AI and cleaner data can transform real estate decision-making

Property and investment managers are still struggling to work effectively with the volume of data generated across real estate, but AI tools and closer alignment between stakeholders can significantly improve outcomes, according to Mike Harrison, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at NTrust.

Speaking to Real Asset Media at EXPO Real 2025, Harrison said the sector continues to grapple with incomplete, inconsistent datasets. “The industry is still struggling with data. There’s a lot of data. Is it clean data, and is it available when you need it? Is it comprehensive? Does it cover all the components needed to make good business decisions? The answer today is not really.”

He said AI and structured human-in-the-loop processes can materially accelerate data preparation and standardisation.

“Now with AI and with human-in-the-loop capabilities, structured capabilities in terms of managing process, we can turn data around very much more effectively as a platform through data as a service, and so by applying AI concepts and algorithms to the data, we can now clean it much faster and provide more data on a more regular basis.”

For investment managers, the priority is speed. “As an investment manager, you’re always looking for the opportunity to source the data quickly, so you can do your real job, which is managing the asset and determining the strategies and within the lifecycle,” he said. “But a lot of time we spend just cleaning and managing data.”

Harrison said better coordination between property managers and investment managers remains essential.

“The idea is to get the property managers on the same page with the investment managers on process and timing and what is needed in terms of reporting,” he said. “So I think that is the biggest challenge, and finding the right hub to share information and have visibility and accountability is critical to the process.”

He added that firms should always test operational changes before fully rolling them out.

“If you’re looking at a technology, a new process, a change in organisation structure, a third-party provider, you always pilot that first, confirm that it’s really going to work before you put your feet in. Change management’s big.”

NTrust supports clients through these transitions with structured frameworks. “What we do is we provide playbooks and onboarding concepts and then project management around that through our organisation and through some of our partners to help clients make that change because it is a big change,” he said.

Harrison emphasised that clear objectives and strong communication are vital. “It is important to plan and to structure with any type of change, whether it’s organisational change, process change, data and system changes. You always want to put together a plan, and the plan is not just to get through it,” he said.

“The plan is to improve things, have good objectives, and then set the plan out for everyone to understand, buy into the process, have the objectives in front of everyone so they understand what you’re really trying to achieve and then work together. It’s important; communications are critical.”

“We support all of that. We’re engaged in a lot of that. We have partners that do that work, but it’s critical for our clients as we walk through the process together,” he said.