Artificial Intelligence and machines : A curse or blessing for corporate real estate?

The connected computational power of all devices in the world already exceeds the collective ability of humans to process the data. In general, societies, economic markets and national governments are both fascinated and disturbed of the rise of machines as the speed of evolution does not follow the rhythm of policy making and needs of users. At the same time, the real estate industry has just begun its journey to digital transformation. It faces a dichotomy as people adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) as consumers, but fear what influence it could have on their jobs and privacy. A significant opportunity for corporate real estate (CRE) as it acts in between those forces to increase human experience, enable a work-life blend and support transformation as jobs will be enhanced through AI. At the same time, it is a humbling mission as AI will impact all levels of human needs. A significant proportion of those are fulfilled in and around properties. This paper outlines the key enablers and opportunities for the real estate industry to adopt AI as a productivity and transformational business power. It intends to deepen the understanding of key trends and give a fundamental background to reduce complexities and nuance the term AI. Therefore, key challenges are contextualised for CRE players to proactively strategise about partnerships, operations and value drivers for business entities. Ethical as well as social considerations are reflected as a part of worldwide debate on how machines can coexist with the human species.