Dubai’s rapidly expanding residential market is driving greater interest in artificial intelligence tools that can help landlords and property managers cope with rising volumes of tenant interactions, particularly in a market as diverse and multilingual as the UAE.
As residential portfolios grow, property operators face increasing pressure to respond quickly to leasing enquiries, maintenance requests, payment questions and renewal discussions while maintaining service quality. Industry experience from the UK, Europe and the US suggests that scaling operations requires more than moving leasing processes online. It also requires the ability to manage the thousands of interactions that take place after residents move in.
Property technology firms say one of the biggest operational challenges is fragmentation. Tenant communications often arrive through multiple channels, including email, telephone, web chat and WhatsApp, with different teams handling different parts of the customer journey. When information is not connected, residents may be forced to repeat details, while staff spend time piecing together previous conversations.
A more integrated approach can help operators track enquiries from the first message through to resolution while identifying recurring issues across portfolios. Repeated maintenance complaints, for example, may highlight underlying building problems, while recurring leasing questions can reveal gaps in communication or marketing.
The UAE presents a unique challenge because of its international population. A single residential tower can house residents from dozens of nationalities, communicating in multiple languages and often contacting operators outside traditional working hours.
“A single tower in the Gulf can hold residents from dozens of nationalities, speaking as many languages, and a message has to land correctly whichever one a resident writes in,” said Sayantan Biswas, founder and chief executive of VerbaFlo. “The UAE brings together one of the most international resident populations in the world, a rental sector that continues to professionalise and a clear national ambition to bring AI into property services.”
According to company data, more than 60 per cent of resident conversations take place outside standard office hours. The firm says its platform has handled more than 10 million conversations globally, with AI resolving around 90 per cent of enquiries and responding in an average of 3.7 seconds. These figures are company-reported but underscore the scale of communications many residential operators are seeking to manage.
Industry observers note that automation is not intended to replace human decision-making. Routine queries can be dealt with quickly through AI systems, while more complex matters still require human intervention and accountability.
Beyond faster responses, property companies are increasingly exploring how everyday tenant conversations can provide operational insights. Trends in maintenance requests, leasing enquiries and tenant renewals can help landlords identify building issues, improve services and address concerns before residents decide to leave.
With Dubai’s Real Estate Sector Strategy 2033 highlighting digital technology, AI, operational efficiency and customer experience as priorities, the UAE is becoming an attractive market for proptech firms and a testing ground for how AI could reshape residential property management in the years ahead.
Source: Khaleej Times