Antony Slumbers : The Road Ahead for Technology in Real Estate

On January 7^th, we had the opportunity to participate in Unissu’s RE:Connect Event, which was the first time a truly global conference on Real Estate has been run in a virtual environment. We were thinking about what we could present that would deliver real value to the community and reached out to Antony Slumbers to hear his thoughts on the future of PropTech.

In the interview, Antony talks about how technology adoption in the real estate sector has been very slow because before 2020, there simply wasn’t a pressing need. Thriving on a 10-year bull market, real estate companies have not faced the kind of competitive pressure which compels the adoption of technology to out-perform the competition.

The pandemic changed everything.  Antony talks about “punctuated equilibrium,” a term in biology that states that evolution is not a linear event but instead responds to inflection points that force rapid adaption and change or extinction. COVID is such an inflection point for Real Estate. It has caused a complete rethinking of technology’s role in enabling us to work remotely, manage buildings remotely and has transformed how we shop, play, and socialize. In this new world, technology solutions that are simple to use, facilitate collaboration and enhance our ability to work remotely will succeed. This is particularly true for the retail sector, which has borne the brunt of the pandemic’s pressures on real estate.