AMS Africa, a specialized real estate consulting firm operating exclusively in the African market, faced significant challenges in reusing valuable market research data from past projects. Consultants struggled to systematically access and leverage data from previous deliverables, leading to wasted time, duplicated efforts, and missed opportunities for cross-pollination of insights. We developed a centralized data platform that organizes and stores data, leverages an LLM for seamless data retrieval, and automates presentation slide creation, transforming their operations. This solution reduced data collection time by 75%, increased deliverable efficiency by 60%, and ensured 100% reusability of data across all projects, empowering consultants to focus on strategic analysis.

AMS Africa encountered critical obstacles in maximizing the value of their extensive market research data: - Reliance on Memory for Data Reuse: The firm depended on managers to spontaneously recall similarities between current and past contracts, which was unreliable and inconsistent. This often resulted in missed opportunities to leverage existing data. - Vague Data Sourcing: Even when past data was identified, it lacked precise sourcing details (e.g., referencing an organization but not the specific report), making it unusable for future projects and forcing consultants to start from scratch. - Time-Intensive Market Research: Market research, which formed the foundation of deliverables, consumed over 80% of project time. Of this, 80% was spent on data collection, 15% on formatting slides, and only 5% on strategic analysis—highlighting a severe imbalance in resource allocation. These challenges not only delayed project timelines but also prevented the firm from fully capitalizing on its accumulated expertise, undermining its ability to deliver timely, data-driven insights to clients.

To address these challenges, we designed and implemented a comprehensive solution tailored to AMS Africa's needs: - Centralized Data Platform: We created a user-friendly app that consolidates all market research data into a single, easily accessible repository. Consultants can quickly search, visualize, and download pre-formatted slides for client deliverables, eliminating the need to recreate work from scratch. - LLM-Powered Data Retrieval: We programmed a Large Language Model (LLM) into the platform, enabling consultants to retrieve data effortlessly using natural language queries (e.g., 'Find residential supply data for Lagos from 2022'). The LLM interprets these requests, locates precise data points, and delivers them instantly, enhancing accessibility and reducing search time. - Automation of Recurring Tasks: Recognizing that market research often involves collecting similar data points across various asset classes (e.g., residential, retail, hospitality, leisure, industrial, offices), the platform automates data collection and slide generation. This ensures that once data is inputted, it can be reused indefinitely without duplication of effort. - Incentivized Data Input: To encourage consultants to contribute data to the platform, we developed automation features that make it faster to generate slides through the system than manually. In a fast-paced environment with multiple concurrent contracts and competing priorities, this aligns the platform with consultants' immediate needs—completing deliverables efficiently—ensuring widespread adoption. This solution not only streamlined operations but also fostered a culture of knowledge sharing, ensuring that every piece of data collected contributes to the firm's collective expertise and future success.