About
Hi, I'm Dallan.
I started Restoration Automation to build the tools companies actually need: one system that fits how your team works, that you own and control, without the fluff. I'm based in Milwaukee and I work with businesses across the US.
You get a face to a name, not a big tech company that sends in a sales guy.
How it started
I went to Ripon College, a small liberal arts school in Ripon, Wisconsin. I played baseball all four years while double majoring in business management and computer science, with a minor in data science.
When the internship I wanted didn't come through, I went back to basics. Business is solving problems. So I went to my dad, who has worked in property restoration for as long as I can remember, and asked him what slowed his industry down. He had a list. The first one was comparing an estimator's estimate against the adjuster's, line by line, by hand.
I'd already built a machine learning model in school, so I dug into the new wave of AI and learned to build automations around it. That first comparison tool led to the next problem, and the next. Today those tools read handwritten field sheets, process invoices and build the paperwork teams used to spend days on.
Why one system you own
Business software has turned into streaming. Cable used to give you everything in one place. Now you need three subscriptions to watch the Brewers play the Cubs, and the one game you want is blacked out.
Company tools went the same way: one app for time, one for invoices, one for documents, none of them talking to each other, and each one full of features you'll never use. I pay for streaming to watch two shows. I don't need the games that came with it.
I think the real value is one system, built around your work, where you own and control your data. That only happens when someone is willing to get into the mud with your company and learn how your processes run, what you need and what you don't. That's the job I signed up for.
And it shouldn't only be for the big companies. Large corporations have had teams building custom software for years. AI has changed what it takes to build these tools, so a small shop, a family business or a five-person office can have the same kind of technology, built for them. The little guys deserve good tools too.
What I bring
Business and computer science
Double major at Ripon College, with a minor in data science.
Machine learning research
Built a video model that analyzes rat behavior for the psychology department, for my senior seminar.
Databases
Postgres and SQL, plus a few programming languages picked up along the way.
A creative eye
I ran my own photography business. It's why the tools I build are meant to be easy to look at and use.
Four years of college baseball
Practice every day, show up for the team, and keep going when it isn't working yet.
AI automation
Tools that read paperwork, handwriting and long documents, built for real teams and used every day.
Bridging the gap
Most people who run a business don't speak tech, and most people who build software don't know how a job site or an office really runs. I sit in the middle. I understand the technology, and I can explain it in plain words, so you always know what's being built, why, and what it means for your team.
A face to a name
You won't get a sales guy, an account manager, or a ticket number at some big corporation. When you reach out, you talk to me, the person who builds your tool. I learn your process, write the plan, build it, and stick around to adjust it while your team uses it. If something breaks or needs to change, you know exactly who to call.
Outside of work
I'm usually outside: running, hiking, or working on the old RV I'm renovating. My family has three rescue dogs, and they're in charge. I've always been a creative, and I want to put both degrees, and everything I like making, into work that saves people real time.