Former director of data products and programs at Meta offers data science and artificial intelligence expertise to REAL’s team to enhance the social app experience

REAL Messenger, the social app for real estate that puts agents back in control of their business, today announced that Kamal Shaik will serve as its new chief data officer. Shaik previously served as director of data products and programs for Meta (formerly Facebook) and is a technology leader with 15 years of experience delivering business-impacting data-driven programs, products, data warehouse, data science and machine learning (ML) use cases (i.e., Customer 360 and the recommendation engine). He has also successfully launched customer-facing and revenue-generating products and programs and is highly experienced in defining strategy, vision and product roadmaps. Shaik brings a wealth of knowledge to the REAL team to help enhance the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered app, which went live this past July.

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REAL Messenger Announces New Chief Data Officer Kamal Shaik (Photo: Business Wire)

“We are thrilled to have Kamal join our team as the CDO at REAL Messenger,” said Thomas Ma, the company’s CEO. “Kamal’s skills and expertise in AI, ML and data science, together with his 15 years of leadership experience in tech, is an incredible match for the REAL team. Kamal is exactly who we needed to help bring strategic changes and lead our team to develop further and strengthen our products and services. He is the right leader for REAL, and we believe he will guide us to the next chapter of growth and success.”

At Meta, Shaik was responsible for developing products to support ad tech, small business owners and supply chain and operations departments by collaborating with consumers, business, engineering, AI/ML and architecture teams. He integrated data science, AI/ML and data analytics to build products that maximize business impact.

Shaik also possesses outstanding credentials. He has an MBA in data analytics and a bachelor’s degree in engineering. He is also a Dell-certified data scientist and an AWS-certified solutions architect. In addition, he received an award for being a top performer of the year at Accenture AI and Meta (Facebook).

“I am honored to join REAL and excited to bring my expertise in data sciences and AI to this growing company,” said Shaik. “This incredible team is helping reshape the real estate world and elevate it technologically in a way no company has before.”

With over 250K app downloads, REAL will push AI proptech adoption forward with this new appointment. Its strategy for increased adoption by developers and users includes plans to focus on the hot U.S. markets of Los Angeles, New York and Texas, where the app has garnered regional success, and then internationally.

About REAL

REAL Messenger is a social app for real estate with a combined light-speed chat function connecting buyers, sellers and agents. With REAL, they can connect within a single platform to browse the latest home listings globally. REAL gives agents back control of leads without costly online ads and ineffective cold calls. Its social network-style feed levels the playing field for new agents to connect with interested prospects, engage with listings directly within the app and build a following based on more than just who they know.

REAL was co-founded by Hong Kong real estate entrepreneur Thomas Ma and Fredrik Eklund, co-founder of Douglas Elliman’s Eklund | Gomes Team and former star of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing NY & LA.”

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