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Every industry eventually reaches its productivity era. Manufacturing had automation. Finance had algorithmic trading. Today, real estate is stepping into its own transformation: the age of intelligent decision making. Ive seen firsthand how investors are reimagining their operations. For decades, property investment was managed with clipboards, paper checks, and late-night phone calls. It left investors buried in minutiae. Now, just as modern supply chains run on smart logistics, real estate is running on smart systems that streamline everything from payments to tenant communications. The result? A shift away from chasing down tasks and toward making wise, future-oriented decisions. FROM ENDLESS TO-DO LISTS TO INTELLIGENT DEFAULTS Smart investors are creating portfolios that think ahead. A good example of this is making sure lease renewals no longer catch the investors by surprise. To remedy this, property owners are using systems that automatically send themselves lease expiration reminders at critical times (whether that is 90, 60, 30, or 7 days beforehand). Those reminders keep each of their properties on schedule, whether the plan is to renew a great resident or list the property for new interest. This kind of intelligent default has become a hallmark of modern operations. Routine communication, recurring tasks, and renewal cycles all happen on precise schedules set by the investor. The technology follows their logic, not the other way around. These built-in prompts and automated workflows turn repetitive management into proactive planning. Investors stay focused on growth, while the system quietly handles the details in the background. KEEP CONTROL WHILE SCALING SMART As portfolios expand, control becomes the defining advantage. The most sophisticated investors are scaling through rules-based automation by adopting a digital infrastructure that mirrors their judgment across every property. Ive watched how this works in practice. Investors create specific rules that reflect their personal standards: how to screen residents, when to send payment reminders, how to communicate about maintenance. Once those rules are set, the system enforces them automatically and consistently. Each property operates according to the investors playbook, giving them confidence that every detail aligns with their approach. That way, automating doesnt mean giving up control. Instead, the investors expertise becomes codified and applied across the portfolio. This is how smart growth happens. REAL ESTATES PRODUCTIVITY ERA A new rhythm is emerging in real estate, as smart systems generate time, and time generates smarter decisions. Investors who once spent evenings chasing paperwork now spend that time analyzing portfolio trends, comparing rent performance across markets, and identifying when to refinance or expand. This productivity cycle turns operational gains into strategic insight. Each automation saves a few minutes, each saved hour leads to a better decision, and each good decision strengthens long-term performance. As more independent real estate investors adopt intelligent systems, they are operating with the same clarity and responsiveness once limited to large institutional firms, only now at the scale of individual portfolios. SMARTER SYSTEMS LEAD TO HAPPIER HOMES When operations become intelligent, the ripple effect reaches residents. Payments are made seamlessly through mobile tools. Maintenance requests route directly to the right vendor. Renewals are handled early and clearly, reducing last-minute stress for everyone involved. For example, RentRedis internal data shows that when residents use features like autopay and credit reporting, on-time payments increase to 99% and by 13 points, respectively. These tools simplify the payment process while also supporting renters financial wellness by helping them stay current on rent while building stronger credit scores. When convenience meets incentive, the result is a healthier financial ecosystem for both residents and investors. The smartest investors understand that streamlined operations lead to stronger tenant relationships. Happy renters renew leases more often, take better care of their homes, and create stability that fuels long-term returns. Intelligent systems make that balance possible, because they are efficient for investors and convenient for those who call their properties home. MEET THE MOMENT OF INFLECTION Real estate is now at the same inflection point that other industries reached when intelligence and automation converged. Smart investors are already leading this transformation, by building portfolios that run smoothly with insight, structure, and foresight. They manage by design, using systems intentionally built to reflect their standards and priorities. Each workflow, rule, and automation represents their expertise in action. The business runs with purpose, clarity, and consistency because every element has been designed to anticipate needs, maintain performance, and create stability. This design-led approach turns management into strategic execution. Investors operate within systems that think ahead, ensure precision, and keep portfolios moving in sync with their goals. This is what the age of intelligent real estate looks like: investors in control, operations running with clarity, and homes that reflect the benefit of smarter thinking. FINAL THOUGHTS The next generation of savvy real estate investors has already arrived. They have built operations that are thoughtful, predictive, and scalable. Their systems manage the details, their data fuels their strategy, and their decisions define a new benchmark for success. The age of intelligent real estate is not a future visionit is already here, reshaping how the most forward-thinking investors grow, manage, and thrive. And as more industries adopt intelligence as their foundation, real estate stands as proof that when technology aligns with human insight, innovation becomes progress. Ryan Barone is cofounder and CEO of RentRedi.
