AI-systems implementation
Florida · est. 2018
AI systems for the companies that actually run things. Workflow automation, multi-agent orchestration, and the operating substrate underneath. Built with civil-engineering discipline (FL EI, MSCE, PCI Journal coauthor); shipped as production software.
Production
Software, not slideware
Groundwork
Productized as a deployable substrate
EI · MSCE
Florida Engineer Intern
PCI Journal
Peer-reviewed coauthor, 2025
First principle
Engineering judgment runs end-to-end. Specification, design, code, and field operations all live inside the same practice. No handoffs between thinking and shipping.
Every deliverable lands as engineering work first and runs in production as software second, because they were actually built, not slide-decked.
Background
Rarefied Earth was founded in 2018 in Florida to take graduate-level engineering discipline and apply it to AI systems and the operating substrate companies actually run on. The research-dominant background gives the engineering its grade; the software practice gives the systems their ship date.
Engineering-grade
Graduate-level structural research sets the standard the software is held to. Specification before code, verification before ship, and a record of what was decided and why. The discipline that holds for a bridge holds for the systems a company runs on.
Field-grounded
The methodology comes from time spent inside the actual work, not from a whiteboard. Tools get built where the field showed the gap, which is why they get used instead of demoed once and forgotten.
Independent
Florida S-corporation. Direct delivery model. No agency markup, no subcontracted dev shop, no opaque platform clients can't self-host. The firm builds on standard tools (Python, PostgreSQL, FastAPI, the Anthropic API) so any competent engineer can pick up the work later.
Groundwork · the productized offering
Eighteen months of operating substrate, refined in production on Rarefied Earth itself. Packaged as a single engagement that installs the same substrate into your company.
Where it lives
Your workspace.
Deploys as a filesystem layer into your Cursor workspace. No separate portal, no separate login, no SaaS surface.
What it connects
Your accounts.
Integrates with your own Stripe, Linear, Sentry, and Anthropic accounts. Your credentials, your data, never ours.
How it's operated
Via Cursor.
Your team's existing AI-assisted IDE is the operational surface. Agents are substrate-aware from the day of deployment.
Who owns it
You do.
Every byte of substrate state lives on your infrastructure. If Rarefied Earth disappears tomorrow, the substrate keeps running.
01 · What deploys
Twenty-three canonical modules.
02 · How it ships
Five phases, one week of discovery.
03 · Why it earns its keep
The substrate ships debugged.
How it connects
One substrate, the surfaces your team already uses.
Deploys into your workspace.
Groundwork installs as a filesystem layer in your existing Cursor workspace. Your agents are substrate-aware from day one: brand, voice rules, client context, billing, and module inventory are all readable in-session. No separate portal, no second login.
~/YourCompany/ ├─ AGENTS.md # cross-agent context cascade ├─ 01_Branding/ # brand + voice rules ├─ 06_Clients/ # per-engagement state └─ 08_Operations/ # pipelines, hooks, skills
Canonical state over MCP.
A local MCP state server exposes your company's canonical state to any MCP-aware agent (Cursor, Claude Desktop, Cowork): brand, voice, freshness, and the live module inventory. Read-first, audited, running on your machine with your credentials.
// .cursor/mcp.json
{
"your-company-state": {
"command": "python3",
"args": ["08_Operations/mcp/state/server.py"]
}
}
Skills, discoverable anywhere.
User-level agent skills install once and are discoverable from any session: weekly billing close, mail capture, brand compliance, the reasoning-discipline pack, and more. Each is field-tested on Rarefied Earth before it ships to your workspace.
/close-week cic 2026-W26 # weekly invoice close /brand-check draft.md # voice + brand audit /process-inbox # triage captured mail
New here? Create an account to explore Groundwork. You start with a private workspace; Rarefied Earth assigns access from there.
Deploy Groundwork
Install the operating substrate into your company.
Opens a message to joseph.scott@rarefied.earth, and we scope the deployment with you. Or see the full substrate, module by module.
23
Canonical modules
5
Deployment phases
18mo
In production on RE
Capabilities
An AI-systems practice on one side, an engineering practice on the other, run as one integrated firm. AI is the work; engineering credentials are the discipline that makes the AI work serious. Engagements draw from either or both, depending on what the work calls for.
