As artificial intelligence (AI) has become more accessible, property managers are currently exploring the best ways to use it to speed up day-to-day operations. The technology can support everything from repetitive administrative tasks to resident work order requests. Still, figuring out where to start can feel overwhelming.
“There’s a lot that’s available right now in this area, with so much promise coming down the road soon,” says Melissa Kreutner, CPM and SVP of office and industrial property management at Endeavor Real Estate Group.
While multifamily properties have adopted AI for tenant engagement and coordinating maintenance, office and industrial teams are exploring other efficiency-driven use cases, such as lease research and abstraction. Understanding AI’s potential and identifying where it can make the biggest impact can help teams achieve the strongest return on investment.
Where Property Managers Are Finding Quick Wins
Kreutner notes that when adopting AI, many property managers are beginning to apply it to the “low-hanging fruit,” tasks such as lease research and abstractions. She also believes it will soon be applied to accounts payable/accounts receivable workflows. Teams can also use AI to build preventive maintenance programs and draft communications, such as newsletters and tenant updates.
“We’re constantly communicating with our tenants and clients, so by raising the bar on those communications, we’re basically just creating better customer service,” she says.
Kreutner’s team has also applied AI to generate job descriptions, refine standard operating procedures, and assist with basic IT troubleshooting, which has been especially useful with their tech support being outsourced. Meanwhile, on the multifamily side, she notes that property managers are gaining efficiency at many of the initial touchpoints with tenants, using AI bots to handle work order requests and support faster communication and services.
However, Kreutner notes that AI comes with important considerations around data privacy. "We need to ensure everyone on our teams really understands the risk,” says Kreutner. “Anything you're sharing, unless you're operating within a license that allows you to keep your data private, is used to train ChatGPT. Another user querying the same topic could return your very critical proprietary data."
She suggests that organizations set clear policies regarding which tools employees can use and how they’re expected to use them. Kreutner also recommends educating teams about these potential leaks of proprietary information to protect critical data and manage risk.
Building a Strategy That Sticks
Kreutner believes that AI adoption should start with the leadership team. “This should be C-suite driven,” she says. “This can’t be an employee using ChatGPT in the office in a way the company isn’t aware of. You have to start with the C-suite, have them drive policy, and then bring in mid-level champions who are willing to educate, lead training, and promote adoption by sharing specific use cases.”
Looking ahead, Kreutner sees big potential for AI in commercial real estate:
“In the future, we could have AI cameras on buildings that help manage landscaping by calling a vendor and saying, ‘You need to treat weeds in section 16,’ with a clear map. AI cameras already exist today to monitor trash, telling us if we’re scheduling too many or too few pickups, and showing exactly when bins are full or not—creating efficiency and saving money.”
As teams adopt more of these tools, Kreutner encourages all to start with practical applications, strengthen internal policies, and invest in training.
“The tools are available,” says Kreutner. “The next step is building the policies and training to match.”
IREM will be hosting two new AI Forums focused on multifamily and CRE properties in the fall. For more insights and thought leadership from IREM, click here.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
