Will The AI Revolution Kill The Back Office?

Thirty-six million jobs, or 25% of all jobs in the U.S., are under heavy threat of being replaced by artificial intelligence, according to a 2019 report from the Brookings Institute. Another 52 million, more than a third of all U.S. employment, are considered at medium risk of being taken over by AI.

Amazon VP Daniel Rausch On Smart Home, Devices vs Ecosystems, New Alexa Features, And Amazon’s Plan To Make Everything Stupid Simple

Amazon VP Daniel Rausch On Smart Home, Devices vs Ecosystems, New Alexa Features, And Amazon’s Plan To Make Everything Stupid Simple

With 70% market share in smart speakers and over 100,000 Alexa Skills powering everything from toasters to transportation, Amazon is a clear leader in smart home technology. Maybe even the leader, depending on how you look at it. It all stems back to Amazon’s failure to crack the smartphone market, and its genius jiu-jitsu move to own voice and the home.

Jared Kushner Divests From Startup Cadre Over Future Conflict Concerns

Jared Kushner has divested from Cadre, the real estate technology startup he co-founded, according to a person familiar with the matter, after the business attracted investment offers that could pose conflicts of interest for the White House aide.

Gridwise aggregates ride-sharing data to give cities mobility insights

Big data is one of the most lucrative by-products of the digital revolution, enabled by the flood of information from smartphones, cars, clouds, and connected devices. Numerous startups have emerged to cash in on these opportunities, including those catering to ride-sharing and delivery drivers. Founded in 2016, Gridwise claims to help drivers earn as much as 39% more per hour by pooling data from various sources and serving up real-time alerts to let them know where and when to show up.

City Opens Investigation of Short-Term Rental Startup Guesty

At a Midtown event last week, a marketing manager for Israeli startup Guesty said New York was “one of [the] biggest, if not the biggest market” for the short-term rental management company. The city now says most of that market is illegal.

William Zola, President at LightBox to Speak on Mergers & Acquisitions Panel at Upcoming CREtech Austin Conference

New York, NY (March 3, 2020) —CREtech (cretech.com), the leading global conference and research company devoted to innovation in the Built World, will be showcasing a panel of the most active companies in the real estate tech M&A space at its first event in 2020. To be held in Austin, Texas on April 22nd and 23rd, the panel will feature William Zola, President at LightBox, one of the leaders in the sector.

Retail Real Estate: Tech, PropTech, Value

A recent conversation with a large retailer went like this: ‘The market is tanking, opening up some real buying opportunities, do you want to get involved with a distressed asset fund we are putting together?’ ‘Are you kidding? We are murdering our Landlords on rents, there is no way we’d buy any retail real estate’.

Inside the failed crypto auction of a WeWork-leased office tower

Pat O’Meara found success structuring deals for the Catholic Church, but early last year he found a new calling: Raising millions of dollars from cryptocurrency investors for real estate and infrastructure acquisitions

CoStar sees net income jump 32% in year marked by acquisitions

CoStar Group reported $315 million in net income in 2019, following a year of acquisitions and the conclusion of a protracted legal fight. The real estate data firm said Tuesday that it generated $1.4 billion revenue in 2019, up from $1.2 billion in 2018. Its income was up 32 percent from the previous year, while its cash and cash equivalents dipped slightly from $1.1 billion to $1.07 billion. CoStar’s revenue for the fourth quarter was $375 million, up 19 percent year over year. Net income for …