All Data and No Insight Makes CRE a Dull Game
Why commercial real estate's comfort with slow, siloed data is no match for the real-time intelligence of AI
The Industry’s Blind Spot
If commercial real estate had a dirty little secret, it wouldn’t be ESG loopholes or over-leveraged funds.
It would be this: for all its global reach, money, and marble foyers, the industry still doesn’t know what’s going on in real-time.
Yesterday’s Data, Today’s Decisions
Sure, we get quarterly market snapshots. We get vacancy rates and glossy PDF reports summarised into neat bullet points.
But the process behind those numbers?
Think spreadsheets, whispered comps, and a suspicious amount of anecdotal evidence from “a mate at one of the agency firms.” The truth is that much of CRE’s market data is collated slowly, manually, and often selectively — more performance art than performance metrics. The data that is credible is often stale, usually at least a quarter old, and the industry is still expected to make decisions today based on backwards-looking insights.
It works.
Until it doesn’t.
AI Doesn’t Wait for PDF Reports
AI has now arrived on the scene, and it’s not playing by the same rules. It doesn’t care how long you’ve been in the game, how many desks you’ve walked, or how many breakfasts you've had with agents. It cares about data — all of it, and right now.
AI doesn’t wait for quarterly updates.
It reads planning applications, lease documents, agency listings, and company filings before you’ve finished your flat white.
It doesn’t just scrape data. It understands it.
Lease incentives
Capex
Dilapidations
Hybrid occupancy rates
It’s all extractable, modelable, and actionable. Suddenly, that hazy, delayed picture of the market becomes sharp and, more worryingly for some, transparent.
What CRE Still Can’t See
And here’s a perfect example: try getting any reliable market view on deals below 5,000 sq ft — you won’t find much.
Despite the fact that this sub-sector makes up a significant proportion of the actual demand across most major cities, it’s largely untracked and underreported.
Most aggregators don’t have full visibility, agent data is patchy at best, and the deals themselves are often wrapped up with little transparency on price, term, or incentive.
It’s a blind spot.
And yet, this is where some of the most meaningful shifts in occupier behaviour are happening — hybrid footprints, high-growth scale-ups, satellite offices, flex-conversions.
Information Asymmetry is Breaking Down
This is the real plot twist:
the industry has grown comfortable with information asymmetry.
Agents, landlords, and investors — people have built careers on knowing a bit more than the next person. But AI has no interest in playing favourites. If you feed it the right data (structured or not), it analyses it.
And the analysis might not suit the current hierarchy.
Gut Feel is No Match for Real-Time Insight
So, what’s the risk?
It’s not that AI will replace agents or asset managers — it won’t.
But it will replace those who rely on soft signals, gut feel, and out-of-date market commentary to make big decisions. It will make people uncomfortable, especially those who’ve been operating in the safe fog of “we’ve always done it this way.”
The Call to Action
Rethink or Fall Behind
And here’s the kicker: many senior leaders in CRE still view AI as something for “innovation teams” or exciting pitch decks — not something that will actively rewire how value is captured and how deals are made.
That, frankly, is short-sighted.
Because the firms who use AI on their own data, unlock real insights, and make faster, better calls will start to outpace those stuck with their heads in a backwards-looking report from last year.
The future isn’t quarterly. It’s continuous.
So unless CRE wants to be the next industry disrupted by outsiders who understand data better than the insiders understand property, it’s time for some tough conversations.
The technology is ready.
The question is:
Are we?
 | A guest post by
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