by G. Sax, Head of Communications, RESO
This week’s interview is with Dominik Pogorzelski, President, MLS, Restb.ai (recently acquired by Clear Capital). We chatted about AI on a level beyond just the tech, bringing an international perspective to local markets and finding brighter outcomes after a career break. Enjoy!
Q1: As of this writing in 2026, some people are still using AI to make funny images while others are using it to reshape the world. It is an incredible leap forward akin to the Industrial Revolution or the Internet going mainstream. Public sentiment about AI leans somewhat pessimistic or even fatalistic, and it’s getting harder for a lot of people to tell what is real vs. made with AI. As a standards body, that last part is of particular interest to RESO. After a decade of working with AI, what is your assessment of this moment in time?
Dominik: You brought up a very interesting analogy with the Internet. This tool – the Internet – that could better humanity is being used in ways we could never have predicted. The original founders could never have imagined things like memes or Tik-Tok. The explosion of social media alone has created different spins that have even caused casualties.
That’s the quirk about human beings – and maybe that’s also the good thing about us. We don’t just focus on productivity and efficiency. We use this tool for creativity, entertainment, chatting with the people that we love and things that create not only the go-go-go vibe. I’m not going to say that doomscrolling on social media is the right thing to do, but it’s a human thing to do.
With AI, there could be tremendous 10x or 100x developments in a short amount of time. Will we use AI to help us push for the cure to cancer, advance fission/fusion technology and pioneer novel sciences, or are we going to use it to create better memes? We’re probably going to do both. One thing that is certain, though, is that it’s going to drastically change digital life in less than five years.
Like here’s something that plays directly to this interview: taking notes by typing and how inefficient it is. When talking to someone, we already have to slow down our thoughts to convert them into words. When interacting with technology we have to slow those thoughts down even more to type them. It’s an inefficient way to interact with technology.
I’ll go beyond that. We don’t even know where software is going to be in the near future. Take the example of a computer, with its keyboard and mouse – that’s just how we interact with technology today because that’s how we’ve done it for decades. Is that the way it’s going to be? Or will it be a completely different type of interaction, like via speech or maybe even thought?
So are people stressed or anxious about where all this might go? Sure. A part of me is too. Humans, in general, are worried about the unknown. Anxiety comes from having to deal with the unknown and stress from dealing with more than you can manage. Both apply here.
Our minds can’t even fathom or manage what’s coming our way. We’re used to linear change but what’s coming is exponential. It’s going to be so different, and it’s going to need a lot of adjustment and flexibility.
Q2: You are something of an international man of mystery. You have worked for and spoken at several companies in different countries, and you have seemingly enjoyed bouncing back and forth between two of the most beautiful cities in the world – Barcelona and Montréal. You have heard the term, “real estate is local,” and I’m sure that you have seen that sentiment born out in product pitches to small markets with even smaller MLSs. From a product perspective, how are you able to juxtapose an international mindset with a hyperlocal need?
Dominik: I think just by listening to how the hyperlocal experts talk about their day to day and then adding a spice of international perspective to their perspective. I don’t know everything about every single market, but I will talk to them, listen to them and show them what others are doing. Hopefully, I can help people get to some best practices and let them pick out the best option for their local market that will allow them to stand out among the other MLSs around them.
There’s a lot of value in keeping things hyperlocal. Simultaneously, it presents the challenge of creating custom fields or products. But the customization conversation that has long plagued vendors should become much easier with AI.
We obviously don’t want to have 500 customizations for 500 MLS, but I believe that AI will bring a layer of abstraction between customizations and standards. It will need standards to operate well while allowing for more customizations – a sort of flexible standard, as much as that might sound like an oxymoron.
In order to keep your customization nationwide, you have to leverage standards. Having some sort of standardization at the core is what helps a company become nationwide or worldwide. I think that RESO is going to play an interesting role in that. The standard creates scaffolding for proper building.
Beyond the creation of standards, the bigger concern is how is the whole governance structure of associations and MLSs AI-friendly? Given how fast everything is moving, I want board leaders to ask each other, “Hey, are we even doing these things in the most efficient way?”
In my opinion, the industry’s governance structure – getting consensus, taking votes, etc. – needs to move quicker. Having a board meeting every three months seems like a shot in the foot when technology advancement is moving at its current pace.
Q3: You list “Health and well-being: Career Break” for a three-month period in 2023 on your list of experiences, which probably seems like a Eurocentric concept to American-types. Why was it important to you to state that you needed a break, and will it ever be possible for workers to enjoy such a thing en masse? Note: I ask this knowing that you have made a career of AI and that we have just talked about anxiety, stress and speedier tech advancement.
Dominik: I love the fact that you asked this question. I put it there almost on purpose in order to own it. I wanted to go against the grain of this notion that we need to go from job to job to job. If you have a break on your CV, it gets flagged by a recruiter or hiring manager. Why? Am I an automaton?
People have this belief that you work until you’re 65 into your so-called Golden Age. Why not instead take mini-retirements – assuming that you can manage your dependencies.
I went through a divorce, I didn’t have any kids, I decided to take time for myself, to take time to breathe.
It helped me get antsy. I got into early stage GenAI. I published two books on Amazon. I got into different products, digging into new stuff and learning about alternate sources of income. I took time to get out of my usual train tracks – to look at the scenery, go in a different direction, eastbound, westbound, it didn’t matter.
During that time, I also leaned more into therapy. I had dabbled with it previously, but my current partner made me realize that my approach to therapy at the time was not enough. She shifted my mindset and made me see the true value of therapy as training for emotional strength, just like the gym is for physical strength.
It has since helped me open boxes that I never knew I needed to open – for better or for worse! At the time of my career break, I was 40 years old, and I now realize that I didn’t even know much about my true self – who I was as a being, as a partner, as an uncle, as a friend.
That break changed the trajectory of my career and life in many ways, and I’m glad to say that I am now both happy with my work and excited by the fact that I will soon be a father – both of which I couldn’t have said a few years ago.
Three Questions is a lighthearted interview series that features real estate industry professionals, their businesses and how they interact with real estate standards.