AI-systems practice (the work)
AI & decision systems
Anthropic and OpenAI APIs integrated into grounded, auditable decision logic. Human-in-the-loop by default. Multi-agent orchestration with credential boundaries and voice-rule enforcement. Built on the same architectural principles as the internal Chloe framework.
Workflow automation
Document intelligence, sub bid leveling, spec parsing, field-note digitization, estimate-versus-actual feedback loops. The mechanical work that operators spend hours on, compressed to minutes.
Full-stack development
Custom internal portals on Python, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Microsoft 365 SSO. Integrations into Procore, Foundation, Primavera P6, WorkMax, and Excel. One role-based hub instead of five disconnected tools.
Engineering practice (the wedge)
Structural design & analysis
Bridge and structural design under FDOT Structures Design Guidelines, Standard Specifications, and Standard Plans. Construction plans, calculations, load ratings, rehabilitation design, post-design engineering services, and shop-drawing review.
Forensic investigations
Cause-and-origin work, post-event damage assessment, failure analysis. Technical reports for insurance carriers, adjusters, and counsel. Photographic and GIS documentation built to hold up in litigation.
Inspection & field operations
Bridge and structural inspection, geotechnical field work, FAA Part 107 commercial UAS for aerial documentation, AAUS scientific dive for underwater structural assessment. Field operations integrated with the engineering deliverable, not subcontracted.
Stack & tools
AI SYSTEMS
Anthropic API · OpenAI API · Cursor · MCP (Model Context Protocol) · Python · FastAPI · PostgreSQL · SQLAlchemy · REST & WebSocket APIs · Linux (Ubuntu) · nginx · DigitalOcean · Cloudflare
ENGINEERING
Bentley MicroStation (GEOPAK) · Civil 3D · AutoCAD · FB-MultiPier · PSBeam · Mathcad · Bluebeam Revu · ESRI ArcGIS
FIELD & DATA
FAA Part 107 commercial UAS · AAUS scientific dive · GPS / survey equipment · NOAA weather data · ArcGIS web apps · QuickBooks integration
Credentials
Licensed & insured
General and professional liability coverage in place.
Engagement model
Independent consultant
Direct contract with the firm. No agency, no body shop, no opaque markup.
Engagement shape
Custom or productized
Custom: hourly, fixed-fee, retainer, or MSA + SOW. Productized: Groundwork substrate deployment (setup fee + monthly recurring). Pricing and structure shaped to the engagement.
Coverage
Florida on-site, US remote
St. Petersburg base. On-site throughout Florida. Remote engagements nationally.
Research
The firm's methodology comes out of five years of structural and materials research at the University of South Florida. Lab work, in-situ field diagnostics, and peer-reviewed publication.
PCI Journal · Vol. 70, No. 4 · July-August 2025
The peer-reviewed write-up of the MSCE thesis work under Dr. Gray Mullins, P.E.: full restoration of a 1/3-scale corrosively-damaged pile bent using structural-grade epoxy injection and wet lay-up carbon-fiber reinforcement. Demonstrated recovery of full lateral capacity to a severely corroded specimen.
Read the plain-English summary →USF · Dr. Alberto Sagüés · 2013-2014
Undergraduate research assistantship. Electrochemical field testing of post-tensioned prestressed-concrete piles at the Skyway field site. Foundational work that informed the later thesis on rehabilitation methodology.
Writing
Practitioner write-ups on civil engineering, construction technology, and the operating substrate that connects them. Written for the people doing the work.
See all articles →Field guide · Consulting operations · May 26, 2026
The MSA assignment-on-formation clause that does most of the work, the four questions every pre-LLC engagement should settle in writing, where deliverables should live, the friend-of-founders variant, and the triggers that should force entity formation.
Read the full article →Field guide · Construction technology · May 11, 2026
The quantity takeoff is the bottleneck in every commercial bid. The tools that compress it from days to hours have matured in the last eighteen months. What they do, where they fit, and how to evaluate one before you commit. Names every tool by price.
