At our recent "In Conversation with" session, moderator Chee Kit Ho (Senior Director at Cushman & Wakefield) sat down with industry leaders Tan Tian Chong, Teo Feng Fu, and Daniel Yeung. The core mission? To move beyond the buzzwords and address the practical barriers to scaling sustainability.

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As Chee Kit framed it, the industry is at a tipping point: sustainability is transitioning from a "compliance or ESG issue" to a fundamental driver of real estate value, influencing everything from asset resilience and operating risk to exit valuations. While technology is often the focus, the dialogue revealed that the real bottleneck is a gap in how talent manages change, operations, and finance.

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1. The Change Management Gap

According to Tian Chiong, the primary hurdle isn't the availability of smart tools, but the human systems required to implement them.

"Technology is never the most important [problem]—it's maybe the second or the third. The real problem is always the change management; it's the people, the organization, and the processes." — Tian Chiong

This suggests that being "future-ready" requires talent that can navigate organizational shifts, not just technical installations.

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2. The Operational Expertise Gap

Feng Fu highlighted a gap in the technical capability of teams to optimize assets without relying on new capital. He noted that many teams lack the specific expertise to drive efficiency through operational data alone.

"That is provided that if the team might not have the technical expertise... for us, we look at the data and we actually optimise the way it is being operated... leverage on a physics law that actually improves energy consumption." — Feng Fu

Using the case of Suntec City, he demonstrated that talent capable of "operational means" could achieve a 26% reduction in energy—saving $4 million annually—without a single cent of CAPEX.

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3. The Financial Literacy Gap

Daniel Yeung identified a significant gap in how projects are pitched to property owners. He noted that owners are often "reluctant" because they view sustainability through the lens of their own capital risk.

"If I put myself in the shoes of a property owner, the biggest challenge is money... management is often reluctant because it's their money." — Daniel Yeung

The "talent" required here is the ability to structure and communicate alternative models, like Zero CAPEX, where the owner "doesn't have to worry about where to get the money" because the investment firm takes on the responsibility to design, procure, and operate.

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4. The "Data vs. Certification" Gap

Finally, Tian Chiong pointed to a gap in how the industry values assets. The traditional reliance on static certificates is being replaced by a need for professionals who can manage live, auditable data flows.

"Traditionally, valuation depended a lot on certification... but with technology and sustainability projects depending more and more on data, I think the days of depending on certification is over." — Tian Chiong

Future-ready talent must be able to provide "performance data that can be verified, that is live, can be audited, and actionable" to satisfy the requirements for green loans and financial valuation.

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Closing the Gap

The consensus from the panel is clear: a "Future-Ready" professional is no longer just a specialist in a single silo. They must bridge the gap between:

• Human Processes (Tian Chiong)

• Technical/Operational Physics (Feng Fu)

• Investment and Financial Models (Daniel)

As the industry moves away from "badges" and toward "live performance," the value of an asset will increasingly depend on the talent capable of proving its impact every day.

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This session was made possible through the generous support of our sponsors, whose commitment to industry dialogue helps drive the future of the built environment.

Conexus Studio | Award-winning workplace interior design and design-and-build practice.

uHoo | Global leader in environmental data and IAQ management.

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Watch the full conversation on YouTube here.