Poland: How artificial intelligence is supporting housing developers

Are property developers using AI? Do they plan to implement such solutions? How do AI-based tools help the industry the most?

Tomasz Kaleta, Sales Department Director, Develia S.A.:
Tools based on artificial intelligence support the employees of marketing and sales departments in our company in certain tasks. We use publicly available tools such as Midjourney for graphic production or ChatGPT as an additional source of inspiration when developing advertising slogans. In addition, in our sales offices and on our website, we use 3D mock-ups of ongoing investments, where artificial intelligence assists in the generation of 3D models and objects. These allow an almost perfect representation of the appearance of the development and give the customer a better idea of what their future flat will look like.

We are convinced that AI-based tools are a technology that will be one of the fastest growing sectors of IT in the coming years. We are currently exploring broader applications of AI in the company, including through dedicated solutions, as we are aware of the potential that this technology offers on many levels of the property development business - from marketing activities, to customer service, to business process support in individual departments.

The appropriate use of AI in the future can help us develop a competitive advantage, for example through machine analysis of large data sets, customer purchase preferences or the creation of personalised property offers. We see the greatest potential in solutions profiled for the needs of marketing and sales departments and providing support for daily office work, including knowledge management tools or marketing automation. We want AI-based solutions to help employees perform the simplest, most repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on more creative and demanding tasks.

Adrian Woźniakiewicz, IT director at Archicom:
We are looking at and testing various applications of artificial intelligence in key real estate sectors. We have trained most of our employees in the use of language models, which has opened up the possibility for us to implement AI to increase productivity. The result of the work undertaken is the creation of an assistant, Archimedes, which is based on the OpenAI mechanism (GPT-4). It is a tool that actively learns from conversations, supplementing its knowledge with information from the Internet, project documents and data contained in information systems. At the sales and residential customer service level, we also tested intelligent chatbots.

We associate expectations with artificial intelligence primarily in terms of increasing the efficiency of our teams. We do not see it as a threat to full-time employees at the moment. AI facilitates the collection, analysis and processing of information. It allows people to focus on tasks that require creativity, interpersonal contacts or a deeper understanding of the needs of the residents of our estates. Artificial intelligence is left more to, for example, repetitive tasks or tasks that traditionally require significant human resources. In the long term, we will monitor the development of the technology and adapt our plans to changing needs and opportunities. Our priority is to find a balance between the use of artificial intelligence and maintaining valuable jobs for our employees.

Damian Tomasik, CEO of Alter Investment:
AI is also an acronym for our company, and as a result we can say that it is written into our DNA. We are working intensively on the use of artificial intelligence tools for land absorption analysis. This is a time-consuming and demanding process in which a great many parameters and documents have to be analysed, and last year alone we analysed more than 5 500 000 sq m of land.

Zuzanna Należyta, commercial director at Eco Classic:
AI can have a very wide range of applications in our industry, from the assessment of profitability, the initial conception of a project, the execution of branch projects, the coordination of the implementation process, the preparation of documentation or after-sales service.

However, some stages of the investment process are difficult to imagine, perhaps for the time being, with the full and exclusive use of artificial intelligence. I am mainly thinking of the sales process. Up to a certain point, it can be conducted using AI, but nothing can replace a personal meeting with another human being, such as a salesperson.

Customers deciding to buy a flat or a house are often making life decisions, and I think that as humanity we are not yet ready to base such decisions solely on technology.

Małgorzata Ostrowska, Director of the Marketing and Sales Division at J.W. Construction:
AI is already becoming an everyday occurrence in our industry. It is improving our daily operations, although it is worth emphasising that it is not yet a perfect and self-sufficient solution. AI is proving its worth in various areas of property development, including primarily sales and marketing activities, but also in customer service, project processes or in the context of property management.

In our company, we use the chatGPT tool, which is helpful in developing content for advertisements or offers. The marketing department also uses the tool to create content for social media. New technologies are very useful in sales. We use interactive maps or virtual tours on a daily basis, which are a good way of showing customers the potential of an investment and often contribute to their purchasing decision. We are also planning to implement AI-based solutions on our new website - these are intended to help our customers find and match properties that best suit their preferences.

Angelika Kliś, Atal board member:
In the real estate sector, we see some areas where AI can support humans and some where - for the time being - it will not replace them. AI can prove itself in some analytical, around-design or construction preparation and management activities, as well as in analysing and automating some sales processes, such as preparing documentation and evaluating product sales. We also see potential application of AI in the sphere of presentation of the offer itself and its attractive visualisation.

However, we are operating in a market of goods with a high price ceiling, in addition to which it is quite heavily regulated. This is where knowledge, experience, as well as proficient knowledge of the market and regulations and so-called soft skills, including personality predispositions, still count. These are the key qualities on the basis of which we build our sales teams.

For the time being, we use advanced analytical tools and so-called big data more than we use AI, which helps us integrate sales and offer management.

Mariola Żak, sales and marketing director at Aurec Home:
Artificial intelligence is increasingly used today as a tool to support the work of developers, investors, appraisers or architects. It automates customer service processes, creates property visualisations, urban planning simulations and property valuations. Currently, one of the most important applications of artificial intelligence in the real estate industry is market analysis. By using data on property prices, location, customer preferences and market trends or demographic changes, algorithms are able to predict the prices that properties in a given market will reach over a certain period of time. This means that investors can make more accurate decisions and better manage their property portfolios.

What's more, in the future, thanks to AI, an investor will be able to dispense with the manual search for available land in favour of running the appropriate programme, which will analyse all offers in a region or country at the same time and suggest the most interesting ones, e.g. in terms of profitability. Artificial intelligence has already been used to a considerable extent in the property sales process for a long time. I am thinking of virtual walk-throughs, with which real estate agents allow clients to remotely visit premises without having to visit them in person.

Joanna Chojecka, sales and marketing director for Warsaw and Wrocław at Robyg Group:
The use of AI in the real estate industry is already taking place, also our company is actively using such solutions. We have the most opportunities to implement AI in the area of customer service, such as virtual walks and visualisations of properties, etc. We think AI support for outreach and customer service will grow.

Karolina Bronszewska, Director of Marketing and Innovation at Ronson Development:
We see growing opportunities arising from the use of artificial intelligence. It currently has a key impact on the labour market and the potential to bring change to various areas of the business. That is why we are gradually opening up to these innovations.

In our company, AI is helping to automate routine tasks, allowing our employees to focus on more creative and strategic aspects of their work. An example of this is the marketing department, where artificial intelligence is being used in, for example, editing content, creating graphic materials or inspiration boards. AI applications are also used in interactive project mock-ups that allow a virtual walk-through of flats. This allows customers to get a better feel for the space of the flat they are buying and to see the future view from the window already at the construction stage. At the same time, it should be emphasised that artificial intelligence is a supporting tool for us. We know that it cannot replace human creativity, contextual understanding or emotional intelligence. We are not considering a scenario in which some jobs are reduced as a result of the spread of artificial intelligence.

Source: dompress.pl
Photo: Szmaragdowy Park, Gdańsk - DEVELIA