The Best PropTech Starts with the People Who Use It

Specialist systems earn their place through depth rather than breadth. But that depth comes with trade-offs, and it is important to understand exactly what they are. How well will the system integrate with the rest of your technology? How much additional administration will it create if one part of the operation sits in isolation? And is this really the area where investment will have the greatest impact?

These are questions I have carried into my current role. After a strong period of growth at Aareon/Fixflo, I wanted my next position to bring me closer to the people using the technology day to day, and to the customers whose needs should keep any product team grounded. Working with Dwellant has given me exactly that.

Over my first five months, I have spent a great deal of time listening to property managers, finance teams and operational leaders across the businesses using Dwellant. I have asked how work is actually done, where the system helps, where it creates friction and what users would change. Two teams can have access to the same technology and use it in very different ways. Software only delivers real value when it becomes part of how the business works.

Good PropTech should not replace service with software. It should reduce repetitive administration, make information easier to access and use, and give property managers more time for the work that requires judgement, communication and strong relationships.

“Software only delivers real value when it becomes part of how the business works.”

Dwellant is central to that ambition. It sits above the underlying systems and connects with a wide range of accounting packages, creating a common layer through which teams, clients and residents can access information and manage activity. Much of my role is about making sure Dwellant is not simply available, but widely adopted, consistently used and continually improved.

No system can do absolutely everything, but Dwellant is deliberately ambitious in covering as much of a managing agent’s day-to-day operation as possible.

Strong specialist tools will continue to earn their place, but integration is essential. By bringing together accounting, compliance, operational and, increasingly, IoT data, Dwellant can help create a fuller picture of each building. This matters particularly when it comes to the golden thread. If compliance evidence, work orders and resident communications sit in separate systems, there is no thread, only a collection of well-kept fragments that someone still has to join together by hand.

AI will accelerate the next stage of change. It can help users find information, interpret documents, automate routine tasks and identify what genuinely needs human attention. “Vibe coding” and other AI-assisted tools will also make software easier to create, increasing the pressure on established SaaS providers. The products that endure will be those that combine reliability, security, domain expertise and integration with a clear understanding of the operational problems they are there to solve.

At the recent Proper Talk panel, Jonathan Channing asked whether the best property management companies of the future would be people businesses supported by technology, or technology businesses supported by people. My answer was firmly the former.

Whatever the role, the future belongs to capable people supported by well-designed technology. That is what excites me most about Dwellant’s next chapter.

Alek Legosteva, UK VP of Product at Dwellant / Odevo