"It's time to leave the Excel era behind."

William, you're in the middle of a merger at WIL, where 19 organizations are coming together. What does your role look like today?

I primarily work on innovation, although ideally, I would spend 100% of my time on it. In reality, I spend about 60% of my time designing processes, 20% on policy reporting, and 10% on knowledge sharing. The rest of my time is dedicated to finding ways to improve things.

My role is about bridging innovation and maintenance. I aim to make processes smarter, so technicians can work more efficiently, tenants get better service, and we lose less time and money in administration.

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Where do you think the most time is being wasted right now?

Honestly, it’s in the communication flow between tenants, dispatching, and technicians. A report is made, then passed along, then scheduled… and somewhere along the way, things go wrong. Schedules don’t line up, technicians don’t have all the necessary info, tenants never see anyone show up.

It’s a system that involves too many people and steps and it can definitely be improved.

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FixForm is exploring how digitalization could help with this. How far along are you?

It varies across our offices. Some offices run on certain software systems, while others are still using Excel or even just post-its.

There’s no communication between these systems, which makes it difficult to work efficiently across departments. We’re currently working on a data lake, so we’re no longer dependent on one system but can connect all the tools through a central data source.

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What are the biggest challenges you face when it comes to maintenance?

HVAC stands out by far. So much so that it accounts for about 50% of our reports. After that, we deal with roofing, plumbing, and electricity.

We’re also moving more towards working with specialized subcontractors. They’re faster and more focused. We’d rather have one expert in heating than an all-around technician who only knows a bit about everything.

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How is collaboration with contractors going today?

It’s still too manual. We send reports by email. But we often only hear something once the invoice arrives. If the work is under warranty? We don’t hear a thing.

We have to dig through Excel lists to see if the issue has been resolved. It’s not sustainable. There’s a lot to be gained through digitalization, especially when it comes to tracking subcontractors.

Ultimately, we want to get to a place where problems are solved the first time around, not after the third report or unnecessary delays. That’s only possible with solid digital tracking and clear agreements.

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What do you think is a crucial step toward better collaboration?

For me, it’s two-way communication. Not just receiving reports, but also getting automatic feedback: was it resolved? Did the technician come by? Is any additional work needed?

I dream of a kind of maintenance logbook for every home. Like a car. With QR codes, clear instructions, and notifications for tenants. “Hey tenant XYZ, it’s time to clean your gutters.” This makes tenants co-responsible and raises awareness.

Because good service starts with involvement. Tenants are still at the heart of it and are an active link. Put them first and give them the tools to think and act.

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Where do you see the biggest shift in the coming years?

Without a doubt: preventive and predictive maintenance. We’re already involved in several European projects where we use sensors and AI to predict when a ventilation system is likely to fail.

This allows us to intervene faster, without the tenant even noticing something is wrong. This isn’t futuristic and it’s happening now.

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What advice would you give to other housing organisations?

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1. Don’t wait. Start planning for preventive and predictive maintenance now.
2. Work with open-source and interoperable systems. You don’t want a black box; you want transparency.
3. Make tenants part of the process. Give them responsibility, information, and digital tools.

And always remember: technology isn’t an end in itself. It’s a tool to solve problems right away and to make tenants feel heard and supported.

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To wrap up: What insight do you wish you’d had five years ago?

That technology and AI aren’t here to replace us they’re here to help us do our jobs better. I wish I’d known back then just how much we could save, financially and in terms of frustration, by better aligning systems.