Taking the AI conversation to the Africa Proptech Forum
· CTICC, Cape Town
On 18 September, I’ll be at the CTICC discussing a question at the heart of PropAI: what does useful AI in property actually look like?
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I’m proud to have been invited to speak at the Africa Proptech Forum during the 17th annual API Summit. The panel is called ‘AI in Action: Moving Beyond Hype’.
I’ll be joining Scott Revell, Willem Bishoff and Wayne Berger, with Martin Uche moderating. We’ll discuss what separates an impressive AI demo from something that can do useful work in day-to-day property management.
I’m excited to share what we’ve been learning and hear how others are approaching the same challenges. If you’ll be there, please come and say hi.
A contractor postpones. The trustees should know what changed, who is following up and when they will hear again—even if the new date is not confirmed.
Read moreShow less about You approved the work. What’s happening with it?
A clearer update is only part of it. Someone still needs to contact the contractor, agree the next step and keep the job moving.
That is the approach we’re building into PropAI: systems that keep outstanding work visible, and a property manager responsible for following it through.
An R18,000 quote excludes access equipment. An R24,000 quote includes it. The first might still be cheaper—but we don’t know the full cost yet.
Read moreShow less about Cheaper quote. Same job?
This is a fictional example of the comparison I want AI to help with: checking quotations against the work we actually asked for, showing what is included, excluded or still unclear, with the wording to back it up.
I’d still check its work, speak to the contractors and make a recommendation to the trustees. That’s the direction I’m taking PropAI. Trustees shouldn’t have to spend their evening discovering what the quote left out.
Appointing a new managing agent is only the beginning. The real test is making sure nothing gets lost in the handover.
Read moreShow less about The manager changes. The scheme doesn’t reset.
Opening balances, arrears, maintenance, legal and insurance matters, owner queries and decisions already taken all need continuity. Receiving files is not the same as understanding what remains open.
The new team should know what happened, who owns the next step and when the board can expect an update. If you are considering a change, ask to see the handover plan before appointing.
There’s more to being AI-powered than a subscription
The model is probably the easiest part now. The hard work is giving it the right context, keeping that context current and deciding what it can touch.
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I think about this in five levels. First, AI sits next to the work: you paste something in, get a draft back, check it and send it. Second, you give it the rules, policies, minutes and documents it needs.
Third, scheme information is organised so AI knows where to look and what belongs together. Fourth, persistent scheme memory connects correspondence, decisions, people and history instead of starting from zero each time.
Fifth, AI starts supporting the workflow: preparing replies, pulling together history and keeping track of what needs attention. These are stages in how I think about the work, not a claim that every system already does all of them.
You should care whether the job got done properly, not whether I typed every word. If the system gets something wrong, that responsibility still sits with me.
Good management does not make the work disappear. It makes the scheme easier to govern—and gives the board less routine work to carry.
Read moreShow less about What can your board put down this spring?
A scheme can have maintenance, arrears, owner queries and important decisions ahead without the board having to carry all of it.
The finances should be understood. Open items should be visible and moving. Decisions should arrive with context, and owners should know who to contact. That is a useful starting point for spring.
Adapted from our LinkedIn posts, with original posting dates. Illustrations are conceptual, not records of individual schemes. These updates share general observations, not scheme-specific advice.
