Varun Saxena, Senior Vice President & Head – AI/ML
Artificial Intelligence or commonly known as AI is transforming our lives at an incredibly fast pace. From Siri and Alexa to Google Maps to recommendations on E-commerce sites or OTT platforms and a lot more, AI has been impacting our daily lives for some time. The impact of AI has further come to the fore with the popularization of Chat GPT and other generative AI tools.
Given the advancement in AI and machine learning in the past decade in areas related to predictive AI, computer vision, natural language processing, recommendation systems, and many more apart from generative AI, the AI transformation is opening up new opportunities for us.
Today we all know that AI simulates and processes data (similar to human intelligence) through machines, especially computer systems. Like they say…if you haven’t been living in a cave, you ought to be aware of AI and Machine Learning.
Today AI has practically impacted every sector, every company, be it a bank, telecom, pharma company, insurance, FMCG, or the defense forces among others, and has proved to be a huge disruptor in changing the business landscape, then how can real estate be left behind?
AI surely has the potential to revolutionize the real estate realm. A few years back, who would have thought of looking for a house online, go through a virtual tour, and make a decision. Now it’s a fairly common practice and leads to superior customer experience.
If we talk about residential homes, simple buildings are turning into smart residences. We are not talking about the regular amenities that every developer used to offer – that’s not as much of an attraction anymore. Here we are talking about automated products that lure homebuyers and even investors. Home security, utilities, app-driven utilities management, offers, other maintenance etc. – just at the click of a button.
But this is from the consumer perspective. What’s in it for the Developer?
Generative AI tools can be used very effectively by developers for improving customer experience, for creating marketing content, for creatives, for personalized communication with prospects, consumer engagement, and query handling among others.
However, the biggest advantage for a developer is the Data they capture related to the real estate behaviour of prospective customers. The sales and marketing teams can mine data so that they can target the right audience for the right project. Gathering data itself is a mammoth task, and then analyzing that data is another challenge and consumes a lot of time. With AI, algorithms churn out this data for you in the most efficient manner. The best part is it works round the clock.
All this is great but what happens to this compiled data?
The first thought that the developer has is – how do I read this data?
Firstly, it is important to start familiarizing yourself with the way you get the data output – the different data sets, reports, etc. Then we move to assessing the quality, accuracy and reliability of this data, what were the parameters used.
It is then that we start analyzing the trends/patterns and draw insights. Interpretation of this data is the most important step that can help in more accurate property valuations, market analysis, investment decisions, risk assessments, demand forecasting, and customer segmentation.
How will it benefit online property portals?
It will definitely help in giving more accurate property recommendations, analyze user behaviour through historical data, make it more personalized, provide market insights, and enhance overall customer experience. This leads to better efficiency and creates a competitive edge over others.
Is it one size fits all?
Not really! The data and its insights vary for different cities, different areas/micro markets within cities, different types of projects like under construction or Ready-To-Move-In and number of amenities, different target audiences by age, price ranges, ethnicities, type pf developers etc.
What’s the value proposition?
It’s big! We will witness a revenue increase of almost 15-20% once AI is implemented across all processes. Additionally it also helps with
- Better customer experience
- Increase in sales velocity
- Reduction in marketing spends
- Increase in Referral and loyalty sales
- Increase in profitability
With AI, do we reduce the team size?
Real estate is a very physical and in-person sale process. It’s not about losing your sales teams, it’s about helping and supporting them become more efficient, effective and productive with the use of AI and technology.
Way Forward
We will see most organizations adapting AI in the Real Estate industry across processes, right from construction efficiencies, marketing efficiencies, enhancing sales team productivities, identifying the right fit of employees and customers, enhancing customer experience through personalized machine-based interactions. It is likely to transform the overall efficiency of the system and hence improve profitability and bottom line of the company. Interesting times lie ahead…for sure!
