New Delhi: CBRE, one of the world’s leading real estate consulting firms, announced the appointment of Vima Philips as Head of Product and Engineering, Asia Pacific, for CBRE’s Digital and Technology organization, to build the future generation of property technology.
In her new role, Vima will oversee the Asia Pacific Digital & Technology centre in Gurugram and product leads across the Asia Pacific region. Based from the Digital & Technology centre in Gurugram, Vima will be responsible for further strengthening CBRE’s technology prowess to enhance customer experience and augment operational efficiencies across all business lines/practices.
Vima will be responsible for building and executing a long-term growth strategy for the company, which includes deepening and expanding its own technology expertise while continuing to leverage CBRE’s strategic technology partners.
Following the launch of CBRE’s first dedicated real estate technology centre for the Asia Pacific region, in Gurugram, India earlier this year, this appointment further solidifies the company’s commitment to technology integration in real estate.
The new Digital & Technology hub serves as the firm’s primary software development centre in Asia Pacific, continually enhancing CBRE’s next-generation technology suite. Smart technologies that leverage mapping, augmented reality and data analytics are being supported and pioneered at the facility and this will serve as an overarching goal to enable better client outcomes and business results in a measurable way.
Congratulating Vima on the appointment, Chandra Dhandapani, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, CBRE said, “I am thrilled to welcome Vima to CBRE. In addition to her deep software engineering expertise, she brings leadership experience in managing product and engineering teams in multiple countries and cultures. Vima will lead the way for us in developing and curating next-generation digital experiences for CBRE and our clients in the region. In her present role, Vima will lead and shape CBRE’s technology and innovation agenda to ensure clients are well equipped with an effective technology suite to address their business needs, a key pillar of our growth strategy”.
Anshuman Magazine, Chairman, India and South East Asia, CBRE said, “We are very excited that Vima is going to be part of our team and wish her the very best. Over the next few years, technology integration will reshape the overall real estate landscape and we are delighted that we are building a team that will provide industry-leading technical solutions that will result in greater operational efficiency for us and for our clients”.
“I am delighted to take this role at a time of immense opportunities in the sector. With technology being a key enabler across industries and businesses, we at CBRE will work towards enhancing our prop-tech services to reinvent the realty experience in India and across the region. Real estate is at the cusp of a tech-driven revolution, and CBRE will serve as a catalyst in developing technologies that will help drive growth for clients, driving greater efficiencies and enhancing the overall user experience. Over the next few years, new technologies will restructure the way in which real estate is procured, developed, managed and utilized.” said, Vima Philips, Head of Product and Engineering, Asia Pacific, Digital and Technology, CBRE.
CBRE to Invest in Software Development Team
The real estate consulting firm plans to further invest in its India software development team, expanding both headcount and capabilities in the coming months to pioneer the next generation real estate technology solutions and platforms. CBRE’s suite of technologies has tools geared directly towards occupier clients and develops solutions for investor clients. Our key technologies for the Indian market include:
CBRE 360, the latest digital offering which leverages CBRE’s market-leading strengths in workplace strategy and occupancy planning, design and build-out, and property and facilities management, with its growing technology capabilities. With CBRE 360, users will have the opportunity to experience seamless, single-point access to building amenities and services through CBRE’s proprietary mobile applications, which are built upon a secure, scalable, plug-and-play technology platform. The CBRE 360 mobile apps allow users to locate colleagues and navigate the workplace, reserve workspaces, access food and beverage services as well as basic building and high-end concierge services, among many other activities. The technology will offer client-specific branding for property occupiers and investors that desire it.
ASPIRE –an inventive business intelligence and analytics dashboard for Asset Services Professionals and clients. It seamlessly integrates data sources across clients’ portfolios to deliver a self-service portal capable of generating real-time, informed outcomes. The portal allows property owners and their tenants to view work requests, provide feedback and access key account information.
Portfolio Optimizer – a powerful software tool that enables CBRE professionals to combine client portfolio data with market intelligence to uncover efficiency and cost-saving opportunities.
Floored Plans, an interactive real estate marketing and leasing tool that puts real estate professionals in control of their test-fits. With Floored Plans, teams can quickly and seamlessly create, customize and share test-fits that meet tenant needs, while providing real-time visibility into key decision metrics, including headcount and open space.
With nearly 18 years of industry experience, Vima Philips is a seasoned engineering leader who has built and managed large, distributed agile teams, in both start-ups and leading conglomerates. Her expertise encompasses delivery of high-quality software, ownership and delivery of large product roadmaps and alignment of business outcomes with engineering excellence.
Prior to joining CBRE, she was VP of Engineering at Sirion Labs, heading Development, QA, DevOps and Program Management. Her previous stints include Cisco Systems and Premier Retail Networks at San Francisco, and Wipro Technologies, Bangalore. She holds an MS in Software Engineering from BITS Pilani and a B.Tech in Computer Engineering from Cochin University, India.
