12th March 2025 - More than 100 property experts attended leading technology provider Plentific‘s inaugural Connect Conference in London with discussions focussing on how to orchestrate property operations by leveraging AI, automations and data-driven insights effectively.
Connect 2025, held at The Gherkin, marked a new conference and networking opportunity for landlords and service providers to strengthen their relationships, underpinned by sharing best-practices when embracing new technologies.
Ben Dimson, Partner at McKinsey & Company, delivered the keynote speech addressing how real estate can use generative AI to turn the industry’s data into treasure, based on McKinsey’s recent insights.
Speaking at Connect 2025, Cem Savas, Co-founder and CEO of Plentific, said:
“We hope you all leave here informed, inspired and reinvigorated about the future of real estate. Today, we’ve only started to delve into the outcomes of AI and the implications for real estate. The power and applications of this are immense.
“Technology empowers, enabling transparency and the customer experience can be enriched. Automation and AI are the future; embracing these technologies will place every organisation in better stead for the future. Data is key to harmonising the powers of tomorrow.
“This Conference is all about tomorrow. The future isn’t just a possibility, it’s something we’re all working on. Imagine a world where buildings are intelligent; it’s possible, we’re already having clients looking at repairs proactively rather than reactively.
“Data-driven insights are the future we are building together and we are passionate about. We believe technology will be a key enabler and we will continue to shape that with our partners.”
Speaking about preparing the groundwork for AI and the foundational steps necessary for organisations to adopt AI technologies in real estate, Emre Kazan, Co-founder and Chief Product and Technology Officer of Plentific, added:
“I don’t think we have the luxury to not think about AI. AI is incorporated in our daily lives; it has become my go-to from Google or a search engine. It is here; I truly believe this is the fourth Industrial Revolution. You have to adapt and embrace this.
“There’s a huge opportunity for housing, compliance and building safety. You have to invest in these. Automations are great; now we have AI agents, we have full autonomy. Our orchestration platform is now connecting data into our ecosystem.
“Looking at asset management in our platform, this level of data is now connecting the dots. Stakeholders now have complete, real-time information about touchpoints in the user journey.”
Emily Shaw, Senior Director, Product Lead at Plentific, added:
“From a product perspective, AI is now a fundamental part of how we approach product development. There’s been a fundamental shift, as we weren’t asking that question two years ago. But it’s important to remember that you need to understand the end goals that you’re trying to achieve - AI is an additional tool you can leverage, but you should be cognisant of how you employ it.
“You can’t take the product lens for granted. We make sure that features are built with well-structured data in mind, so that when you layer AI on top of that data, you get quality results. With this, you can’t ignore the supply chain and the tools that they use, as this is a fundamental driver of repairs data. We create a virtuous cycle in terms of a quality data output from all parties by equipping property operators and their supply chain with digital tools to do their jobs effectively.”
Key insights from Connect 2025 included:
Digital transformation is no longer a choice - it’s a necessity for efficiency and resident satisfaction. Utilising real-time data from AI and advanced analytics is transforming approaches to property management from reactive to proactive, enabling swift, informed decisions.
Organisations embracing automation and AI today will stay ahead and lead the next era of property management tomorrow. AI is no longer a distant concept but is actively reshaping the property industry, which must evolve to unlock AI’s full potential.
AI adoption requires preparation, with a focus on data infrastructure and the right organisational mindset.
Technology fosters transparency, smarter decision-making and stronger relationships with residents, connecting communities making them more sustainable.
Community voices: attendees, partners and speakers shared their perspectives, highlighting the tangible benefits of collaboration, showing how the fusion and synergy of ideas, people and technology drives impactful change.
Harnessing the power of data helps organisations to improve operational decisions, delivering greater value to clients.
Smaller housing associations can significantly benefit from data insights, optimising operations and enhancing service delivery without requiring large scale infrastructure.
Success with AI is about more than technology, it involves rethinking processes and talent to drive real impact.
Collaboration is the key to driving meaningful change across the sector.
Speaking at the Conference Ben Dimson said:
“We’re seeing transformation across every industry and a meaningful shift in the business driven by technology. The impacts of this are going to be quite fundamental to all of us. That presents a series of opportunities and challenges, using technology in the pursuit of business objectives.
“It’s about making housing associations more effective, delivering a better service to residents, adopting an agile approach. To ensure business and technology functions are in harmony, an agile method of delivery with constant alignment is needed. Successful technology cannot happen in isolation and requires a strategic alignment of people, process and technology, using tools to do more with less.”
Thought leaders including Sarah Jones, CEO of Anchor, Ashling Fox, MD of Student Roost and Liz Choonara, Executive Director of Commerce & Enterprise for national homeless charity Crisis explored ‘Tech as an enabler - what role can technology play in delivering efficient property services?’
