When technology meets brokerage: A new era for corporate real estate professionals

Abstract

Improvements in artificial intelligence technology, and the growing abilities of programmers to utilise mathematical algorithms to solve more complex spatial problems, opened possibilities to automate and speed up complex processes by 1000× in commercial leasing and office space design. Office space plans that follow local regulations and take into consideration client requirements can now be completed in minutes, not days or weeks. A technical design, and bill of quantities can be generated in 2–3 minutes with 2–5 per cent accuracy, rather than in months of work, or ‘by sqm/sqft’ with 15–20 per cent accuracy. A virtual reality/augmented reality walkthrough that used to take days and cost thousands of dollars, now takes 30 seconds to create. These changes have a massive affect on the process of commercial leasing, and as secondary effects can create huge disruption for the world’s largest brokerages, and for the broker disruption as a whole. This paper offers a glimpse into the future, an overview of the technology, but also a set of strategies for real estate agencies and brokers to stay relevant and bring more value to their customers. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.