Public Storage and Welltower have confirmed a new strategic partnership aimed at advancing the use of data science within the real estate industry. The deal brings together the capital allocation technology of Welltower with the operational and customer analytics of Public Storage. This move is designed to improve how both firms deploy capital and manage their extensive portfolios.

Welltower launched its data science platform in 2016. A team of computer scientists and mathematicians leads the department. The system uses machine learning and deep learning to identify the best investment opportunities. Public Storage has focused its own internal research on operational efficiency. Their work covers revenue management and forecasting demand. These tools are vital for increasing net operating income.

Under the new agreement, Public Storage will license specific models from Welltower. This will allow the firm to complete acquisitions with more speed and accuracy. These tools support the company’s PS4.0 strategy to grow value for shareholders. Later on, Public Storage will provide its operational data to Welltower. This will help Welltower improve its own decision-making processes.

Both companies are leaders in their sectors. They hold massive amounts of private data that competitors cannot access. This information cannot be found through third-party providers or standard artificial intelligence interfaces. Welltower has already used its platform to manage over $80 billion in activity. While many property deals take months to finish, Welltower has cut this time down to a few weeks using advanced math.

“Both Welltower and Public Storage have built differentiated data science capabilities that create a durable competitive advantage,” said Tom Boyle, Public Storage’s incoming Chief Executive Officer. “By integrating Welltower’s data science-driven capital allocation capabilities into our PS4.0 platform, we expect to further sharpen how we deploy capital and accelerate value creation. Over time, our operational analytics capabilities will help enhance Welltower’s operating platform, as well.”

Welltower’s CEO, Shankh Mitra, said, “While real estate is the world’s largest asset class, it has historically been characterized as a local, ‘gut-feel’ industry that has proven to be one of the most unscalable businesses. While some have attempted to scale the business through service models, we believe that the only way to truly scale this business is through the data generated by the assets.” He continued, “We are delighted to announce this partnership with Public Storage, a truly iconic company. Harnessing the power of Welltower’s data science platform, Public Storage will be deploying quantitative models for the real world – a world of science and math, not language and images – trained on decades of actual, proprietary performance data. This will significantly accelerate capital allocation decisions, demonstrating a tangible, real-world application of AI.”