AI Is A Bicycle For Our CRE Minds
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As someone who's not an expert in artificial intelligence (AI), I still find it crucial to explore this transformative technology. In real estate, many people seem eager to assume that AI will eventually handle everything for us, even making complex decisions. For example, will it negotiate leases without human intervention? Some say yes, some say never. However, I believe decision making is not AI’s highest and best use.
AI is a tool—a highly advanced one—designed and utilized by humans. Just as we’ve developed tools over millennia, AI is simply the next iteration, enabling us to achieve our goals more efficiently.
Steve Jobs once famously described the personal computer as “the most remarkable tool that we've ever come up with, and it's the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.”
Like the computer, AI won’t replace us—it’s here to augment our capabilities. It’s a high-efficiency tool that enables us to progress further and faster than ever before.
Harnessing AI in Real Estate
With AI’s potential in mind, the onus is on us to retool and retrain ourselves to effectively use this technology to create, design, and imagine better outcomes in our work. In commercial real estate (CRE), firms are already leveraging AI in meaningful ways.
Below are ways CRE firms are using AI driven software in their processes and the actual software they are using.
Leasing: Analyzing, summarizing, and drafting lease agreements.
Feasibility: Analyzing zoning ordinances and building codes for new projects.
Pillar - for development site selection through the analysis of zoning ordinances.
Realty Dynamics - Empowering developers with real estate mapping data layers for informed development decisions.
Deepblocks - for feasibility analysis offering software for site selection with zoning data built-in.
Investments:
Macro-level: Using AI to analyze large datasets, identifying investment geographies, product types, and portfolio optimization strategies.
Trellis - converts unstructured data into structured SQL format. This can also be used for lease abstraction, rent roll processing, and purchase agreement reviews…Please note this is not legal advice.
LlamaIndex - A data framework that allows users to build LLM applications.
OpenAI Advanced Data Analysis - ChatGPT functionality that allows users to upload data and analyze it. This is integrated into the ChatGPT platform.
Micro-level: Evaluating individual deals by comparing data sets such as expenses, market comps, and economic cycle timings.
Placer.AI - Use it to understand who is doing what, where, when on and around your property for strategic decision making.
RealPage’s Lumina Platform - advances multifamily living through GenAI powered tools to drive efficiency, engagement, and tenant retention.
Relationship Management: Managing investor relations and contacts at scale by analyzing news, geography, and risk/reward data.
Flowrite - use to improve your daily emails and messages
MS CoPilot in Outlook - to synthesize and manage your inbox
Relationship Coach AI - Helps you speak and respond confidently and clearly.
Marketing: Automating marketing collateral, generating social media and newsletter content, and optimizing website SEO.
AI Social Bio - Your social media bio created with AI
Usetwain - An AI assistant that helps users create better cold outreach messages
Lately - convert long-form content into dozens of social media posts.
Omneky - Scales social media sales with data driven creative assets.
This is a dynamic list that keeps changing and growing. If you use an AI-driven software package that should be on the list, let me know.
Navigating the Gen-AI Era
As we move deeper into this post-Internet, Gen-AI era, the question becomes: how do we navigate AI effectively? These tools are disruptive, empowering small businesses to make an impact in markets traditionally dominated by larger players. At the same time, big companies are developing proprietary models with internal datasets that could further widen the gap.
For an emerging sponsor, it’s essential to ask: How can I advance my position in this new AI-driven world? To stay competitive, it’s important to leverage your own internal datasets, build systems without excessive costs, and streamline processes for acquisitions, analysis, and marketing. Always be on the lookout for “low-hanging fruit” that can provide a competitive edge.
Take Action – Stay Relevant
One simple step could be taking a short course on AI or learning about prompt engineering. You could even try building your own custom GPT model. The key is to do something—anything—because standing still is no longer an option.
As Bill Gates put it, “AI is going to change the world in ways we can't even imagine yet. It will improve health, education, and help solve some of the world's hardest problems.”
It’s an optimistic outlook, but one that demands we adapt quickly.
However, not everyone shares this enthusiasm.
Elon Musk, in contrast, has been vocal about AI’s risks, stating that “AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.”
His words serve as a reminder that we must not only harness AI’s potential but also be aware of its challenges.
If you’re in your 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, remember younger generations are learning these systems natively. To remain relevant in our industry, your ability to understand the implications of AI is crucial—not only for your personal growth but for effectively managing the young talent rising through the ranks.
It is important for everyone to learn and explore how you can use AI to improve your workflows. You got this!
Cheers,
John*This post was inspired by Jen Tindle’s Substack post: Will AI Negotiate CRE Deals?
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