Artificial intelligence has stopped being that technology brokerages tested on the edges of their business and has become a central piece of the strategy for anyone looking to truly grow.
A recent survey from Delta Media Group showed something many people already felt but now have the numbers to prove: the importance of AI among brokerage leaders has grown by more than 30% since 2024. That is no small thing. What changed was not just how much these companies use the technology — it was how much leaders began to trust it to build the future of their businesses.
To put it in perspective, leaders rated the current importance of AI at 7.12 on a scale of 0 to 10 in 2026, compared to just 5.45 in 2024. And the expectation is that score will reach 8.25 within the next 12 to 18 months. The conversation moved away from curious experiments and landed squarely in the decisions that drive operations: CRM, process automation, recruiting, training, and much more. And the data backing this shift is very concrete. 📊
What the numbers are saying
The Delta Media Group survey leaves no room for vague interpretations. When more than 30% of brokerage leaders start viewing artificial intelligence as a core pillar of operations — and not just an interesting experiment — that signals a mindset shift that usually takes years to happen in more traditional industries. The real estate market, specifically, has always been known for resisting abrupt technological change. Seeing this acceleration happen in such a short time says a lot about the competitive pressure these companies are feeling day to day.
And it does not stop there: virtually all respondents, no less than 97%, said their agents are already using AI in some form. In other words, the technology is no longer the exception — it has become routine. As Michael Minard, CEO and owner of Delta Media Group, put it, the big story today is no longer whether real estate is using AI — that was already clear from the first survey conducted in 2024. What changed is how much leaders believe it has become important to their businesses.
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Another data point that stands out is the level of confidence executives are placing in these tools. Previously, AI would show up in meetings as a medium-term bet, something to test carefully before scaling. Now, it is being placed at the center of strategic decisions with a speed that surprises even those who follow the industry closely. According to Minard, AI is quickly moving from something brokerages use to something around which they are beginning to build their entire businesses.
And when leadership truly embraces a technology, the cascading effect within organizations is enormous. Teams that once resisted changing workflows start adapting more quickly because the strategic direction became clear. This accelerates adoption across every layer of the company, from the agent serving clients in the field to the manager analyzing team performance at the office. Strategy stops being a document on paper and becomes a daily practice powered by technology. 🚀
CRM and automation as the foundation of the new operation
If there are two areas where artificial intelligence is making the biggest impact inside brokerages, those areas are CRM and process automation. The numbers confirm it: more than half of the leaders surveyed, 55%, plan to adopt or expand the use of AI to improve CRM and automate workflows. And it makes perfect sense. The client relationship has always been the heart of real estate — and CRM is precisely the system that organizes, records, and amplifies that relationship.
When you inject AI into that equation, the ability to personalize communication, predict lead behavior, and identify the right moment to reach out grows exponentially. Agents stop working in the dark and start operating with quality information at their fingertips. Administrative and back-office automation follows close behind, cited by 53% of respondents. Repetitive tasks — sending follow-ups, updating records, categorizing leads, scheduling showings — start running on their own, without anyone needing to press a button.
This not only reduces the risk of human error but also ensures consistency in the process. A lead that enters the funnel at 11 PM on a Friday gets the same attention and response speed as a lead that comes in on a Monday morning. That consistency, at scale, is what separates an amateur operation from a professional one in today’s market.
It is worth highlighting how quickly this landscape changed. In 2024, only 23% of respondents expected to use AI for administrative support. In 2026, that number jumped to 53%. That same year in 2024, the focus was on digital marketing, cited by 73%, and social media, at 72%. What becomes clear when you look at the brokerages advancing the fastest is that they are not choosing between CRM and automation — they are integrating both within a unified strategy. 💡
Recruiting, training, and agentic AI on the radar
The application of artificial intelligence in brokerages does not stop at the client relationship. One of the areas getting the most attention is the use of AI in recruiting and training teams — 52% of leaders pointed to plans to adopt or expand the technology in these areas, including agent performance coaching. Finding great professionals has always been a challenge: the market is competitive, turnover is high, and the traditional hiring process tends to be slow and expensive.
With AI tools, it is possible to analyze resumes at scale, identify profiles with a higher likelihood of success in the role, and even simulate scenarios to evaluate behavioral competencies more objectively. In training, the transformation is even more visible. Platforms powered by artificial intelligence can pinpoint where each agent struggles — whether in the initial approach, negotiation, or closing — and deliver personalized content to develop exactly those skills.
Another standout from this edition of the survey was the debut of a new topic in the Delta Media three-year series: agentic AI. Half of respondents said they plan to adopt or expand the use of agentic tools, meaning systems capable of executing tasks on behalf of the user rather than simply generating content. As Minard observed, three years ago the conversation revolved around AI writing property descriptions. Today the discussion is completely different, with leaders looking at AI across virtually every area of their businesses.
The list of planned applications keeps going: business intelligence and predictive analytics came in at 49%, document summaries and contract review at 48%, market analysis and property valuation at 46%, and automated client communications at 45%. When you combine smarter recruiting, personalized training, and systems capable of acting on their own, the effect on the long-term strategy of brokerages is massive. 🏆
What this movement means for the industry
The advance of artificial intelligence within brokerages is not an isolated trend — it is part of a much larger movement of real estate digitization that was already underway but has now gained a layer of sophistication that changes the game for good. As Minard summarized, you can see AI moving from the edges of the brokerage toward the center. Marketing and content were natural starting points because the benefits were easy to spot. Now, leaders are looking at CRM workflows, administrative automation, forecasting, training, and even agentic AI — decisions that could change how the entire brokerage operates.
Automation combined with intelligent CRM creates a structure where operations flow more smoothly and where data generated from every interaction becomes fuel for better decisions. Instead of basing plans solely on intuition and accumulated experience — which still have value, of course — leaders get to work with real-time evidence. The risk of bad bets decreases, and the ability to adjust course quickly increases.
It is worth emphasizing the weight of the sample: the survey gathered more than 100 brokerage leaders representing companies responsible for over two-thirds of real estate transactions in the United States in 2025. In other words, we are not talking about random opinions but about the people who actually move the market. The challenge now, according to Minard, is figuring out where AI delivers real value, how all these capabilities work together, and how to implement them in a way that makes the brokerage better.
What the Delta Media Group survey ultimately reveals is that artificial intelligence is no longer optional for brokerages that want to stay relevant. Not because someone decreed it, but because the market has shown, in practice, that those who adopt it seriously and consistently come out ahead. And when the numbers confirm that perception with such a dramatic leap in leader confidence in such a short time, it is hard to argue there is room to wait a little longer before taking action. ⚡
The future of brokerages is being built right now, with data, automation, and artificial intelligence as the central pillars of a strategy that is already proving its value in the present.
