Real-Estate Agents Look to AI for Sales Boost

"AI can play a significant role in simplifying and automating processes where traditionally humans have been involved," said Rizwan Akhtar, chief technology officer of business technology at Realogy Holdings Corp., which owns brokerage brands including Coldwell Banker, Corcoran and Sotheby's International Realty. The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Artificial-intelligence efforts in the real-estate sector are benefiting from advances in cloud computing and data analytics, as well as improvements to algorithms, according to technology leaders at Realogy, Compass Inc. and Zillow Group Inc. Realogy uses more than 25 AI models, Mr. Akhtar said, including models that can help agents predict their chances of converting a prospective client into a paying client and others that can predict the optimal percentage split between a broker and an agent on a property. The company is in the early stages of testing an AI app that aims to predict when certain milestones will be reached in the home-buying process, he said. At real-estate brokerage Compass, an AI-based tool that predicts whether people in an agent's contact database are likely to sell their homes within a year resulted in more "listing wins" for its agents, said Joseph Sirosh, the company's chief technology officer.