The Property Voice

Series 4 PropTech: Systems & Apps Part 3 – Tom Shrive AskPorter

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I am joined on the show today by Tom Shrive, CEO & co-Founder of AskPorter, an artificial intelligence, omni-communication channel property management platform. Sometimes, I just love what I do on this podcast, as I get to speak to all sorts of smart people doing exciting things. These last few weeks have been like that and my conversation with Tom is no different as I prompt him to lift his head from the imminent launch of his PropTech venture to spill the beans on why AI and chatbots have come of age. Have a listen in, if nothing else to hear how Tom makes sure Porter does not develop a swearing habit!

Resources mentioned

Find out more about AslPort, here: www.askporter.com

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Transcription of the show

Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Property Voice podcast. My name is Richard Brown and it’s a pleasure to have you join me on the show again today.

I am joined on the show today by Tom Shrive, CEO & co-Founder of AskPorter, an artificial intelligence, omni-communication channel, property management platform! Sometimes, I just love what I do on this podcast, as I get to speak to lots of smart people, doing exciting things. These last few weeks have been like that and my conversation with Tom is no different, as I prompt him to lift his head from the imminent launch of his PropTech start-up venture to spill the beans on why AI and chatbots have now come of age.

Have a listen in, if nothing else, to hear how Tom makes sure Porter does not develop a swearing habit!

Property Chatter

Interview with Tom Shrive from AskPorter

I really enjoyed this conversation with Tom, not least of which, the opportunity to learn exactly what AI is all about. Those cat analogies really helped to explain the different types of AI out there in plain speak didn’t they?

As usual, I noted down some key themes and takeaways after our conversation, in summary as follows:

  1. AI is nothing to be scared of – yes, there will be changes to accept and yes, some people’s jobs will also change or even disappear eventually, as AI further develops and scales. However, as with many of the technological breakthroughs of the past, including both the industrial and information revolutions, new roles for us humans will be created too. Think reskill, upskill, retrain and refocus, rather than becoming redundant. It seems that the best use of AI in the near-future will be to compliment humans not necessarily to replace us entirely. For example, as Tom suggested, a property manager could develop and become a sort of property concierge in the future, offering enhanced value and extra services to our customer occupants, leaving the AI takes care of the nitty gritty.
  2. Property is a market that has been underinvested from a technology point of view – this is a recurring theme among many of my guests in this series isn’t it? Slow moving, resistant to change and a little bit afraid of technology. However, the robots are coming, whether we like it or not! No, seriously, this time, it seems that in addition to pure process automation and the resulting cost-reduction it promises, we might also see an improvement in the customer experience as well this time. That sounds much better than the countless times I have been stuck down some awful automated telephone answering service that the major utilities always seemed to deploy, that’s for sure!
  3. AI, chatbots and customer communications are coming to a time and place convenient to you…soon – I do so like the idea of choosing how I would like to communicate and be communicated with, rather than be forced down a certain channel. Just the other day, whilst trying to find out why I was having a long void in a property on the other side of the world, the property manager concerned just said, ‘if you want to know what’s going on, just call me!’ But we are in different countries, on different time zones and well, I simply prefer to email…plus, shouldn’t they be calling me when there is a problem rather than me chasing them? I can’t wait for someone like Porter to remove that sort of headache…or at least deal with it for me lol.
  4. The best form of AI uses ‘deep learning’ – well, that’s my reading of the cats discussion at least! Honestly, the descriptions of machine leaning and how it splits into algorithmic learning, geometric learning and deep learning was captivating. The upshot being, that the data reference points and accuracy is improving all the time, which means more speed to answer issues, with less data sets to select from and a greater capability to learn on the job by the machine, all leading to increased automation and so less cost. And I do like the idea of less cost in these more taxing times!
  5. It’s about improving productivity, reducing cost but also in improving service – man and machine working in a complimentary way, speaking our language, at times and through channels that we prefer and having the necessary background information and skillsets to solve the problem or complete the task, all seem to be promised…at least we hope it will.

    6. I know we were speaking with the CEO of an early-stage business that has a particular model to deploy. As with the last couple of guests over the past few weeks, if you take a step back and consider the big picture of where Tom with AskPorter, James with Upad and Marc with Arthur are taking us…it should help a lot more than it hinders, that’s for certain!

    If you would like to know more about AskPorter and their omni-communication channel, artificial intelligence, property management app, go to their website, which is www.askporter.com.

    I plan to do a summary episode on apps and systems in property next week. I already have some suggestions from some of our community as to which apps, systems and tech you are finding the most useful to use in your property business right now. But, we have room for a couple more…but only if you are quick! So, get in touch, in the best way that suits you…we are also omni-channel you know I shall be collecting the best or most mentioned apps in next week’s show, so let me know your favourite.

    However, for now, I will close by reminding you that the show notes can be found over at www.thepropertyvoice.net or if you want to talk about anything from today’s show, receive an intro into one of my guests or just talk property investing, email me at [email protected], I would be happy to hear from you!

    Once again, all I want to say is thank you very much for listening once again this week and until next time on The Property Voice Podcast…it’s ciao-ciao.

    The post Series 4 PropTech: Systems & Apps Part 3 – Tom Shrive AskPorter appeared first on The Property Voice.

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    The Property VoiceBy Richard W J Brown from www.thepropertyvoice.net