April 7, 2025 | BOMA International, Ella Krygiel
Nearly half of technology leaders are embracing AI and fully integrating the software in their business strategies, according to a PwC report. However, a good number of individuals, including those from the commercial real estate industry (CRE) are falling behind in these integration efforts. This leads to the question, are we embracing AI as much as we should?
Brian Haines, Chief Strategy Officer, FM:Systems, believes we are on the right track. “In our recent FM:Systems Inside the Workplace report, 76% of business leaders, including commercial real estate leaders, said they plan to deploy generative AI to assist with workplace operations and maintenance over the next year — up from 58% just a year ago. That kind of growth speaks to the momentum and promise of AI in commercial real estate, but, like any technology adoption, it also underscores the need for thoughtful implementation.”
The need to act quickly amid AI’s rapid growth aligns with JLL’s report, which determined that more than nine in ten C-suite leaders believe AI will change the way the workforce operates over the next five years. Among these predictions, their report highlights Haines’ point about the need for thoughtful implementation. Building a “systematic approach,” is a key element they describe to companies considering adopting AI in their everyday work efficiencies.
Yet, a report from the Pew Research Center suggests that we may not be as prepared as we think. It found that a majority of workers rarely use AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot, with older demographics being particularly hesitant. According to Knight Frank, several barriers are impeding AI adoption in the CRE sector:
- Data Quality: Many CRE organizations lack the infrastructure necessary to gather, clean and analyze crucial data.
- Skepticism: Teams may be concerned that AI could replace jobs or disrupt established workflows.
- Ethical Considerations: Data privacy concerns are heightened, with fears of sensitive company information being inadvertently shared with chatbots.
- Cost of Implementation: The upfront investment required for AI technologies can deter companies from taking the plunge.
Despite these challenges, JLL’s report emphasizes that over 90% of C-suite leaders see AI as a transformative force. Addressing skepticism is vital; some employees fear that AI may justify layoffs. Hatim Rahman, an associate professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, notes, “Employees are legitimately scared that the organization may justify laying them off by saying AI can do this job.” This concern aligns with ZDNET’s findings that a lack of effective AI training contributes to workplace pessimism, with only 25% of workers reporting they have received AI-related training.
Integrating AI training into business strategies could be crucial. The CRE industry is reportedly investing in workforce training, as highlighted by Knight Frank. Their findings suggest that CRE firms are leveraging AI to enhance operational efficiency and predictive management—both of which can save time and resources.
Despite the concerns raised by the Pew Research Center, which indicated that 52% of employees worry about AI’s workplace implications, AI presents significant benefits. An article from PYMNTS asserts that “AI serves not just as an information provider but as an effective boundary-spanning mechanism, helping professionals reason across traditional domain boundaries.” Their research indicates several advantages of AI in workplace efficiency:
- Quality of Work: Employees using AI perform significantly better than those who do not.
- Productivity: Individuals using AI take 16.4% less time on tasks compared to those not using it; teams using AI see a 12.7% time reduction.
- Expertise: Less experienced employees can match the performance of their more seasoned colleagues with AI support.
- Innovation: AI enables employees to explore ideas beyond their immediate expertise.
- Idea Rankings: Ideas generated with AI assistance are three times more likely to be top-rated.
- Social Impact: Users of AI report positive emotions that match or exceed those of traditional teams.
Haines emphasizes, “AI is beginning to reshape how we manage and interact with buildings, and I see its role as an assistant—rather than a replacement—as a positive and necessary evolution. In commercial real estate, AI can help eliminate inefficiencies by analyzing space utilization data, predicting system failures, or optimizing building performance in real time. This frees up teams to focus on more strategic work while the technology handles repetitive, data-heavy tasks.”
The true value of AI lies in its thoughtful implementation, grounded in a clear understanding of goals, user needs and the broader data ecosystem. The shift from “smart” to fully autonomous buildings is not merely about flashy technology; it requires laying a solid foundation for long-term performance, scalability, and trust.
Julius Marchwicki, Vice President of Digital Product Management at Johnson Controls, states, “It’s no surprise that commercial real estate owners, operators and equipment manufacturers have been extracting data from buildings for the last decade. That data is now turning into actionable insights more quickly with the power of AI, which has already supported use cases like predicting maintenance events or forecasting energy spend for buildings. These insights can help reduce total cost of operations and ownership, and in some cases, Johnson Controls customers have seen up to a 30% energy reduction when using our data and AI-driven solutions in OpenBlue coupled with upgraded equipment in their buildings.”
Marchwicki adds, “In addition to AI helping provide forecasts and predictions, generative AI can use those forecasts to recommend energy-saving projects or suggest operational changes in easy-to-understand output. With human oversight, those operational changes can be automated by AI agents that are constantly evaluating variables to make decisions about a building and its operations. This allows commercial real estate professionals to focus on other non-automated tasks, team development and relationship building.”
While challenges remain, the potential of AI to transform the commercial real estate industry is undeniable. As organizations invest in training and thoughtful implementation, they can harness AI’s capabilities to drive innovation and efficiency in a rapidly changing landscape. You can learn more about how AI is being applied in CRE at the 2025 BOMA International Conference & Expo on June 28 – July 1 in Boston, MA.
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