Read the full article →Research summary · PCI Journal Vol. 70 No. 4 · May 9, 2026
A plain-English summary of the MSCE thesis and PCI Journal Vol. 70 No. 4 publication on full restoration of a one-third scale corrosion-damaged prestressed-concrete pile bent.
Read the full article →Approach
The firm commits to what can be shipped to production quality, not what looks impressive on a slide. The result: tools that get used, not tools that get demoed once and forgotten.
01 / SHADOW FIRST
Most construction-tech rollouts fail because someone built the wrong thing very well. Engagements start with shadowing: weeks spent observing how your team actually works before any code gets written.
02 / HUMAN-IN-THE-LOOP
Field notes show the original photo alongside the extracted data. Daily reports require sign-off. The AI doesn't need to be perfect; it needs to be helpful.
03 / NO LOCK-IN
Python, PostgreSQL, FastAPI, Anthropic API. Any competent developer can pick up the work and maintain it.
Current work
AI-systems work for operating companies, plus civil-engineering practice that sits behind every deliverable. Selected case studies and prior engineering work available on request under NDA.
Active engagement · 2026
Custom AI portal for a Florida civil contractor. Estimating, document intelligence, and field-operations workflows pulled into a single role-based hub.
Recent engagement
Structural inspection and condition assessment of a Georgia bridge undergoing rehabilitation. Field documentation, photographic survey, and engineering reporting in support of the rehabilitation design.
Designed 2019 · inspection ongoing
Designed the structural rehabilitation of an in-service boardwalk in 2019. Continues to provide recurring structural inspection and maintenance reporting, with periodic field visits and condition documentation supporting long-term asset planning.
The founder
Joseph Scott founded Rarefied Earth in 2018 and has run it full-time since 2024. He is a Florida Engineer Intern with a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of South Florida, structural emphasis, and a coauthor on peer-reviewed structural research. The firm is a direct engineering relationship. The person who reviews a company's stack is the person who writes the code that runs on it.
The work started in the dirt. Before the degrees, he ran subsurface investigations as a geotechnical field technician: standard penetration borings, soil sampling, subsidence studies. As an undergraduate he moved into materials research under Dr. Alberto Sagüés, running in-situ electrochemical corrosion diagnostics on post-tensioned prestressed-concrete piles at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. His graduate thesis, under Dr. Gray Mullins, P.E., took a one-third-scale prestressed-concrete pile bent that had been corroded to failure and restored its full lateral capacity using structural-grade epoxy injection and wet lay-up carbon-fiber reinforcement. That work became a coauthored paper in PCI Journal, Vol. 70 No. 4 (2025).
He carried the research discipline into production engineering. In bridge design he worked to the FDOT Structures Design Guidelines, AASHTO LRFD, and FDOT Standard Plans: calculations, plans, specifications, load ratings, rehabilitation design, and field inspection. In forensic engineering he investigated structural failures and post-event damage across Florida and the Southeast, writing the technical reports that insurance carriers, adjusters, and counsel depend on.
The software practice grew out of that forensic work. The reports were slow, so he built the tool that fixed it: a Flask and ESRI ArcGIS web application that correlated NOAA weather data with each site and assembled the forensic narrative automatically, cutting the overhead on a case from about an hour to about two minutes across hundreds of investigations. The pattern held. Field work shows where the hours go; software takes them back. Rarefied Earth is built on that pattern: production AI systems for operating companies, on standard tools (Python, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, the Anthropic and OpenAI APIs), with a human approving every consequential decision.
He holds an FAA Part 107 commercial UAS certificate and an AAUS scientific diver certification, so inspection by drone or by dive stays in-house instead of subcontracted. He is based in St. Petersburg, Florida, and is pursuing full PE licensure.
Joseph Scott
EI · MSCE
Contact
Every engagement starts with a conversation. An introductory call to walk through the project, the team, and the timeline, then a follow-up meeting to discuss scope, fit, and where Rarefied Earth can be most useful.
Phone
By request. Email first.
Based in
St. Petersburg, Florida
Remote nationally · on-site throughout FL
Engagement
Groundwork, retainer, fixed-fee, or hourly
Independent contractor; rate by engagement