AI and digital platforms are reshaping housing, creating opportunities to deliver faster services, reduce costs, and meet rising resident expectations. But technology alone won’t deliver long-term ROI. To achieve real transformation, providers need to align these tools with the right operating model. One that defines how services are delivered, how costs are managed, and how residents experience their homes.
To explore this, Maxim De Cauwer, Director of Strategy at Plentific, spoke with Phil McCavish, Partner at Rannoch Associates, about why operating models matter, how housing providers can get started, and what role partnerships play in unlocking technology’s full potential.
Maxim:
Many housing providers are looking at AI and digital platforms as the future of the sector. Why do you believe that their operating model is more important than the technology itself?
Phil:
They should start with clarity of direction. Ask: what are the strategic priorities? Is it reducing repair turnaround times? Improving compliance oversight? Enhancing transparency with residents? Once you know the goals, you can align the operating model and bring in the right technology to support it.
And it’s important to act quickly. There is a risk of linking too many issues and objectives together which can create a set of dependencies that become almost impossible to reconcile, this will inevitably result in slower progress as every decision will be linked to another decision yet to be taken.
Every delay means missed opportunities to reduce costs or improve service. Transformation needs to consider the overall strategic objectives, but the focus needs to be on a scope that enables an organisation to move decisively, implementing, and then refining.
Maxim:
That makes sense. So if a provider is about to start a new transformation project, where should they begin?
Phil:
They should start with clarity of direction. Ask: what’s the strategic priority? Is it reducing repair turnaround times? Improving compliance oversight? Enhancing transparency with residents? Once you know the goal, you can align the operating model and bring in the right technology to support it.
And it’s important to act quickly. Every delay means missed opportunities to reduce costs or improve service. Transformation isn’t about waiting for a perfect solution – it’s about moving decisively, implementing, and then refining.
Maxim:
At Plentific, we often partner with advisors like Rannoch Associates to support our clients. Why should housing providers involve advisory firms when they’re considering technology adoption?
Phil:
Because transformation is never just about technology. It’s about strategy, people, and execution. Advisory partners like us bring an external perspective to help providers answer critical questions: What capabilities will have the biggest impact? What changes to the operating model are needed to support adoption? How do we ensure ROI?
Delivering significant changes to an organisation is difficult and often people may only get to do this once or twice in their entire career. As an external advisor you get to do this many times and therefore have the opportunity to build up a depth of experience that it’s often not possible for others to do.
The consequences of not getting something right is potentially significant and long lasting - also it’s often difficult to go and put something right afterwards.
When you combine that clarity with a platform like Plentific which is scalable, adaptable, and able to consolidate data then you’re not just buying a tool. You’re building the operating model of the future.
Maxim:
AI is already creating a lot of buzz. What role do you see it playing in housing operations today?
Phil:
AI is not just a future promise - it’s already capable of making a difference. It can optimise repair diagnostics, improve contractor oversight, and help providers make smarter repair-versus-replace decisions.
Previously I was sceptical about how quickly many Housing Associations could think about adopting AI, but platforms like Plentific provide the opportunity for consolidated, clean data and this can provide the opportunity to begin adopting now.
It’s a cliché but if you never get started then you won’t arrive, the smart way forward is to start small. Deploy AI in areas where it can deliver measurable wins, track the impact, learn what works and what doesn’t and then scale up. No one can predict how this technology will evolve, how fast it will change or what it will be capable of. But the organisations that succeed will be those that adopt AI iteratively—not once every five years, but in ongoing cycles of improvement. Adopting new capabilities will be an ongoing activity rather than series of discrete projects
Maxim:
Speed to capability is something we emphasise a lot at Plentific. Every delay is a missed opportunity. Beyond speed, what else do providers need to focus on?
Phil:
The opportunity costs of being slow to act are going to increase dramatically over the next 3-5 years – the gap between those organisations that can leverage AI tooling and those that can’t is going to widen significantly.
However, the benefits of lean disciplines will remain as important as ever. Managing process effectiveness - ensuring that they deliver consistent and predictable outcomes for residents will still be as important in the future as it is today. AI will be transformational, but equally it won’t mean that good process management disciplines will be any less essential for high-quality service delivery in the future.
Maxim:
Finally, if you had one piece of advice for a housing leader thinking about their next project, what would it be?
Phil:
Start with your operating model. Don’t focus on a shopping list of features. Focus on how you want to deliver services differently, how residents will benefit, how you can remove or reduce complexity, and how your teams will work smarter. Then move quickly. Don’t overcomplicate with self-build projects or delay clarity of purpose. With the right operating model, the right platform, and the right advisory support, transformation doesn’t just become possible. It can enable rapid step changes to take place.
AI will transform housing, but ROI won’t come from the technology alone. It will come from how effectively organisations reshape their operating models to unlock its potential. Rannoch Associates help providers define their strategy and turn digital opportunities into tangible results.
