What did the new CoreNet Global and Colliers report find about AI in corporate real estate? The CoreNet Global and Colliers report published May 11, 2026 is a joint global survey of more than 1,000 corporate real estate professionals across North America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific that found 51 percent globally name artificial intelligence and automation as the single most significant force reshaping CRE over the next 3 to 5 years. The finding signals that AI has officially overtaken hybrid work, sustainability, and capital markets shifts as the dominant force in corporate occupier strategy, with material implications for asset valuations, leasing strategy, and proptech investment for CRE investors. For broader context on AI's impact across CRE asset classes, see our pillar guide on best AI tools for CRE investors.
Key Takeaways
- 51 percent of more than 1,000 corporate real estate professionals globally rank AI and automation as the top force reshaping CRE over the next 3 to 5 years.
- The survey reflects responses from 154 EMEA, 677 North America, and 171 Asia Pacific professionals across CRE strategy, facilities, technology, and portfolio roles.
- Only 35 percent of North American respondents say their organizations are already implementing innovations at scale across key areas of operation.
- Financial constraints (39 percent), time and focus (35 percent), and resistance to change (33 percent) are the top barriers to AI adoption in North American CRE.
- For CRE investors, the result means tenant demand profiles are shifting toward AI ready space and away from organizations slow to adapt, creating clear winners and losers.
What the CoreNet Global and Colliers Survey Measured
CoreNet Global, the international association of corporate real estate professionals, partnered with Colliers to capture real time sentiment at three regional summits held between September 2025 and March 2026. Responses were crowdsourced from more than 1,000 industry professionals: 154 from EMEA, 677 from North America, and 171 from Asia Pacific. The respondent base spans portfolio managers, facilities directors, real estate strategists, and technology leaders.
The report frames CRE as being "at an inflection point" where workforce, technology, and innovation strategies are converging. The headline finding: globally, 51 percent of respondents named AI and automation as the most significant force impacting CRE over the next 3 to 5 years, leapfrogging sustainability, hybrid work, and capital markets shifts that had dominated earlier surveys.
Why "AI as Top Driver" Matters for CRE Investors
For CRE investors, the survey is more than a sentiment marker. It signals an underlying shift in occupier behavior that translates directly into demand patterns and lease economics.
- Class A office bifurcation accelerates: Occupiers leading on AI adoption are concentrating in flexible, technology forward space, accelerating the bifurcation Cushman & Wakefield projected in its May 2026 report on AI's 12 percent uplift to CRE demand.
- Tenant credit profiles will diverge: Organizations that capture AI productivity gains will outperform their slower peers, widening the credit spread between tenants. Underwriting tenant strength now requires assessing AI readiness.
- Build to suit and capex demand shifts: AI ready buildings need denser power, more advanced cooling, and richer connectivity. Owners of older Class B and Class C buildings face an additional layer of obsolescence risk.
- Proptech adoption is finally an investor metric: The survey reinforces that AI readiness inside the operator (rather than just the tenant) drives net operating income through better leasing velocity, lower vacancy, and faster decisions.
Innovation Readiness: A Generational Gap
The CoreNet and Colliers survey paints an uneven readiness picture. Roughly half of all respondents in every region (51 percent EMEA, 48 percent North America, 49 percent Asia Pacific) describe themselves as "somewhat ready" to innovate. That is functionally a code word for "we have a strategy on paper but limited execution."
For North American respondents specifically, the breakdown was:
- 47 percent say their organization is "somewhat prepared" to scale technology.
- 35 percent say they are prepared and already implementing innovations.
- 15 percent report they are in early stages with planning underway.
- 3 percent state there is no clear strategy or resourcing in place.
Only one in three North American CRE organizations is genuinely operationalizing AI at scale today. For investors, that means there is meaningful alpha available to firms that move from "strategy" to "implementation" in 2026.
The Barriers Are Mostly Internal
The report's findings on adoption barriers are particularly relevant for CRE investors evaluating proptech investments or operating partner selection. North American respondents cited:
- Financial and budgetary constraints (39 percent): Capital is the most cited blocker, suggesting that firms with strong balance sheets have an outsized window of opportunity.
- Time and focus on solutions (35 percent): Even firms with budget often lack bandwidth to evaluate and deploy AI tools.
- Resistance to change (33 percent): Cultural lag is meaningful and harder to fix with money.
- Legacy systems and infrastructure (28 percent): The Yardi, RealPage, AppFolio, and CoStar ecosystems remain integration challenges for new AI layers.
