The mavenway

Over 40 and feeling the AI heat? Is it hype or hope? As a regular SA Joe with pretty good Excel and BA basics, I dove in to AI, tackling a real problem you likely wrestle with every day – moving raw data to useful output. Forget the 6 week old ways “black box”, I built a game-changer in 15 days. Join me as I share the wins, woes, and wisdom of my journey – proof you can too.

In the fast-paced, hyper-competitive world of South African business, data without context is like scoring 50 marks without knowing it’s out of 200 – a recipe for poor decisions. Enter denominator data: a game-changing approach to geospatial insights that provides the missing “total” for your numbers, turning raw sales values (or risk, calls, etc.) into meaningful intel – steering action.

This is a key number in South African commercial real estate (CRE). After a lot of hard work, we are able to deliver a firm, defensible value to SA – relevant to businesses (who almost all operate out of CRE), policy makers and the industry itself.

For a South African CRE industry buffeted by Covid, weak economic growth and public sector incompetence, is solar power too good to be true? Is solar indeed one of property’s unicorns – a positively geared investment with increasing cash flows – and what are the risks associated with it?

Apple, one of the most profitable businesses in the world, is the king of outsourcing. Its brains reside in California, while its grunt work is spread to specialists all over the world. Is CRE missing a trick? Like the strategic minds at Apple, can it farm back office services to cheaper, specialist hands – and drive greater profitability?

What is the role of early adopters in our CRE industry? What characterises these individuals, and how can they help me? Simon Black MRICS, an experienced professional, is one of these. Always seeking the latest tools and innovation, clients can trust them to apply best practices, while the industry follows their lead.

Nobody loves change, but change is happening. Clients of the CRE industry, wearing their consumer hats, are seeing positive data-fueled efficiencies from shopping to travel to insurance, day-to-day. Now they are expecting the same benefits of speed, control and greater transparency in their CRE dealings. How are the world’s top CRE business responding?

Build inhouse or outsource to specialists? What to own and what to rent? Lots of debate and theory about this key PropTech topic and emotional hot button. Here we share the findings of one of South Africa’s best CRE brokerages – 5th Avenue Properties – on their tech and data journey.