This July, our team joined forces as our International Director, Rob Crichlow, Principal Josh Malinoff, and one of our local UK consultants, Rohit Koorichh (me!), met in Paris, France, for MIPIM’s PropTech Conference.
The conference was centered around automation, specifically, artificial intelligence, and robotic process automation. Many attendees were eager to have exploratory conversations about the capabilities of these tools, which was great for us—having started a dedicated automation practice back in January 2019.
Rethinking the Human Element in Real Estate
An interesting contrast to the discussions on automation was a panel discussion, “Visions and Strategies for a Human-Centered Real Estate,” about what makes a successful real estate business. The panel suggested the biggest key to success is rethinking the human element of business. A great example of understanding the human element exists when we talk about the relationship between landlords and tenants.
Previously, landlords had a tendency to look at their tenants as occupiers and less as individuals. But now, property owners are making a shift toward investing in the environment and atmosphere of their properties to make their spaces more pleasant and inviting. By providing more amenities and upgraded facilities, owners and property managers get a competitive edge and lower their tenant turnover.
The ethos behind these investments is to make tenants feel as though they aren’t just renting a space; they are home and will continue to renew their lease. The result is more revenue and fewer occupancy gaps for owners. This echoes a lot of what we have been hearing at other conferences and is something we—especially the renters among us—are very interested to watch play out in the real estate market.
Thinking About Joining Us Next Year?
The majority of the PropTech conference attendees were from France, mainly from small startups, with a handful of large firms present as well. But our favorite aspect of MIPIM PropTech was the ability to bridge large distances and bring our team together from all over the world. If you’re ever exploring or interested in understanding more about how real estate investors are leveraging technology to better their businesses, there is no doubt that this conference will provide great insight. Hope to see you there next year!
