AI and technology in talent will be key in UAE real estate

The UAE real estate market will not spend too much time thinking about what artificial intelligence (AI) has to offer. Instead, they will accelerate the pace of development. In July, Dubai recorded more than a billion dollars worth of real estate transactions in a single day. With this sector requiring large investments, the pressure to achieve quick results is constant and the need to experiment with new business models cannot be neglected. This pressure can create a dangerous comfort zone that hinders the long-term outlook of real estate leaders and puts their ability to follow global innovations and best practices at risk. While some organizations are willing to bet big on technology in order to stay at the forefront of innovation, others don't give it much weight against the unchanging fundamentals of the real estate market.

The impact of proptech

The key to effective technology adoption is the ability to recognize its true value. One example of a proptech that has been well received in the market is Building Information Modeling (BIM), which allows users to see an accurate picture of the final product before construction begins. Developers in Abu Dhabi have also reaped tangible benefits from implementing robotic process automation (RPA) to speed up tasks such as financial reporting and introducing big data initiatives to collect and consolidate customer behavioral data for decision making. Developers are investing in the full diversity of proptech, with a focus on maximizing the use of data to improve operations and customer experience. According to the CEO of an Abu Dhabi developer, the focus is on improving efficiency in sustainability, sales, finance and asset management. He believes that proptech can have a "huge impact from an investment, asset management and real estate perspective" by helping to identify ideas, provide transparency and support sustainable building design. When it comes to AI, the CEO of one of the UAE's largest developers says they are "working to understand how best to integrate [AI] into existing businesses" before investing. AI has potential from a service perspective, such as the ability to predict whether a tenant is planning to leave a property, and guide lettings or customer service teams accordingly.

Talent activation

The focus of senior industry executives is primarily on ensuring that people are able to understand and work with these innovative technologies.

However, in the pursuit of technical expertise, too many companies overlook the skills that most senior executives must possess to change their thinking and set their companies on the path to "tech activation." Our research on company performance has shown that there is an elite set of organizations (among the largest 500 companies by market capitalization) that consistently outperform others in terms of compound annual compound annual growth rate (CAGR) on an organic revenue basis. What distinguishes these "super-accelerators" is their ability to mobilize, perform and transform flexibly - what we call META. At the heart of META is the ability of companies to adapt and reshape faster than competitors, a key factor in today's digital age. We're already seeing some transformational leaders in the industry realize that experimentation is key to maintaining leadership. Some prominent UAE developers are experimenting with using the meta-universe, and while they can't be sure it will yield tangible profits, they believe the lessons learned will be sufficient. Another part of META is linking innovation to a higher purpose of societal importance. For example, more and more companies in the industry are becoming advocates of sustainable construction. Investment companies such as Equitativa are increasingly focusing on environmental, social and governance aspects to attract international capital. In addition to customer expectations and attracting international talent, investing in creating social impact can also help a company retain talent. An additional study we conducted found that 73 percent of employees who work for a principles-based company feel engaged, compared to only 23 percent of those who don't. The technology that exists today presents a great opportunity for UAE developers to become more efficient, diversify their offerings and, for early adopters, get ahead of the competition. Profits won't come immediately, but bold decisions made now can have major implications for the future.