In the AI era, what about commercial real estate?

ChatGPT, Gemini, NotebookLM… in just a few years, artificial intelligences that write reports, analyze data, generate hyper-realistic images and even music have gone from trend to everyday tools in companies. But what about commercial real estate, one of the most traditional sectors of the economy — how will it be impacted by this transformation?

According to Daniel Grossi, co-founder of Liga Venture, the answer lies in the very essence of the sector. “Real estate has always been data-driven — from credit decisions to site selection and space optimization — which makes it fertile ground for AI. Since 2022, we’ve seen a sharp increase in AI-native startups, born with this technology at the core, along with traditional companies that already had large volumes of data and started adopting solutions. This has attracted new investment rounds into the sector.”

Grossi points out, however, that the industry took longer than others to embrace digitalization, but the outlook started to shift in recent years. “Digitalization was initially limited to [residential] listing platforms, almost a copy of the classifieds. Today, it covers the entire journey — from financing to lead generation. Artificial intelligence, especially generative AI, tends to be more accessible, simpler, and cheaper. More than a technical barrier, the delay came from market inertia, which now shows clear signs of change.”

Practical applications are already diverse, he adds: “From credit analysis and predictive maintenance integrated with IoT, to demand forecasting, feasibility analysis, land and property pricing, site selection, and customer journey personalization. We also see AI being used in customer service and lead generation, which increases competitiveness among industry players.”

This last front is precisely the focus of Lastro, a startup that created Lais AI, a virtual assistant for WhatsApp customer service. Co-founder José Thomaz Pereira explains: “When a lead comes in, we usually only have a name and phone number. We don’t know if the person is ready to close a deal or just looking for initial information. Lais was created to be this ‘digital employee,’ capable of providing first-contact service 24/7, instantly and indistinguishable from a human.”