Research, training, advisory

VARi Knowledge Partners

Latest knowledge and skills for built environment and finance.
Our team

Meet our team

Dr Nikodem Szumilo

Nikodem is an Associate Professor at UCL - University College London and the Director of the Bartlett Real Estate Institute, housed within the world's top-ranked faculty of built environment according to QS 2023.


Nikodem previously worked at the London School of Economics after completing his PhD at Cambridge University. He also holds the position of an academic visitor at the Bank of England and serves as a Research Affiliate at the UCL Centre for Finance.


In addition to being published in leading academic outlets, his work has been featured in leading non-academic outlets such as the Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, World Economic Forum - Strategic Intelligence, the Guardian, Bloomberg Businessweek or IPE Magazine.

Dr Thomas Wiegelmann

Dr. Thomas Wiegelmann FRICS has over 25 years of experience in real estate investment and asset management, consultancy, and corporate finance. In 2009, he co-founded BLUE Asset Management, a real estate investment boutique serving the DACH region. Built without external backing, BLUE grew to over €1.2 billion in AuM by 2018, when Schroders Group acquired it to strengthen its private assets capabilities. Thomas served as Managing Director at Schroders until October 2024.

Thomas is an Honorary Professor at University College London, lecturing and publishing on negotiation, investment management, and genAI in real estate. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School (OPM) and INSEAD (IDP), holds a PhD from Bond University, and is a certified Business Mediator (RICS). He serves on the Harvard Real Estate Alumni Board and advises a global early-stage venture capital firm.

Dr Monika Szumilo

Monika is a Physics Lecturer at University College London, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy with a passion for teaching practical AI and advancing Machine Learning algorithms. She has been teaching practical AI as well as developing Machine Learning algorithms for research at Imperial College London and UCL since 2020.


Monika's educational background includes completing her MPhil and PhD at the University of Cambridge. She has also taught at institutions such as Imperial College London and City, University of London. Through her diverse teaching experiences, Monika has successfully delivered complex concepts in Data Science, programming, and mathematics to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Her expertise spans across a wide array of disciplines, encompassing Physics, Astronomy, Aerospace Engineering, as well as Business and Management.

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What our clients say

"I absolutely enjoyed the class. Very useful information and I particularly enjoyed the items you were excited to demonstrate. That was super helpful. I would have loved to see more of your examples. Your explanation and approach to prompting was excellent!! Really useful."
John Wanamaker, CTO, Clarion Partners
"Niko’s course is an invaluable primer on AI, tailored very specifically to the needs of real estate professionals and researchers. Niko and Monica deliver the course in a clear, approachable style that is highly conducive to learning in teams with where a wide spectrum of existing skills and understanding exists. It is a thoroughly enjoyable and insightful programme."
William Matthews​​​​, Partner, Head of Capital Markets Research, Knight Frank
"This insightful course provided me with a comprehensive understanding of how AI will transform research and analysis within the commercial real estate industry. Niko and his team effectively demonstrated practical applications of AI that were easy to follow and which I have been able to immediately integrate into my working practices."
Tom Kynaston, Associate - Research and Strategy, M&G Real Estate
“The course is excellently structured and has taken me to the next level in terms of content. The examples discussed are very practical and can be easily applied to my daily tasks. Well worth it!”
Andreas Trumpp, Managing Director, Head of Market Intelligence & Foresight, Colliers
“Supercharge your skills! I highly recommend this thoroughly enjoyable short course. Through engaging examples of everyday tasks Niko and the team of VARi Knowledge Partners demonstrate the practical application of generative AI for real estate. A must attend course for any professional who wants to harness this technology for their business.“
Mark Unsworth, Associate Director of Real Estate Economics, Oxford Economics
“A fascinating and practical course for anyone in a real estate role looking to accelerate their work using generative AI.“
Sarah Kelly, Senior Analyst, JLL

Get in touch

We offer a range of ready and custom-made training as well as consulting services. For more information contact us.
  •  info@vari-kp.com
    • VARi KP
  •  www.vari-kp.com
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