Speaking at the Conference, Sarah Jones added:
“Technology presents us with a fantastic opportunity, as there aren’t enough people to do all that we need to do. Everything is connected and technology is enabling us to understand the interconnectedness. With Plentific, we have a shared vision, connecting other service providers onto the platform. It’s about getting the best possible service to residents.
“We’re trying to improve services, to do more with less. We’re in 85% of Local Authorities; the key is data and technology. With Plentific, we’re already driving performance, tracking end-to-end with residents and contractors, meeting SLAs. One of the biggest challenges is to do repairs swiftly, on time and to a standard representing value for money.”
Ashling Fox said:
“Plentific is helping as a partner to improve our services to customers, giving us more visibility with real-time updates. We have a better oversight of what’s happening in our buildings, improving the customer experience.
“For Student Roost, it’s about growth and getting ready for the next technological revolution. We’re the first PBSA provider to use Plentific to develop the platform to suit students. We want to ensure we have all of the data, asset and compliance information to improve our services. We’re focused on the customer journey.”
Liz Choonara added:
“We are looking at how we can support residents of the future, spending more time to support them to thrive, not just survive. We want to maintain residents’ lives using anything that can make us more efficient. If we can unlock nascent capacity utilising technology, this would have a huge impact on residents.
“We believe technology is the greatest enabler in real estate, changing resident expectations. We want to work with clients and providers, bringing the ecosystem together. We want to forge new partnerships and accelerate the change this sector needs.”
Shaun Holdcroft, Chief Growth Officer at Legal & General Affordable Homes, Alastair Mullins, MD of Canary Wharf Group examined ‘Oiling your operational engine - how to curate a resident first experience with the right tech, embedding automations and the right processes to streamline operations.’
Shaun Holdcroft said:
“My utopia in terms of property management is to have a digital twin with connected systems and a property manager who can see across the costings, being a step ahead. Technology needs to connect.”
Alastair Mullens added:
“In terms of residential at Canary Wharf, it’s about the people and customer satisfaction. We are seeing the impact of the Building Safety Act. Agile is the way to go, building at pace.”
Further speakers at the Conference included Tom Bremner, CEO of CDS Co-operatives, Ryan Dempsey, CEO of TCW and Tom Robins, CEO of Switchee, who shared their data expertise with a session on ‘Mastering data driven insights creating impactful outcomes - how can you identify data and then use it in a meaningful way?’
Tom Robins said:
“We must put the resident at the heart of operating models. The better we get at that the better we will be as a sector. Using a proactive model is such a better resident experience. Unless we have resident harmony and can use data to behave differently we won’t see the change.
“Data should help residents to realise that somewhere is safe to live; data gives us a shared vision of reality. The revolution in operating models is coming with AI, providing the ability to meet the user where it is. It’s going to revolutionise the way we interact with our customers.”
Tom Bremner added:
“It’s about community, connection and cooperation; the better we get at that the better we will be as a sector.
“You’re receiving a lot of data points. Are you using all of the data. Data is key to making our residents safe and demonstrating to our Boards that people are safe. Compliance keeps people safe.
“There’s an increasing breakdown of trust between landlords and residents. We have to rebuild that trust. This sector is amazing, it’s collaborative and supportive. We don’t share enough in partnership, cooperate with the people we give service to. The transformation for me is we have to see it through these people’s eyes. That de-risks organisations. It’s a cooperation; the staff that makes a difference to where they live. Who their neighbour is, how quickly they get their repairs done. It comes down to technology being an enabler, starting and finishing with the culture.”
Ryan Dempsey said:
“A number of organisations dip into the data and really try to understand it, looking at the components or attributes of an asset lifecycle.
“AI is going to change the world. Over the next five years, we’ll fast forward in terms of AI.”
The future of real estate is Now. For more details please visit: www.plentific.com
About Plentific
Plentific is an Al-powered software-as-a-service platform developed to optimise property operations in real-time and adapt to demand.
Recognised for its award-winning innovative solutions, Plentific connects owners, operators, service providers, and residents in a single easy-to-use platform. It streamlines operations, unlocks efficiencies, and delivers a world-class resident experience. Users benefit from data-driven insights that enable informed decision making, drive prompt action and result in tangible impacts.
Plentific's solutions include repair diagnostics, work order management, resident self-service, contractor and internal workforce management, as well as inspections and compliance management. Plentific's platform acts as an integration layer, connecting vendors, and delivering a cloud-based system of engagement that enables true, real-time collaboration. Plentific enables housing providers to build a resilient supply chain by sourcing contractors based on unique client requirements, preventing backlogs and ensuring a timely delivery of works.
Committed to building stronger communities where people can thrive, Plentific leverages technology and drives digitalisation for over 900 customers, enhancing the lives of more than 3 million residents and the businesses of more than 5,000 service providers worldwide.
The award-winning company was recognised as one of Europe's fastest-growing PropTech firms, according to Lazard's T100 listing.
For more information please contact Phil Brotherhood of Brotherhood PR on 07887 686840 or email phil@brotherhoodpr.co.uk
