Artificial intelligence toolsfor commercial real estate are already here, and they aredisrupting apartment leasing. AppFolio's newdigital leasing assistant Lisa, is one example of what is possiblethrough AI tools. The assistant is able to take a tenant throughthe early stages of apartment leasing, answering questions andcarrying on conversations in real time. For brokers and propertyowners going through lease up, the benefits are substantial.

“Artificial intelligence is taking away the manual work thatgoes into some of the very first steps of the leasing process,”Elliott Burris, VP at property management softwarecompany AppFolio, tells GlobeSt.com. “Every single query getsanswered by Lisa and, through conversational AI, Lisa can have afull-text conversation with a prospect about their query, answeringquestions about the property and unit, as well as vetting prospectsto make sure they meet all requirements.”

The biggest benefit is that the assistant is able to answerquestions and react to potential tenants in the same way that aperson could. “Lisa asks specific questions of prospects to learnmore information about them,” says Burris. “The immediacy ofresponses that Lisa provides helps meet prospect expectations andgives time back to leasing agents and property managementbusinesses to focus more on business strategy.”