„The industry that has been largely technological is now facing the reality that it will have to embrace technology if it wants to be successful in the future,” says Raj Singh, Managing Partner of JLL Spark Global Ventures.

Speaking on a podcast, he mentions that business leaders "will have to retool their processes, and retooling will be painful. But the end result will be a much more economically efficient way of doing business.”

At the forefront of this is artificial intelligence (AI), which is already making its way into the pockets of the industry, such as extracting information from unstructured data in contracts and building codes.

OpenSpace, a computer vision and AI company, uses technology to provide individuals working on buildings with a complete visual record of the space.

Jeevan Kalanithi, CEO and Co-founder, gives this example during the show:

During a construction project, let's say the drywall is behind. It's 30% complete, but it should be 40%. The OpenSpace tool reports this in an objective, auditable way, without the need for someone to physically walk and check every assumption.

“It eases life and creates that layer of transparency,” he says.