KSK Group Bhd's property development arm KSK Land Sdn Bhd will ride on Delve to drive smart, sustainable developments at an efficient cost.

Its chief executive officer Joanne Kua said the software allows the developer to come up with cutting-edge yet practical designs, prioritising sustainability and wellness elements.

"Contrary to what people think when you adopt technologies, things will become more expensive...it is not true! It makes it more cost-efficient from the value and time perspectives," she said in a virtual press briefing today.

Delve is a new generative design software tool that aims to guide developers, architects, and planners in the creation of healthy and sustainable neighborhoods faster and with less risk.

The software is developed by Sidewalk Labs, a New York-based urban innovation company and a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.

It is intended to speed up and optimise the planning process and meet the various inputs, constraints, and priorities presented by a development project.

KSK Land is the first company in Malaysia to use the software for its maiden project, 8 Conlay since April.

The RM5.4 billion project, launched in 2015 and located on Jalan Conlay in Kuala Lumpur features three towers and a nine-storey lifestyle retail quarter.

The application of Delve will help power the development of KSK Land's own data-driven AI pricing engine by KSK City Labs, the company's newly set-up data and tech arm.

In a statement, KSK Land said it will enable the company to customise pricing for each unit based on the personalisation of every individual unit offering and its characteristics, including the sunlight exposure hours, a wellness-driven variable that differs from one unit to another.

"We constantly struggle with making thousands of decisions whilst juggling between dozens of variables that contribute to a homeowner's quality of life. These decisions that are made early in the process, especially in the master-planning stage, may lead to unforeseen impacts later on or even spell the make or break of a project's financial and marketing viability," said Kua, who is also managing director of KSK Land.

Okalo Ikhena, the co-head of Delve, said 80 per cent to 90 per cent of project value is created during the pre-development stage.

"What we do is collaborate from the start across different stakeholders and have a sheer understanding of the development. We can uncover the best design and optimise more on what's working and increase financial returns," he said.

Ikhena said Delve is able to also reduce carrying costs and opportunity costs, as well as improve sales and marketability by optimising for desirable features and differentiate from surrounding properties.