HousingAI appoints sales head & researcher to grow

HousingAI has appointed Ben Yexley as Head of Sales and Chris Galley as Researcher, expanding the team behind its social housing knowledge platform.

Yexley will lead sales growth and work with housing associations and local authorities as they adopt artificial intelligence tools. Galley will oversee sector monitoring, assess material gathered through AI systems, manage information sources, and develop the review processes used for the platform's content.

HousingAI launched earlier this year as a knowledge platform for England's social housing sector. The service is designed to give housing professionals access to source-referenced guidance on regulation, legislation, and practice, using curated sector material rather than open internet data.

The appointments come as suppliers and landlords across the housing sector continue to test how generative AI can be applied to compliance, governance, and frontline decision-making in a regulated environment. For specialist providers, that has increased the focus on evidence, review processes, and clear source validation.

Yexley joins with 13 years of experience in property technology across early-stage and growing businesses. His recent roles include Head of Business Development at askporter, where he worked on maintenance automation in social housing and facilities management, and Head of Build to Rent at deposit-alternative provider Flatfair.

Earlier in his career, he worked at The Guild of Property Professionals and Fine & Country, where he became Regional Manager for the East of England. At HousingAI, his brief includes commercial growth and helping customers understand where AI may fit into existing housing operations.

A core part of HousingAI's pitch is that AI systems in housing need domain-specific context rather than general information retrieval. That has become a key dividing line in the market between broad consumer AI tools and specialist services aimed at regulated sectors.

"Having spent the past four years working in AI and automation, it became clear to me that context is crucial. HousingAI is building, updating and managing that context specifically for social housing, which is why I'm so excited to be joining the team. As a platform built by housing experts, for housing professionals, it's a unique opportunity for me to help more HAs and LAs benefit from what AI can bring to their roles," said Ben Yexley, Head of Sales at HousingAI.

Galley brings more than 15 years of experience spanning social housing, residential property, higher education, and membership organisations. His work has focused on statutory compliance, governance, data quality, and knowledge management.

His previous roles include positions at Grainger, Inquilab Housing Association, now Karibu Community Homes, Durham University, the National Housing Federation, and The Law Society. Earlier in his career, he managed more than 1,500 Electrical Installation Condition Reports and coordinated compliance activity across more than 1,300 properties.

The Researcher role reflects a wider challenge for AI providers selling into housing and other regulated markets. Buyers are increasingly asking how information is checked, who reviews it, and whether an answer can be traced back to current rules and recognised sources.

"Now more than ever, housing professionals need quick access to information they can rely on. AI creates a huge opportunity to make complex knowledge more accessible, but in such a highly regulated sector, its answers are only as good as the sources, review processes and human oversight behind them. That's what drew me to HousingAI and I'm looking forward to helping build a comprehensive and trusted knowledge base for the sector," said Chris Galley.

HousingAI developed the platform in collaboration with housing providers and sector specialists, and in partnership with Healthy Homes Hub. Anthony Collins acts as legal partner and provides commentary on legislation as part of the service.

Growth plan

The business is still at an early stage, having launched to market in April, and the two appointments suggest it is now building out both its commercial and research functions. That points to a strategy of expanding its user base while reassuring customers that the underlying information remains current and is checked by people with sector experience.

Phil Shelton, Chief Executive Officer of HousingAI, said the hires serve two distinct needs. "Ben and Chris bring two very different but vitally important strengths to HousingAI. Ben understands how to help property and housing organisations adopt emerging technology in ways that solve real operational problems, while Chris brings the research discipline, compliance knowledge and attention to data quality that a trusted housing platform demands. Their appointments give us greater capacity both to grow the HousingAI community and to keep strengthening the knowledge it relies on, so I'm delighted to have them join us on this exciting journey."