"AI will never replace my VAs" — and I agree

[Izuchukwu Onukwube]

I've been building in the guest messaging space for PMCs, and the most common pushback I hear from property managers about AI guest messaging is that it'll never match a good VA. And honestly? They're right.

A well-trained VA who knows your properties, your voice, and your guests is irreplaceable for the 20-30% of messages that need real judgment, complaints, maintenance issues, emotionally charged situations, anything that requires nuance.

But here's what I keep hearing from PMs running 50+ units: their VAs spend 70-80% of their time answering the same repetitive questions. WiFi passwords. Check-in instructions. Parking. Local restaurant recommendations. The exact same answers, dozens of times a day.

That's not a good use of a great VA's talent. That's busywork.

The version of AI that actually works isn't "replace your VAs." It's "handle the repetitive 70-80% so your VAs can focus on the conversations that actually need them." Same team, double the capacity.

For the operators here running 30+ units with VA teams, would that framing change how you think about AI? Or is there still a trust gap that no amount of positioning can fix?

[Chris Seveney]

I tend to agree because there are many times I end up getting in arguments with my AI. I'd much rather make sure I give an individual explicit instructions who has worked with me for a period of time and knows how to do something. That's not to say in several years this will change, but as of today I still find the need for more human interaction.