Andy Kean

Andy Kean says the confidence, connections and on-the-job experience he gained while studying property management and valuation at Glasgow Caledonian helped him kick-start his diverse career. He is now the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) for cutting-edge property valuation software Valos and says his path to the senior leadership position at the innovative start-up company was a varied one.

Andy first joined Glasgow Caledonian University in 2004 after studying Building Surveying at college.

“I really enjoyed the sense of autonomy at GCU that I hadn’t experienced before in school or college,” he says.

“I got to work in a way that suited me, and it was great having that independence.

Andy describes his time at the University as “the catalyst for all I went on to do.”

“I really enjoyed my time at GCU. I made connections that I’ve worked with throughout my entire career,” he says.

“I started my graduate job in the final months of my degree, which gave me a head start on the certification I needed to become a Chartered Surveyor. It also gave me insight into how the business side of surveying works - how these companies make money and the challenges they face.”

Andy then spent almost 14 years working at property data and technology company, CoStar Group.

“It was a departure from the path of surveying, but I achieved a lot in my time there,” he says.

In 2018, Andy became the Director of Sales in the UK, leading a 40-person team. During this time Andy got to see a lot of his team members go above and beyond what they thought they were capable of, and feels proud to have played a role in their development.

At the start of 2024, Andy joined Valos as their CRO. Valos provides software that automates the manual aspects of property valuation process, improving the accuracy and efficiency with which their clients can gather data and produce their templated reports.

“It’s a game-changer, which I would have found incredibly useful in my time as a property surveyor, and I’ve been able to apply everything from my degree to my time as CoStar towards it.”

Andy says his career wasn’t the one he originally had in mind when studying and encouraged students to adopt a similar open-minded approach as they look at what direction their work may take them.

"Be flexible and open-minded to alternative opportunities within your chosen industry,” he says.

“Not every move has to be forward - you can be fulfilled in opportunities you’d never considered before which are adjacent to the career path you had envisioned.

“Many sectors have innovation roles which allow you to help mobilise industries just like at Valos, and these can be incredibly rewarding.”