REA Shuffles Sales Leadership as AI Messaging Takes Centre Stage

REA Group has appointed Gerard Connell (pictured above) as Executive General Manager, Sales, creating a new senior role as the Australian portal looks to sharpen its commercial focus amid growing customer noise around AI and the threat from CoStar-owned Domain.

Connell will lead REA’s national sales organisation across residential, commercial, new homes and media, reporting to Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Kul Singh. He will be based in Melbourne. Connell acknowledged the timing in upbeat terms, saying:

“Technology is quickly broadening and accelerating what’s possible, and I’m excited to join a team that’s committed to working with customers to unlock new ways to make their businesses more efficient and profitable.”

The appointment comes less as a surprise pivot and more as a signal. REA has spent much of the past year talking up AI-led transformation, while agents continue to wrestle with cost pressures, workflow complexity and an increasingly crowded tech landscape.

Connell joins from executive search firm Egon Zehnder, where he most recently worked across consumer, retail and technology practices in Australia and New Zealand. Before that, he spent 15 years in senior leadership roles at General Motors, spanning sales, marketing, customer experience and digital product.

In a press release, REA framed the hire around customer demand for help cutting through “AI noise”, citing its Property Panel research, which shows agents want practical support rather than abstract tooling. The company says it plans to roll out AI-focused initiatives in coming months, including training content, expert sessions and accelerator-style grants.