Notably, regulatory uncertainty and data security concerns did not rank in the top barriers, contradicting the common assumption that compliance is the main brake on AI adoption in CRE.
How This Survey Fits With Other May 2026 Data Points
The CoreNet and Colliers finding does not stand alone. It corroborates a series of May 2026 data points pointing to AI as the dominant force in CRE:
- Cushman & Wakefield (May 8, 2026): Forecast that AI will add 330 million square feet of CRE demand by 2035, a 12.2 percent uplift to baseline net absorption.
- Gallup Q1 2026 (May 11, 2026): Found 50 percent of US workers now use AI at work, with daily users at 13 percent, up from 21 percent total in 2023.
- JLL 2026 Data Center Outlook: Projected $1.2 trillion in real estate asset value creation from data center capacity coming online between 2026 and 2030.
- Cloudflare layoffs (May 7, 2026): 1,100 employees (20 percent of workforce) cut in agentic AI driven restructuring, signaling office demand pressure.
Each data point is consistent with the CoreNet finding that AI has crossed the threshold from "interesting trend" to "primary force" in corporate real estate.
What CRE Investors Should Do Differently in May 2026
The practical implications of the CoreNet and Colliers survey for CRE investors and operating partners are concrete:
- Add an AI readiness dimension to tenant credit underwriting. A tenant's AI adoption posture is now a forward indicator of revenue durability.
- Prioritize Class A space in tech and AI talent hubs. The report explicitly names the UK, San Francisco Bay Area, Singapore, and India as the leading innovation hubs.
- Audit operating partner AI maturity. The 35 percent of organizations actually implementing AI today are pulling ahead. Investors should know where their general partners sit on this curve.
- Re-evaluate older Class B and Class C office assets. Obsolescence risk has accelerated. The capital expenditure needed to make a building AI ready (power, cooling, connectivity) often exceeds the recoverable rent uplift.
- Watch industrial and data center demand. The corporate occupier shift toward AI is creating downstream demand for industrial automation and data center capacity that benefits adjacent CRE asset classes.
For CRE investors and operating partners ready to translate this survey into specific portfolio decisions, The AI Consulting Network specializes in connecting AI adoption trends to underwriting, tenant strategy, and operating workflows.
Expert Commentary
Two quotes from the report capture what is changing. Sonali Tare, VP of Strategic Content at CoreNet Global, framed the shift bluntly: "Corporate real estate is no longer operating at the edges of business transformation; it is at the center of it. What this research makes clear is that the organizations that will lead next are those that can translate AI, data, and workforce insights into integrated, enterprise level decisions."
Andrew Hallissey, CEO of Global Occupier Services at Colliers, added the operator angle: "Our teams are seeing firsthand how AI can unlock opportunities, from enhancing data intelligence to reimagining workplace and portfolio strategy."
For the full survey, including regional breakdowns and barrier analysis, see Colliers' Corporate Real Estate at an Inflection Point report.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does it mean that 51 percent of CRE pros named AI as the top driver of change?
A: It means AI has overtaken hybrid work, sustainability, and capital markets as the dominant force corporate real estate professionals see reshaping the industry over the next 3 to 5 years. It is the strongest single signal yet that AI is now the central CRE story for investors.
Q: How does this CoreNet survey compare to other 2026 AI reports?
A: The finding aligns with Cushman & Wakefield's May 2026 forecast of 330 million square feet of AI driven CRE demand and Gallup's May 11 finding that 50 percent of US workers now use AI at work. Together they triangulate AI as the dominant 2026 CRE story.
Q: Which CRE asset classes benefit most from this AI shift?
A: According to Cushman & Wakefield's parallel work, industrial leads with 298 million square feet of incremental demand, followed by office (24 million square feet), multifamily (94,400 units), and retail (6.7 million square feet). Data centers benefit separately through the infrastructure layer.
Q: What should CRE investors do with this survey data this quarter?
A: Add AI readiness to tenant credit underwriting, audit general partner and operating partner AI maturity, evaluate Class B and Class C office obsolescence risk, and increase exposure to AI talent hubs (UK, San Francisco Bay Area, Singapore, India). The 35 percent of organizations implementing AI today are creating divergence that will compound over the next 3 to 5 years.
Q: Is AI adoption uniform across regions in the CRE industry?
A: No. The survey shows roughly comparable "somewhat ready" levels across regions (51 percent EMEA, 48 percent North America, 49 percent Asia Pacific), but tech hubs within each region lead substantially. The UK, San Francisco Bay Area, Singapore, and India were cited as the global innovation centers.