Among the many areas affected by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), the real estate sector is undoubtedly one of those that will be both the main beneficiaries and the first victims.
For several years now, AI has been gradually and often imperceptibly integrating into different strata of society and professional activities. Its real effects can only be fully measured with hindsight, by comparing what this technology will have brought — or, on the contrary, profoundly transformed — to the commercial property sector.
By real estate, we mean not only the buildings themselves, but also their uses, their allocations, the technologies integrated into them and the profiles of their users.
AI has already made a remarkable entry into the field of Facility Management (FM), particularly through automated building management. Sensors, detectors, cameras, probes and other interconnected devices generate a considerable volume of data. Aggregating this data not only makes it possible to anticipate needs, but also to take proactive action on infrastructure and improve occupant comfort. AI is therefore an essential tool for FM technicians and, in some cases, even a partial substitute for some of their functions.
Furthermore, AI is likely to profoundly change the type of building users. Traditional tenants—with offices, open spaces, meeting rooms, or reception areas—could gradually give way to more technical spaces, dedicated to multiple or shared uses, incorporating robots, data centres, or other specialised infrastructure. These changes will take place in line with market demands, but it is the accumulation of demands and the speed of transformation that will have a lasting impact on the property sector.
AI will also help to reshape the urban landscape and redefine ‘in situ’ needs in relation to locations on the outskirts or even in less densely populated areas. These changes will not only affect commercial real estate, but the entire economic fabric: transport, local shops, government offices and residential housing.
While AI offers powerful levers for transforming and revitalising the real estate sector, it will also challenge certain dogmas and fundamental rules. The very management of real estate will be profoundly changed, directly affecting players in the sector such as brokers, property managers, trustees and financiers.
We are already seeing a gradual but steady shift of many administrative tasks towards AI-based solutions, leading to the disappearance of jobs linked to repetitive activities.
Conversely, without being cynical, the automation of these functions could promote better quality interactions between the various players in the sector. In this context, only strong, agile and technologically advanced organisations will be able to adapt in the long term. This development is not apocalyptic; it is part of a global trend, sometimes contested, but largely driven by major Western and Asian technology companies and implicitly supported by the authorities of the world’s leading economies.
The real estate sector therefore has major opportunities by choosing to embrace AI rather than oppose or ignore it. Nevertheless, there are many challenges and obstacles, which will add to the pressures already facing the sector.
Artificial intelligence will therefore create many winners, but also some losers, among real estate players.
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