Cortland’s Shea Fallick breaks down how real data transformation starts with top-down alignment, clean pipelines, and a product mindset that solves a business problem first—then builds the model.
He argues for simple, trustworthy outputs (minimal, accurate dashboards) backed by data governance and stakeholder inclusion at every stage.
The payoff: faster adoption, better decisions, and tangible wins—from 90% complaint reduction in a past A/B test to clearer roadmaps for ML features owners actually use.
Why this episode matters (for owners & operators)
Most CRE teams don’t have a “data problem”—they have a trust, clarity, and adoption problem. Shea explains how Cortland addresses this with:
- Executive sponsorship that protects long-term investment,
- Usable outputs (not data dumps),
- And a collaborative build process that earns buy-in before any dashboard ships.
“People care more about the what than the how—tie the metric to the outcome they’re trying to drive.”
Meet the Guest: Who is Shea Fallick?
Shea sits at the intersection of AI, user psychology, and multifamily operations. With a data science background (Georgia Tech) and behavioral science consulting experience, he brings a rare combo: technical depth + human-centered product thinking.
5 Big Ideas You Can Steal
1) Start at the top: alignment is an accelerant
Cortland’s CEO and tech leadership prioritized data early, creating space for analysts, data scientists, and data engineers to deliver—and prove value—on repeat. That feedback loop fuels more investment.
Action: Name an executive sponsor, define a 12–18 month data vision, and broadcast what success looks like before tooling.
2) Trust comes from governance + clarity
- Refresh transparency: show “last updated” on critical reports.
- Data dictionaries: define metrics, logic, and sources—even if not everyone reads them.
- Minimalism: by the time a stakeholder sees it, it should be production-grade and simple.
Action: Add a Last Refreshed stamp to KPIs this week. Ship a 1-page metric dictionary for your top 10 metrics.
3) Build like a product team, not a reporting queue
Shea’s playbook:
- Problem-first discovery → stakeholder interviews & journey mapping
- Prototype with fake data → make deliverables tangible early
- Iterate together → test workflows before touching real data
- Then build pipelines, dashboards, or models
Action: Before your next dashboard request, run a 60-minute problem framing session. If you can’t tie a metric to a decision, don’t build it yet.
4) Governance is architecture
Cortland invests in master tables and clean transforms that many apps depend on. Think: blessed sources of truth with clear ownership.
Action: Identify 3 “single sources of truth” tables (e.g., assets, leases, work orders). Assign owners, SLAs, and a change log.
5) Change management is a collaborative design
Design-thinking workshops helped long-tenured leaders lean in and co-create features. Inclusion ≠ theater; it reduces rework and increases adoption.
Action: Host a 90-minute “How might we…?” session around one high-impact decision—bring ops, asset management, property teams, and finance into the same room.
Case Study Moment: Behavioral Science FTW
At a prior company, Shea helped run A/B tests to improve cleanliness in co-living. Introducing a visible chore check-off flow (reciprocity + visibility) led to about a 90% reduction in complaints over three months—clear evidence that behavioral design + measurement can change outcomes.
Takeaway: Don’t guess—experiment. Design small tests that prove value before scaling.
What’s next: Agents + ML where it actually matters
- Agentic AI to orchestrate tasks across calendars, tickets, and databases—speeding up routine operational flows.
- Predictive models to forecast rent growth, failures, and maintenance windows—if your data infrastructure is sound.
Owner mindset: AI is a multiplier on good data + good process. Without that, it’s just noise.
Final Word
If you want real adoption, treat data like a product: anchor to outcomes, co-design with users, and make trust visible. AI won’t fix broken processes—but it will supercharge good one.
Listen to the episode
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- Learn how OpticWise helps owners own the digital infrastructure—and the data that drives NOI.
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