Former PEXA C-suite executive John Zak has joined proptech scaleup LARKI to help fix planning bottlenecks using digital collaboration.
LARKI, which is focused on 3D and AI technology for architectural design and planning permit assessments, appointed Mr Zak to the newly created role of chief business development officer. He will also serve as an executive director on LARKI’s board.
Company founder and CEO Simon Cookes said that Mr Zak had spent more than 30 years working in IT consulting, software delivery and technical roles serving large Australian corporates, financial institutions and governments.
“John is an amazing addition to LARKI’s executive team. He is an expert at extracting commercial value from technology and data, especially for government-related workflows and web-based collaboration,” Mr Cookes said.
“He has a passion for innovation in the property development and planning space, especially for technology that supports digital collaboration between multiple stakeholders to speed up and simplify the planning process.
“This aligns perfectly with LARKI’s mission and values.”
During the past decade, Mr Zak has become an expert in digital experiences that simplify complex processes involving multiple stakeholders in residential property settlement for both existing and new-build developments.
He spent more than seven years at PEXA where he was chief government advocacy and engagement officer and 18 months at Sympli where he was the go-to-market strategy and commercial development lead.
Mr Zac said the LARKI platform – enabled by 3D laser scans, cloud computing and AI – had been a motivating factor in his decision to join the team.
“My vision is to extend these digital benefits into the broader planning process,” he said.
“Through digital collaboration, we can bring design, construction and planning professionals – plus asset owners, community stakeholders and the local councillors who represent them – into the same digital room to view the same 3D images at the same time.
“This will eliminate a lot of manual effort, friction and inefficiency, to immediately deliver time and cost savings.”
Digital collaboration could also improve environmental, social and governance outcomes, he said.
Mr Cookes said the end result of eliminating multiple emails, manual inspections and paper measurements would be better design and faster approvals.
“Any questions or issues can be raised directly in the digital room and collaboratively all the stakeholders can reach a conclusion,” he said.
“Additionally, we can minimise the pain of planning variations when, for example, there has been an error in measuring the correct distance from a power line or crossover.
“I’m excited to welcome John to the team and for LARKI to deliver this much-needed solution for the property development industry.”
