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The meteoric rise of artificial intelligence has impacted every industry, including the notoriously tech-averse commercial real estate world.
Scores of new AI-driven tools have left brokers sweating over their commissions and wondering if they will be replaced by software that can automate underwriting and surface buyers instantly. And shareholders have been ditching their brokerage stock over concerns the entire business model is at risk. Are their fears overblown, or should brokers be preparing themselves for a future where AI could take their jobs?
To answer this question and further explore the growing role of AI in CRE, Bisnow Editor-in-Chief Mark F. Bonner spoke with Matthews CEO Kyle Matthews.
His bottom line? The AI scare is excessive, but brokers should still expect a shake-up in how their jobs are done.
“I absolutely think there is an overreaction happening,” Matthews said. “And I think there are 100% vulnerabilities, and the nature and the shape of how these services are performed in the next three, five and 10 years fundamentally will change.”
He said calling CRE “late adopters” as it relates to new technologies is an “insult to late adopters,” since the industry has been practically nonadopting. But while AI has the power to replace jobs, it won’t have to replace people if they are willing to evolve to use the tools well.
“If people personally and professionally develop into a greater role of builder and/or manager of agentic AI agents … it makes you incredibly valuable,” Matthews said.
View the full conversation below:
