CREtech New York landed during one of the busiest weeks of the year for the industry. Between NY Real Estate Week, PropTech Sweden’s NYC market tour, MetaProp’s annual meeting, and PREA Fall in Boston, our team was everywhere. A highlight was seeing our own Zander Geronimos, PRODA’s Global Head of Business Development speak on the Innovation Stage session: “Beyond Bricks: How AI Is Reshaping Real Estate’s Future.”
This panel stood out because it went beyond buzzwords. Instead of grand predictions, it focused on what AI is actually delivering for owners, lenders, and operators today — and what still needs work.
Clean data remains the biggest barrier, and opportunity
Zander opened by calling out the industry’s most persistent data problem: rent rolls. With operators exporting data in different formats, accounting systems using inconsistent structures, and human error always lurking, rent rolls are the biggest drag on underwriting and portfolio analysis.
This is exactly the problem PRODA solves. As Zander explained, once you standardize this data at scale, every downstream process improves, from credit risk to modelling to reporting. AI can’t deliver value without clean inputs.
A tangible example: millions uncovered by fixing the basics
One case study resonated strongly. A PRODA client recently discovered millions in missed step rents and incorrect charge codes across a senior housing portfolio. This wasn’t efficiency; it was revenue that had been slipping through the cracks for years.
Without AI-driven cleansing, they simply wouldn’t have seen it. It was one of the clearest real-world ROI examples shared on stage.
From reactive to proactive portfolio management
Zander also highlighted how AI is shifting teams from reacting to issues to anticipating them:
- spotting tenant credit risk earlier
- understanding exposure across complex portfolios
- detecting churn signals in service-level behaviour
- identifying risks before they become losses
The message was simple: when your data becomes usable, your organisation becomes proactive.
Adoption challenge: culture, not technology
JLL’s Sejin Park stressed that the biggest barrier to AI adoption isn’t the tools, it’s mindset. Teams must be willing to test, adapt, and evolve workflows. AI is an augmentation, not a replacement, and the organisations embracing it are already moving ahead.
Ryan Loughlin from Jeeva AI reinforced this on the sales side, where agentic AI is speeding up research and personalisation, allowing teams to focus on relationship-building.
Not an AI bubble — a maturing market
The panel closed with a shared view: AI isn’t a bubble. The hype will fade, weak tools will disappear, and the products delivering measurable value (including data-first platforms like PRODA) will define the next chapter.
To learn more about how PRODA helps asset owners and investment managers standardize their data with accuracy and ease, book free trial.
