JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville’s building boom is forcing City Hall—and the development community—to rethink a critical step in the process: permitting.
Sabrina Dugan, managing partner of SwiftBuild.ai, says artificial intelligence can help cities review plans faster and more consistently, while still leaving final decisions in human hands.
“Keeping certain items within a review process for human determination… human in the loop, is essential,” Dugan said.
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Dugan joined This Week in Jacksonville Business Edition to discuss how SwiftBuild’s AI infrastructure is supporting the City of Jacksonville’s Express Lane permitting initiative, an online system designed to streamline submissions and feedback.
From accessibility project to city-scale tool
Dugan said SwiftBuild began as a University of Florida project after she noticed accessibility barriers affecting a friend’s route to class.
“Permitting, it comes back to compliance,” she said, describing accessibility as one part of a broader code review process that also touches resilience—like how structures perform in floods, hurricanes, and other disasters.
Why permitting speed matters for everyone
Even residents who never file a permit feel the impact, Dugan argued, because delays add costs across the construction chain.
“Right now, holding costs are insane for developers, which are then passed along to the consumer,” she said.
Dugan pointed to an example shared with Hernando County—where one developer estimated losing 132 days and $16.9 million in holding costs due to delays. Reducing that time, she said, can mean meaningful savings for builders, trades, and ultimately families moving into homes.
Faster reviews—with people still in charge
Dugan described Jacksonville’s effort as a combination of standardized operating procedures, clearer applicant checklists, and AI tools that can surface code-related comments quickly—while staff members remain the final decision makers.
“There was a lot of fear of AI and we’re really seeing this as a force multiplier,” Dugan said.
SwiftBuild says it is also expanding into Texas and California, but Dugan emphasized her company’s focus on helping Florida lead on permitting speed.
“We wanna make Florida the fastest state in the U.S.,” she said.