Name: Howard Phung
Title: Director of Digital, Data and Technology
Company: Pro-invest Group
Commenced role: August 2022
Reporting line: Chief Financial Officer
Member of the executive team: Yes
Technology Function: 10 staff, three direct reports
 
 
Pro-invest Group is an asset manager and investment firm specialising in private equity real estate and real estate asset management. Pro-invest has grown to become one of the largest hotel investment platforms in Australasia, in addition to successfully executing a number of commercial real estate transactions.
 
As director of digital, data and technology, Howard Phung and his team have spearheaded the transformation of the operations of Pro-invest Group. His strategic vision has played a key role in Pro-invest’s rapid growth, with the company expanding from $1 billion to $3 billion in assets under management over the past two years. To support this growth, Phung developed a multi-technology roadmap, which has enabled the organisation to stay ahead of industry trends, particularly in cloud computing and AI.
 
Phung and his team led the migration of all business systems to the cloud, which has streamlined operations and enhanced scalability. This cloud transformation not only improved the company’s efficiency but also established global partnerships with Oracle and Shiji to implement advanced point-of-sale systems, centralising management and enabling greater operational scale.
 
Additionally, Phung introduced a full cloud-based hotel management system for housekeeping, maintenance, and compliance, significantly reducing costs, paper use, and manual tasks. The rollout of QR ordering across the chain, in partnership with Order Up, allowed guests to place room service requests more efficiently, resulting in a reduction in manpower needs.
 
The initiatives resulted in Pro-invest achieving a 30 percent reduction in IT overhead and a 40 per cent decrease in manpower requirements. Efficiency improvements in housekeeping and maintenance have positively impacted guest sentiment scores, while labour savings from the QR ordering implementation have reduced an average of half an FTE per property.
 
GenAI as part of data strategy
 
The integration of GenAI has had a massive impact on the company’s data analytics capabilities. The tech team advanced the development of an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), now 70 per cent  complete, to integrate all key hotel systems. The ingestion of demand data allows Pro-invest to analyse booking pace with competitive third-party data, automating a benchmarking process that previously required three full-time employees.
 
Furthermore, the team developed a custom-built Copilot leveraging Gen AI to enhance analytical processes and predictive analysis, enabling near real-time business intelligence across various areas, including food and beverage efficiency and profitability. These innovations have led to a 25 per cent increase in food and beverage efficiency, a 15 per cent improvement in overall profitability, and a 20 per cent boost in forecast accuracy.
 
Phung also established a Gen AI task force to explore use cases and upskill team members in building Copilot bots, automating repetitive tasks like reporting consolidation and approvals.
 
Pro-invest’s chief financial officer says that Phung has had a profound effect on the company and its operations. “Howard’s innovative mindset and strategic leadership have been transformative for our organisation. His ability to drive change and inspire others has positioned Pro-invest as a leader in the industry. His quarterly updates and conference presentations have been invaluable in keeping our team informed and motivated.”