“Most property managers are drowning in admin while the real money maker – the relationship with the investor – gets overwhelmed with busy work.”
What if you could get back an entire month per year? Not by working harder, but by working smarter with AI?
In this episode of Thought Leaders, Nikki D’Agostino – who just won both Strata Manager of the Year and Strata Management Agency of the Year at the REIWA Awards – reveals how she’s using AI to eliminate the soul-destroying tasks that kill productivity and relationships. Between running her own strata agency, consulting for The Efficiency Co, raising two kids under five, and speaking at industry conferences, Nikki has cracked the code on using AI to reclaim her time and focus on what truly matters.
Here are the three game-changing strategies you’ll learn in this episode.
The Monday Task Audit: Your AI Productivity Blueprint
The journey to efficiency starts with a simple Monday morning exercise. Nikki recommends tracking every single task you complete in a day – from answering emails to processing paperwork – and feeding this data into ChatGPT.
“Dump that into AI and have it build out what can be AI-led, what can be automated, what can be delegated,” Nikki explains. “AI can build that out for you, so you don’t even have to think about it.”
The result? A comprehensive matrix that categorizes your work into what can be automated, delegated, or eliminated entirely. One participant in Nikki’s program saved six hours in their first week – nearly a full day that could be redirected to growth activities.
“If you can save two hours a day with AI, that’s a month a year,” Nikki calculates. “What would you do with a month a year? I’d be in Italy!”
Agentic AI: Building Your Digital Workforce
Nikki’s agency is pioneering the use of AI agents that can handle the most time-consuming tasks while maintaining the human touch where it matters. Her team has deployed AI agents to manage arrears calls, set up payment plans, and handle routine paperwork.
“We’re about to pilot agentic AI agents who will, as an example, make your arrears calls, set payment plans and follow them up essentially,” Nikki reveals. “They can clone our voice so it can sound like us.”
But this isn’t about replacing humans – it’s about freeing them up for the 20% of work that truly requires human expertise. With portfolios managing up to 1,600 properties, Nikki’s approach ensures that real people can focus on complex relationship-building while AI handles the mundane.
The agency has also created specialized GPTs for each strata scheme they manage, trained on specific bylaws and building dynamics. This means any team member – or even reception – can instantly answer questions about pet policies or building regulations for any property.
The Human-First Automation Strategy
Perhaps most importantly, Nikki emphasizes that AI should enhance human capabilities, not replace them. Her philosophy centers on “automating the mundane to focus on the meaningful.”
“I still believe in people first,” Nikki states. “AI can make us be better humans or help us be better humans.”
This approach extends to recruitment and team building. Nikki has built an offshore team powered by AI tools, including someone with an accounting degree and MBA handling trust accounting tasks that would be difficult to recruit for locally. The key is using AI to remove the five-minute tasks that clutter to-do lists and drain energy.
She’s also built her entire operating system using AI, including mood tracking to identify peak performance periods and automated scheduling that aligns with her natural rhythms.
The Ethical AI Revolution
Nikki doesn’t shy away from the ethical considerations of AI implementation. Before deploying any AI solution, she conducts thorough analysis of terms and conditions, privacy implications, and potential red flags.
“Before I step into any AI and looking at ethical use of AI and responsible use of AI, I tend to do an analysis against different platforms,” she explains. This careful approach ensures that her agency maintains trust while pushing technological boundaries.
Your Homework: The Monday List Challenge
Ready to transform your productivity? Nikki’s challenge is simple but powerful: This Monday, write down every task you complete throughout the day. Then feed this list into AI and ask it to create a matrix showing what can be automated, delegated, or eliminated.
“Ask for programs, tech or systems that can support what is going to be,” Nikki advises. “It’ll even give you the list of what to trial. Pick the most annoying task or the easiest starting point and give it a go.”
Listen to the full Thought Leaders episode with Nikki D’Agostino to hear more about:
- How to use NotebookLM to turn boring compliance documents into engaging learning materials
- Why social sciences might be more valuable than math skills in the AI age
- The exact prompt Nikki uses to build custom GPTs for each strata scheme
- How to balance offshore teams, AI automation, and local expertise
- The future of property management in an AI-powered world
Listen/Watch now
- Apple Podcasts
- Spotify
- … and on your favourite podcast player!
Connect with Nikki D’Agostino
- LinkedIn: Nikki D’Agostino
- Rezzi Strata: https://rezzi.com.au/strata-management/
- The Efficiency Co: www.theefficiencyco.com.au
Elite Agent is the definitive platform for ambitious agents and industry players. Thought Leaders is the weekly show where top operators reveal how they’re reinventing real estate. AI-Powered Agents is your playbook for deploying AI that sells homes and scales teams.
