Separating Technology Hype From What is Real

LOS ANGELES—“Many of us have heard of the internet of things, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, but when new technologies make bold promises, it is important to discern the hype from what is commercially viable.” So said panelists during a closing session at the recent GlobeSt. Multifamily national conference here in Los Angeles at the JW Marriott LA LIVE. 

“As tech matures, we start to really understand the benefits they bring to our business,” said Robert Lee, chief operating officer at Hyly.AI. One way to do so, he explained is to use the Gartner Hype Cycle, which helps provide a graphic representation of the maturity and adoption of technologies and applications. It also shows how they are potentially relevant to solving real business problems and exploiting new opportunities. 

That methodology, he explained, gives you a view of how a technology or application will evolve over time and provides a source of insight to help manage its deployment within the context of whatever your specific business goals are.

According to Daniel Paulino, vice president of digital marketing at Bozzuto, there are many tech tools with many competitors out there. One he pointed to specifically was an AI leasing agent, but for some, it hasn’t really been able to reduce headcount. 

What is important to figure out when looking at any tech tool, explained Paulino, is to separate the hype from the expectation. “Don’t get caught up with your competitors or even what the vendors are saying,” he said. “You have to look at your business and what your pain points are and be objective in how you measure it.”

He added that he has seen many of their competitors get caught up in the chat bots, for example, which was something that really took off in 2020. “Many people were adopting them across their portfolios without really measuring them,” Paulino said. “You have to drown out the noise and figure out what is objectively going to help your business and what can you do to drive your business forward.”

Lee agreed, adding that when you look at your business, you have to look at two things when looking to adopt a new tech tool. “You want to think about what the benefits and outcomes you are looking for are and what the efforts are that are needed to get there.”

Data provided by vendors doesn’t always tell the whole story, explained Paulino. “Remember that your portfolio and prospect audience are not the same as your competitors. Maybe it will work for your competitor, but isn’t right for you,” he said. “Don’t just take your competitor’s word for it.”

Paulino suggests measuring things for yourself. “Peers and competitors might roll out technology to their portfolio without thorough analysis. A/B test is also essential to control for variables and is a way of actually measuring where half of your audience is exposed to the audience and half is not.”

Sharing your evaluation plan with the vendor is also helpful. “You should define success metrics and ensure alignment, Paulino said. “Whenever we do these deep dives, we put everything in there…we show sample size, geographic diversity, property type diversity and more. “You really have to make sure that not only are you confident in the results but your operational team is as well.” He also suggested to document everything and put a research plan together that shows the objective, methodology, success criteria, primary and secondary KPIs and findings: summary and recommendation. “It helps all parties.”

Check back with GlobeSt.com for more from the event, and click below for some of the other stories you might have missed.

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