According to HousingWire, Thad Wong, co-founder and co-CEO of @properties Christie's International Real Estate, recently spoke at the AI Summit about how his firm approaches artificial intelligence in real estate. Wong made clear that while technology can be powerful, using AI to replace direct conversations between agents and their clients is ultimately counterproductive. His team explored this early on but found that attempting to have AI handle initial client interactions before handing off to an agent created an awkward experience that actually diminished the value agents bring to customers.
What Wong and his team discovered instead is that AI works best when it handles the background work that agents don't see. The technology now helps agents reconnect with past clients by pulling information from previous email exchanges and social media feeds, making it easier for agents to pick up conversations naturally without starting from scratch. The firm also uses AI to create prioritized outreach lists that show agents exactly which contacts to reach out to and why, giving them concrete reasons and talking points for those conversations.
Wong emphasized that the real value of an agent comes from their unique personality and the genuine connection they build with clients. When AI starts replacing that personal interaction, it weakens the relationship and the agent's position in the market. He even cautioned against AI-generated video messages that stand in for the agent themselves, saying this approach can actually harm how clients perceive that agent's authenticity and control over their own brand.
Beyond helping agents with workflow efficiency, Wong described how @properties is using AI to deepen client relationships by connecting Christie's real estate business with Christie's auction house. The idea is to understand what clients care about beyond just property, whether that's art, wine, or collectibles, and then alert agents when relevant opportunities arise. This way, agents have more meaningful reasons to reach out to clients between transactions, strengthening the relationship rather than trying to automate it away.
What I am seeing locally here in the Bay Area and East Bay is that many brokerages are still figuring out how to use technology wisely. Wong's perspective really resonates because our market demands that personal touch, especially at higher price points where clients expect to work with someone who genuinely knows them and their interests. The agents succeeding in Fremont and across the region are those who use tools to enhance what they do naturally, not replace the human element that makes them valuable. Smart technology implementation here means giving our agents better information and more time to focus on relationships, not trying to put a chatbot between them and the clients who trust them.
