The executive data roundtable at the CEE Property Forum in Vienna marked a new format for senior real estate decision-makers in Central and Eastern Europe. Held under Chatham House rules, the session enabled an open and strategic exchange on the role of data in driving portfolio performance, risk management, and resilience.
Hosted by Andreas Kozma, with moderation by James Dearsley, the discussion deliberately avoided presentations and product positioning. Instead, it focused on real operational experience across international portfolios.
A clear message emerged: data management has moved decisively into the C-suite. Participants agreed that growth, regulatory requirements, ESG obligations, and investor scrutiny have transformed data from a reporting output into a strategic asset.
One of the most pressing challenges discussed was the integration of financial, asset management, and operational data across countries and systems. Fragmented data landscapes, inconsistent KPIs, and manual consolidation continue to hinder transparency and decision-making.
Leaders emphasised that the real bottleneck is rarely the technology itself. Instead, failures most often stem from:
- unclear requirements
- misalignment between systems and business goals
- lack of governance and ownership
- insufficient change management
The roundtable highlighted the importance of unified data models as the foundation for automation, AI-supported analytics, and scalable real estate investment management.
As CEE portfolios grow in size and complexity, the ability to structure and govern data coherently is fast becoming a competitive differentiator. The success of this first executive data roundtable signals a strong demand for further strategic dialogue on data across the region.
From insight to execution
Many participants expressed interest in moving from discussion to practical next steps — particularly around assessing current data maturity, governance models, and readiness for scale.
Building on the principles discussed during the roundtable, iREMS supports real estate investors and managers through structured evaluation workshops and strategic advisory engagements, helping leadership teams:
- assess fragmentation and risk in current data landscapes
- define a unified data model aligned with business objectives
- establish governance and ownership frameworks
- prepare portfolios for automation, AI, and regulatory demands
These engagements are designed as strategic assessments, not software sales discussions — supporting informed decision-making before system selection.