Category:
E-Commerce
When I was a kid, my favorite place in the world was hunched over a sewing machine. Id cut up old jeans, hand-stitch fabric scraps into new outfits, and dream of someday seeing my clothes walk a runway. My notebooks were full of fashion drawings. Somewhere in my teens, that dream slipped quietly into the background. Life pulled me in a different direction. But this year, thanks to AI, I finally staged my first runway show at New York Fashion Week. Okay, not at the literal Fashion Week runways in Manhattan but on social media where people are scrolling for Fashion Week content. And the wild part? I pulled it together in one Friday night using my own AI-powered fashion brand, yanabanana. The tech stack behind the catwalk The show was called The Stockholm Archipelago Collection, inspired by a trip I took to Yasuragi, a Japanese-style spa perched on the water outside Stockholm. Architectural shapes, blue kimonos, and tall pines by the water were my mental mood board as I was designing my collection. Heres how I translated inspiration into a digital runway: Sketch to photo: I started with a rough sketch of each look. Using Google’s Nano Banana image generation model, I transformed my doodles into photos. Sometimes I generated two photos (a start and end scene) that would ultimately create a more interesting runway moment. Models on the runway: Through prompt engineering, I iterated until all my looks walked the same runway that I had decorated with my photos of the water view from Yasuragi. Static to cinematic: I turned the images into short clips with Midjourneys video model. It worked but Ill be experimenting with different video models next season. Runway fluidity is tricky! Custom soundtrack: Every show needs a vibe, so I used Suno to generate an original Scandinavian inspired track to set the pace. Cut & polish: Finally, I stitched it all together in iMovie, as old-school as it gets in the age of AI. The result? A minute-long AI-powered runway film that could almost pass for an indie cut of a Fashion Week show. AI is the new sewing machine What I love about this process is that AI collapsed the barrier between imagination and execution. Ten-year-old me could only dream of sourcing fabrics, hiring models, and booking a venue. Today all I need is a sketch, a stack of AI models to create virtual human models, and a little curiosity. And yet, the story didnt stop at the digital runway. From sketch to closet At one point, I even thought about building a platform where fashion designers could sketch with AI and then manufacture their garments. That idea simmered until I stumbled on Flair, an early- stage startup already doing exactly that. I joined one of their sessions with a roomful of fashion designers during San Francisco Design Week this spring. The format was like an AI version of Project Runway. Everyone created some designs, and whichever one got the most votes on their platform over the next week would be brought to life. Mine won. I sent in my measurements, and last week a package arrived. Inside was a dress that had started as a doodle on my notebook, passed through Flairs AI workflow, and emerged as a real garment stitched together in the physical world. Slipping it on for the first time was magic. It was the same rush I felt as a kid cutting up old jeans. Except this time the runway wasnt just in my imagination. It was hanging in my closet. The bigger picture For me, yanabanana isnt about building a traditional fashion house. Its about asking what does a fashion brand born in the age of AI even look like? Maybe it doesnt need to produce clothes at all. Maybe its runways live on Instagram, soundtracked by generative beats, designed with prompts instead of pins. And maybe, sometimes, those designs make the leap from pixels to fabric. And maybe thats exactly what makes it fashion-forward. Yana Welinder is Head of AI at Amplitude. She was CEO and founder of Kraftful (recently acquired by Amplitude).
Category:
E-Commerce
Today, retail giant Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) reported its third-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings. Unfortunately, for the company and its investors, the results were a continuation of what Target has been seeing for years now: declining sales. Heres what you need to know about Targets Q3 and the impact the earnings are having on the companys stock price today. Targets Q3 2025 at a glance Heres what the big box retailer reported for its Q3 2025: Net sales: $25.3 billion (down 1.4% from the same period in 2024) Adjusted earnings per share (EPS): $1.78 (down from $1.85 in the same period in 2024) Operating income: $948 million (down 18.9%) Net earnings: $689 million (down 19.3%) To put those first two all-important metrics into perspective, net sales came in below what analysts were expecting, but the companys adjusted earnings per share came in slightly above. As CNBC notes, LSEG analysts expected Target to post revenue of $25.32 billion and an adjusted EPS of $1.72. One bright spot in Targets Q3 results was digital comparable sales, which increased 2.4%. Announcing the companys Q3 2025 earnings, Targets incoming CEO, Michael Fiddelke, who takes the helm in February, said, “Thanks to the incredible work and dedication of the Target team, our third quarter performance was in line with our expectations, despite multiple challenges continuing to face our business. Targets sales woes continue What are those “multiple challenges”? Most broadly, Target has seen stagnant or declining quarterly sales for years now. Some of those sales woes are driven by factors not unique to Target. For several years now, retailers of all stripes have been seeing customers who are more cautious about how and where they spend their discretionary dollars. This caution has largely been spurred by inflationary pressures leading to rising cost-of-living expenses. The company, like most retailers, is also facing significant competition from other big-box giants, including Walmart, as well as from online retailers like Amazon and, in more recent years, Temu and Shein. However, several factors unique to Target have also impacted its sales for quite some time. As Fast Company reported in May, customers had been complaining about messier layouts, long lines, and understaffed stores. This had led to a notable decline in customer service in many customers eyes. Finally, earlier this year, Target rolled back some of its DEI initiatives after Trump came to power. This prompted backlash and a boycott from many Target customers. Target has previously said this backlash impacted sales. All eyes on the holiday quarterand TGT stock Despite the sales decline in Q3, Target maintained its outlook for its current Q4, which includes the all-important holiday period. Yet, thats not exactly a good thing. Target had previously forecast that it expects its Q4 to see a low single-digit sales decline, and now it has confirmed that it still expects that decline (but at least, the company might argue, the decline isnt forecast to be any worse). What Target did adjust was its full fiscal 2025 forecast. Target previously said it had expected adjusted earnings per share for the year to come in at between $7 to $9. But now the company says it expects adjusted EPS for fiscal 2025 to be between $7 and $8. Targets stock reacted about as well as you would expect. As of this writing, TGT shares are currently trading down about 2.97% to $85.90 per share in premarket. The companys stock price has had a rough 2025. Since the year began, TGT shares have declined more than 34% as of yesterdays closing price of $88.53. Looking back over the past 12 months, things are even worse. During that time, TGT shares have declined more than 43% as of yesterdays close.
Category:
E-Commerce
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