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Unlocking the Future: Generative AI and Intelligent Automation in CRE

Jul 9, 2024
From our Content Contributor Partner, Accenture. Explore the transformative impact of Generative AI (Gen AI) on Corporate Real Estate (CRE), highlighting its potential to enhance operational efficiency, strategic decision-making, and customer experience.

Generative AI (Gen AI) is reshaping Corporate Real Estate (CRE) with its limitless potential and transformative power. A remarkable 97% of global executives agree that foundation models will revolutionize AI usage by connecting diverse data types. In the boardroom, 83% of executives have accelerated AI transformation initiatives for 2024. Gen AI promises substantial value creation, potentially contributing $6-8 trillion globally. However, these advancements will come with disruptions of automation and augmentation, wherein 80% of the U.S. workforce could see their current tasks affected, and 375 million workers may need new skills by 2030.

As CRE integrates Gen AI into its folds, it’s crucial to balance innovation with adaptation, leveraging AI for enhanced operational efficiency, strategic decision-making, and optimized customer experiences. CRE executives must experiment with impactful use cases to drive business value and start establishing a CRE-specific Gen AI foundation by building a robust digital core and skill base.

 

Exploring Gen AI’s Impact: Transformative Power Unleashed

AI is revolutionizing CRE through both the augmentation and automation of tasks. Augmentation enhances human knowledge work, allowing professionals to focus on strategic activities, while automation replaces repetitive tasks with AI-driven processes.

In CRE, AI can significantly streamline operations though its powers of:
  • Context: By analyzing vast amounts of data, Gen AI aids in making optimal office location decisions.
  • Conversation: Chatbots extract insights from tenant interactions, improving management practices.
  • Content: AI can auto-generate RFPs for CRE vendor comparisons, saving time and ensuring thoroughness.

The impact of Gen AI is substantial across industries. In sectors like banking, insurance, and capital markets, over 30-40% of tasks are expected to be automated or augmented. In CRE, technology-driven tasks such as occupancy patterns, space utilization, and predictive maintenance will be greatly enhanced through AI solutions.

Where Gen AI and CRE Intersect: Transforming Operations for Efficiency and Growth
Gen AI has the potential to revolutionize CRE by enhancing efficiency, streamlining processes, and optimizing customer experience for sustainable growth and competitive advantage. The intersections of AI and CRE operations include:

  • CRE Op Risk, Governance, Analytics & Reporting: Real Time Performance Reporting, Demand Management, User Experience & Satisfaction, Supplier & Contract Management
  • CRE Portfolio Strategy & Transactional Management: Conversational Gen AI Assistance, Market Analysis Augmentation, Portfolio Analytics Augmentation, Decisioning (e.g. Lease, Build, Buy)
  • CRE Capital Program & Project Management: Cost Estimation Automation, Schedule Optimization, Design Augmentation, Construction Site Monitoring
  • CRE Asset, Facilities, & Workplace Services Management: Space & Asset Utilization, Service Desk Chatbots, Predictive Maintenance / Associate Self-Service, IoT & Data Integration

The maturity of Gen AI in CRE progresses from basic understanding to strategic adoption and advanced optimization, culminating in Gen AI-driven excellence. Early innovations in CRE, such as chatbots and smart reservations, will evolve into autonomous facility management and AI-driven property analytics.

Getting Started with Gen AI for CRE: Overcoming Challenges and Building Foundations

Initiating Gen AI in CRE involves overcoming challenges such as data privacy concerns, high initial investment costs, difficulty quantifying ROI, and the need for skilled talent. Despite these obstacles, strategic initiatives can facilitate seamless integration. Organizations should take key steps including building a robust digital core and data foundation, developing a technology and organizational roadmap, selecting the right and most impactful use cases, building a talent strategy, and fostering a learning culture.

The Gen AI roadmap spans from defining a reinvention strategy, enhancing talent and culture, ensuring responsible AI practices, establishing a data and technology architecture, to deploying and maintaining applications. Identifying high-impact, low-effort use cases, such as space utilization optimization and conversational AI, and progressing to high-impact, high-effort initiatives, like automated facilities management and portfolio analytics, will drive substantial value for CRE initiatives.

 

Conclusion

The integration of Gen AI in CRE marks the dawn of a new era characterized by unprecedented efficiency, innovation, and value creation. By understanding its potential, addressing challenges head-on, and strategically adopting Gen AI solutions, CRE organizations can unlock remarkable opportunities for growth and competitive advantage.

As we look to the future, it's clear that the trajectory of CRE is inextricably linked with AI’s advancements. This association promises to deliver optimized performance, enhanced experiences for all stakeholders, and a reimagined landscape of corporate real estate management.

The time for CRE leaders to act is now. By embracing Gen AI and intelligent automation, they can position their organizations at the forefront of innovation, driving sustainable growth and shaping the future of corporate real estate.

View the webinar on Generative AI and Intelligent Automation in CRE on the Source app.

Webinar - https://thesource.web.mosaic-apps.com/home/knowledgeCenter/details/26480

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