Future Of Work: Landlords Need To Start Leveraging The Power Of AI, Here’s Why

Published on September 24, 2021 - By Emma Ascott

• AI has seen a massive increase in commercial use in the last decade due to the ever-increasing growth in the amount of data being generated and captured.  
• In the CRE industry, AI can help to streamline everyday processes for tenants, property managers, and landlords. 
• Landlords looking to enhance their corporate tenant onboarding experience as well as communication should explore using AI.   

In many industries, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now widely used. According to the International Data Corp, global spending for AI will reach $110 billion in 2024, compared to $50 billion in 2020.  

AI has seen a massive increase in commercial use in the last decade due to the ever-increasing growth in the amount of data being generated and captured, as well as the growing power and availability of cloud computing solutions.  

AI can help to streamline everyday processes for tenants, property managers, and landlords by helping find suitable tenants, locate vendors and provide alerts for routine maintenance and management tasks. 

Proptech trends, such as the increased use of AI, will help to create property management success and tenant satisfaction due to the fastest digital turnaround that buildings and facilities have ever seen. 

AI explained 

• There are three main types of AI: Narrow, General and Super. 
• AI can be used by property managers/landlords to answer common questions from tenants, automatically send emails, save money on utility bills, process maintenance requests, and more. 
• There are two ways that AI can learn: Supervised and Self-Learning. 
• Implementing AI doesn’t have to remove the human aspect from property management; it is simply meant to make operations quicker and easier. 

How can AI help landlords improve their properties for corporate tenants? 

One of AI’s roles in property management is to monitor and predict when maintenance systems need to be replaced. The technology can also keep an eye on rental trends and raise or lower tenant rates once a lease expires. AI can also assist with building automation and expansion analysis to determine potential returns based on metrics that impact rents, expenses, and profits.  

AI can set income and growth goals which can make adjustments as data changes to help all parties involved to reach their financial targets. 

This technology can provide virtual tours for interested tenants, answer simple technical questions about the property, and questions about the lease and more through a 24/7 chat.  

AI streamlines the onboarding process 

When onboarding new commercial tenants, the delay can be unappealing, and they will want an efficient application process to acquire the new location. 

When a new company applies for a vacant tenancy, the landlord can use AI to evaluate the risk of the new tenant, and then decide immediately if they would like to proceed. Tenants would no longer have to wait long periods to find out if they qualify for a property.  

Once the tenants move into the space, AI and cloud accounting software could be used by the companies to share management accounts data.  

Conversational AI can assist with the landlord-tenant relationship 

• Rent Payment – In less than a few seconds, a virtual conversational AI assistant can automatically remind a tenant when rent is due. Property managers can benefit from this as well by automating responses and tracking conversations. 
• Maintenance and Repairs – Using conversational AI, tenants can enter their repair requests and receive an estimated time of repair according to the severity of the problem. The landlord can see these claims in real-time and can prioritize tasks.  
• Conversational Intelligence – By looking at AI-tenant conversations, landlords can identify developing patterns, tenant preferences, and overarching maintenance issues. With these data-driven insights, landlords can streamline processes, improve their engagement efforts and reach new levels of efficiency. 

Scott Harmon, Founder & CEO of Swivel, told Allwork.Space that he believes there’s tremendous potential for AI to improve the way landlords and property owners market and lease their commercial spaces.  

“Because of the pandemic, landlords are having to rethink the best way to reconfigure their available spaces to match the size, layout, and purpose today’s tenants are wanting. But, without strong data and an ongoing pandemic making it difficult for tenants to stick to a reopening plan, landlords and property owners are making choices about their real estate based on guesswork that may or may not be relevant to their market,” Swivel told Allwork.Space.  

Swivel said that AI will help landlords make smarter decisions about their real estate by predicting which office space variations will lease the fastest and result in the most profit.  

“Many customers of ours are already asking about this. By using AI in combination with our 3D immersive visualization technology, landlords will not only more accurately streamline their revenue optimization with several different AI-generated configurations and price points against market trends, they can also use Swivel’s design experience platform to bring their vacant spaces to life digitally; and help prospective tenants better envision themselves in the space – before making any changes,” Swivel said.  

Landlords looking to enhance their corporate tenant onboarding experience as well as communication should explore using AI.  

According to Forbes, technology is commercial real estate’s largest enabler. Powered by tech and with the use of AI, landlords and property teams can expand their boundaries in order to provide tenants with a truly flexible workspace.