Forget ChatGPT; this firm is bringing AI in-house.
While the most well-known A.I. systems provide answers based on large, public data sets, in the world of real estate, the most valuable information is often siloed and inaccessible to decision makers. That’s why Andrew Zang set out to create an AI-powered solution for real estate ownership groups. By unleashing powerful machine learning algorithms on an organization’s internal data, Bespoke AIR empowers real estate professionals to mine previously opaque data and act on it. We sat down with Zang to learn how Bespoke AIR unlocks a company’s data.
Responsible AI and real estate: a match made in heaven
Zang developed his passion for commercial real estate from a young age, inspired by his father’s property management business. After completing law school, he served as a corporate real estate advisor and successfully worked on and executed over $4 billion in transactions across 13 years.
During this time, he saw first-hand how data fragmentation can slow deal velocity, and how accessible data leads to more deals, realizing that AI advancements can now offer a better way forward. Zang enrolled at MIT Executive Management Programs for coursework and certifications for Responsible AI Business Practices, and joined the leading global responsible AI organization AI 2030 as Global Fellow, and authored a book “My Data, My A.I. Strategy,” a real estate guide for A.I. data management.
“This is a brand-new world of opportunity to access information differently,” recalls Zang. “That’s what got me so excited to go down this path and curate custom artificial intelligence solutions.”
Bespoke AIR acts as your in-house AI strategist, working with executive management to curate, collect and prepare a custom proprietary data set that will act as the foundation of your organization’s A.I. strategy. Bespoke AIR processes that data within their best in class product solution, Portfolio Pulse, a custom AI chat system, powered by Google’s AI software. Bespoke’s team of experienced real estate professionals, then validate the systems accuracy by performing expert review and specialized testing, ensuring data integrity is guaranteed before deploying the solution to the workforce.
“There are amazing property management software solutions that help with financial bookkeeping and storage of information,” says Zang, “but the ability to have a transactional management system where you can access all of your available information in a user friendly way to help you do deals and create revenue for the company, that has been a sector that just really hasn’t been tapped into.”
Harnessing proprietary data
Unlike general-purpose chatbots trained on data from the public web, Bespoke AIR’s systems use an organization’s private, internal data to generate tailored answers.
“Everything about a portfolio is unique to that company’s assets,” explains Zang. “Every portfolio has different needs depending on where their vacancies are, depending on what benchmarks they have from their lenders, depending on what their lease expiration rent rolls are, depending on what their current capital improvement plans are for a building.”
Unlocking exclusive, real-time data is crucial because the information needed to close deals is typically found only in-house. Once news is public, it’s often too late to act on it.
“You need to be able to go in and find your business and find your clients and make your relationships and make your connection before the deal is done, not afterwards,” says Zang.
From data to actionable insights
“Before AI, you might have had to wait multiple days, and ask multiple departments to get one of those questions answered,” says Zang, “whether it be the size of a freight elevator inquiry, a material that is used in standard installation, or whether it be a legal clause as to whose responsibility it is for repairing an HVAC on a transaction that you completed six years prior.”
Sticking points can be resolved as soon as they arise in meetings, removing friction that might delay deals. Bespoke AIR delivers data to help drive decisions and deliver a unified voice for an entire organization to be accessible anywhere at any time.
For example, if an executive is meeting with their legal teams, or leasing associates are reporting to asset managers, the accessible intelligence delivers a first of its kind opportunity to collaborate in a whole different way. Meetings lead to action, not just the trading of data.
Early-career team members can chat with the system to begin building their expertise, while senior hires can use it to quickly integrate into an organization. The system also offers seamless onboarding of new properties.
“To be able to learn about a building effortlessly, not have to wait for answers, but to be able to really go and study and learn an asset and be able to hit the ground running,” says Zang, “that’s a game changer.”
Preserving data privacy
Bespoke AIR prioritizes data security. Rather than transferring an organization’s data out for training, it curates and structures the data set while maintaining its protected environment.
“We’re working within your four walls of your infrastructure, so your data’s never actually leaving your organization’s infrastructure and folders,” says Zang.
“When a system goes live, it becomes its own cocoon,” adds Roman Kruglov, advisory board member at Bespoke AIR. “It runs its own services, manages its own data, and stays intentionally isolated by design, to keep information private and contained.”
Each system’s results are transparently sourced. Each answer references the specific document from which the information was pulled, allowing users to verify data before responding and enabling straightforward auditing.
As part of the company’s commitment to responsible, human-centered AI deployment, its systems have built-in safeguards against hallucination.
“If we don’t have the answer, our system’s going to say the information is not within the system,” explains Zang. “And then we’re going to be able to go and bring that to the management to ensure that we can make those updates and deliver what’s important to your workforce.”
Enterprise teams trust Bespoke AIR’s systems because they protect internal data while making it instantly accessible for deal making.
“We’re going right to the boardroom and gathering information directly from there,” Zang says.
To learn how Bespoke AIR can make a lasting impact on your deal flow, follow their website.