has the ingredients to become a leading technology hub.
"They build our homes and schools, maintain our hospitals, protect our businesses, keep air, water, and energy flowing; even the infrastructure and future of AI - the data centers, the servers, the cooling systems - relies on them," he said. "The trades build our world and keep us moving forward. Simpro builds the platform that pays them back."
What the platform does
Simpro's platform is designed for commercial and residential trade companies, covering areas like job management, scheduling, invoicing and field operations. For operations professionals in construction, HVAC, electrical, plumbing and similar fields, the platform's AI capabilities are aimed at reducing the time between completing work and getting paid, while giving managers visibility into crew performance and project profitability.
The company's scale - 24,000 businesses and 500,000 users - suggests the platform already handles significant operational volume. For operations managers, the relevant question is whether AI-driven job management tools can meaningfully compress administrative overhead in trades businesses, where margins often depend on how quickly crews move between jobs and how accurately they capture billable work.
Voccola's broader argument is that trades businesses have been underserved by software built for other industries. His book makes the case that organizations that don't adopt AI-first operations will struggle to compete, a message aimed directly at the leaders running those businesses. For operations professionals exploring similar tools, resources like AI for Operations courses and the AI Learning Path for Operations Managers cover how to evaluate and implement AI tools for workflow optimization.
Why this matters for operations professionals
For operations managers in the trades, the practical takeaway is that AI platforms are moving beyond general-purpose business software into industry-specific tools. Simpro's focus on getting contractors paid faster and running crews more efficiently targets the operational bottlenecks that directly affect profitability. If AI-first platforms deliver on that promise, operations roles in trades will shift from managing paperwork to managing exceptions - and the skills required for those roles will change accordingly.
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