AI that replaces ‘human hires’; another brokerage deal for Canva 

Editor's note: Technology is a driving force in real estate. From startups to established players, tech companies are constantly innovating, growing and forging partnerships. Here we highlight some of the latest news about the companies that help power the industry. 

'AI marketing team' aims to eliminate 'human overhead'

AI-powered marketing platform Luxury Presence unveiled its newest product on July 30: An "autonomous AI marketing team" with four distinct "marketing specialists" that can cover tasks ranging from lead nurturing to blog creation — "without any of the overhead and complexity of human hires," the company said in a news release.

The product, available Aug. 4, is designed to bolster agents' online presence while helping them cultivate and convert leads, all behind the scenes. 

"Mastering every part of the job to sell homes is an immense challenge," Luxury Presence Founder and CEO Malte Kramer said in a news release. "We developed these AI Marketing Specialists to serve as a personal marketing team without human overhead because we know even the best real estate agents are not necessarily marketing experts," Kramer added.

The four specialists comprising the agentic AI team are:

• An "always on" AI lead nurture specialist that interacts with prospects who submit a web inquiry and hands them off to the agent when they're ready to take the next step. 

• An AI SEO specialist that continuously optimizes and boosts agent listing and blog content in search rankings. 

• An AI ads specialist that analyzes and continuously refines digital advertising campaigns.

• An AI blog specialist that creates "hyper-local, brand-voice-aligned blog posts" to help agents present themselves as local experts.

By employing these specialists, "our clients can now spend less time and money on marketing while improving its ease, efficiency, and effectiveness," Kramer said. 

The tools are powered by PresenceAI, a proprietary technology that "combines AI, large language models, and layered generative security along with real-time MLS feeds and first-party data gathered from over 60 million annual visitors across Luxury Presence websites," according to the company.  

Former MoxiWorks CEO joins Lone Wolf

York Baur, who served as CEO of the real estate tech giant MoxiWorks from 2012 to 2024, is now chief industry relations officers at Lone Wolf Technologies — another major player in the proptech space — the company announced July 30. 

During his tenure at MoxiWorks, Baur helped build the company to support more than 800 residential real estate brokerages and 400,000 agents, according to a news release. In bringing Baur on board, Lone Wolf said it is solidifying its "customer-first" commitment to creating technology that addresses the needs and challenges faced by real estate professionals. 

"York embodies the same core belief that drives Lone Wolf, that technology should enhance and amplify an agent's strategy, not compete with it," said CEO Jimmy Kelly. "We're confident that his leadership will deepen our connection to the industry while advancing our mission of delivering solutions that real estate professionals genuinely rely on to succeed."

Baur echoed Kelly's sentiment, saying, "Both Lone Wolf and I believe that technology should be a tool — one that brings an agent's strategy to life and helps them achieve exceptional results for their clients."

Anywhere adopts Canva marketing platform

Two months after inking its first major deal in the residential real estate industry, Canva has found another brokerage partner in Anywhere Real Estate.

Anywhere announced on July 30 that it will be offering Canva Enterprise to all affiliated agents across its family of brands. Keller Williams shared news of its partnership with Canva in early June. The Canva platform includes marketing and branding tools agents can use to easily enhance their listing materials, social posts or emails. 

"Canva Enterprise brings a huge advantage for our networks, helping agents and staff create elevated, customized marketing assets that leverage our powerful brands with simplicity," said Sue Yannaccone, president and CEO of Anywhere Brands and Anywhere Advisors in a news release. 

"Speed, quality, and relevance can't be trade-offs," said Rob Giglio, Canva's chief customer officer. "Agents wear a lot of hats, and the pressure to deliver personalized marketing keeps growing," Giglio added. "Canva removes that friction — it's powerful, intuitive, and collaborative by design."

Canva Enterprise will roll out later this year and be available to Anywhere agents at no cost, the company noted.

More tech news

'Blast by Lofty' is now available as a standalone product: Lofty's "Blast" lead generation program, previously offered to Lofty CRM customers as an add-on, can now be purchased separately and will route leads to an agent's preferred CRM platform. The tool is designed to help agents attract online leads via "Zip Code Blast," which promotes listings in a specific ZIP code with custom ad copy, and "Listing Blast," which targets Facebook and Instagram users with carousel ads.

Oppy integrates with Follow Up Boss: Oppy's AI lead nurture assistant now works in tandem with the popular FUB CRM platform. Oppy calls it the solution to "the industry's most costly problem" — lost leads — and "the perfect entry point into AI for brokers," ensuring leads are managed so agents can focus on closing deals. "With Oppy's Follow Up Boss integration, 100% of leads receive a response in under 3 seconds," the company said. 

"Every agent knows the first to respond wins the deal, but until now, being first required being glued to your phone 24/7. This integration means you're always first," Oppy CEO and Founder Alex Gustafson said in a news release. 

Rechat's 'Lucy' makes official debut: Rechat, the self-described "AI-powered super app," has formally launched its AI agent assistant, Lucy, after introducing a beta version in 2023. The digital assistant "brings everything together," Rechat CEO Shayan Hamidi said in a news release. That includes MLS data, branding guidelines and personal agent preferences, which the assistant uses to create marketing materials and presentations "in seconds," Hamidi noted. 

The tool can also be integrated with an agent's contacts, listings and transactions to increase efficiency. "Lucy is giving each agent an extremely tech savvy assistant available to them 24/7," said Rechat CTO Emil Sedgh. "This will help boost productivity for agents, and allow their admins and support more time to focus on other areas of their business."