Time to look at artificial intelligence as a growth engine that upgrades humans working life
Thought Leadership
By Author Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR
For decades, businesses have measured the success of technology by what it removes. Fewer processes. Fewer administrative hours. Fewer people required to complete the same task. Efficiency became synonymous with elimination.
Artificial intelligence has accelerated that thinking. Almost every conversation about its commercial impact eventually arrives at the same question: how many jobs will it replace? I think we may be asking the wrong question.
The greatest return on AI may not be the cost of the work it eliminates, but the value of the human potential it releases.
And two examples, one from global retail and another from facilities management, demonstrate why this distinction matters.
IKEA: When Automation Creates an Opportunity Rather Than a Redundancy
Consider IKEA the Swedish furniture retailer introduced Billie, an AI-powered customer service assistant capable of handling a substantial proportion of routine customer enquiries. According to IKEAโs reporting in 2023, Billie was handling approximately 47% of customer enquiries, while the company had reskilled some 8,500 customer-service employees for more commercially valuable activities, including remote interior design advice and sales.
The conventional response might have been to calculate the payroll savings and congratulate management on its efficiency. But IKEA pursued a different opportunity. It recognised that employees who were no longer occupied answering repetitive questions could help customers make purchasing decisions, design rooms and navigate more complicated requirements.
Its remote sales channel had already generated approximately โฌ1.3 billion in sales during the 2022 financial year, demonstrating the commercial significance of personalised customer engagement. That figure should not be mistaken for additional revenue attributable solely to AI. Nevertheless, the strategic lesson is compelling.
Technology had reduced the need for repetitive work. Management saw an opportunity to redirect human expertise towards activities that could generate greater commercial value.
The important decision wasnโt simply deploying Billie. It was deciding what people could do next.
The Facilities Management Industry Has a Similar Opportunity
This week, while judging the World Realty Congress Awards, I watched a presentation from IFM Facilities Management that brought this principle into sharp focus.
The company demonstrated an AI-driven facilities management system capable of diagnosing faults, generating work orders and dispatching contractors through a largely closed-loop process. The proposition was impressive enough. But what interested me most was its approach to workforce deployment.
Take something as unglamorous as cleaning washrooms. Traditionally, facilities management businesses organise cleaning through scheduled rotas. Staff attend particular locations at predetermined intervals, regardless of whether those facilities actually require attention. It is an established process, but not necessarily an intelligent one.
IFM demonstrated how technology could identify actual usage patterns and determine when cleaning was genuinely required. According to the companyโs presentation, this approach reduced staffing requirements for the particular activity by a high percentage, while improving service outcomes. But here was the important detail.
The company said the people whose time was released were not made redundant. They were reassigned to other, more valuable activities within the organisation. Those are company-reported results, rather than independently verified performance figures. Even so, the operating principle deserves attention. Instead of asking how many cleaners could be removed from the payroll, the business was asking how intelligently its workforce could be deployed. The distinction is fundamental.
Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR
Full guidance on how to register your rental property on the new governmental portal as required by RRA
Register your rental property service: guidance for landlords
By Author Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR
If you are a private landlord here is how you can register yourself and your properties, as required by the Rentersโ Rights Act.
The Rentersโ Rights Act requires private landlords to register themselves and privately let properties in England on the Register your rental property service.
You will register with the service using GOV.UK One Login and will have the option of verifying your identity. If you do not have digital access, you can register through a paper-based application.
Registration on a regional basis will begin from 15 December 2026.
Who needs to register
If you are a private landlord that is renting out a property in England that is currently occupied by tenants on an assured or regulated tenancy, you must register.
This includes organisations that act as private landlords.
Registration exceptions
You do not need to register if you operate a tenancy that is included in the meaning of supported exempt accommodation set out in Section 12 of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023.
Individual landlords
You are an individual landlord if you rent a property:
- individually
- as a sole trader
- as part of a partnership with one or more other people
When you register, you will have to provide details about yourself and contact information.
Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR
iamproperty launches new agency platform called โOneโ
One platform. One login. Everything agents need to run and grow their business in one place
By Author Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR
Press Release London, Tuesday 3rd November 2026: iamproperty has today unveiled One, its landmark Estate Agency platform. Developed with agents to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the industry today.
Built on iampropertyโs proven track record of transforming the property market, One is designed to change how agencies run and grow their businesses. Giving agents the power of 12 market-leading solutions in one flexible platform, One turns insight into opportunity across the entire client journey and makes speed and security possible for every type of transaction.
Alongside revenue growth, its unique and bold commercial model also gives agents the opportunity to earn credits when using transactional services like conveyancing, Sale Ready and Auction, offsetting their software costs, potentially reducing them to zero.
Ben Ridgway, Co-Founder of iamproperty, said: โWe know profitability is a huge focus for agents right now. Theyโre having to work harder for every instruction and every fee, while the cost of running their businesses continues to rise.
โWe wanted to challenge that. Why should software always be a cost to an agency? One is different to anything else on the market. It doesnโt just help agents run their businesses more efficiently and identify opportunities to generate more revenue, it also gives them the opportunity to get the software that powers their whole agency for free.
โThatโs a really powerful proposition, but for us itโs part of something bigger. We want our agents to be successful, and weโve built a platform and commercial model that reflects that shared ambition.โ
Unlike traditional Estate Agency technology models built around multiple providers and disconnected systems, One is a modular platform where agents can run their day, from lead generation and winning instructions through to managing client relationships, progressing sales and completion.
Supported by connected workflows and intelligent insights that connect agency, market and client data, One gives agents a clearer view of their business, helping them identify new opportunities, maximise existing relationships and make faster, more informed decisions.
Jamie Cooke, Co-Founder of iamproperty, said: โWeโve built One around a really simple principle. Technology should help agents win more business, grow their revenue and deliver a better experience for their clients.
Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR
