In a recent article with GlobeSt titled, “2026 Will Be the Year of Innovation and Recovery,” Matthews™ Founder & CEO Kyle Matthews talks about how he sees AI transforming commercial real estate this year, and why has remains optimistic for investment activity moving through 2026.

 

2026 is the year of a rapid increase in AI adoption across all industries—but CRE may ‘win the spotlight’. Matthews has experienced firsthand the rate of AI adoption and he is showing a ‘way forward’ in many ways by embracing AI’s potential to transform the commercial real estate sectors, starting at Matthews™.

 

Despite the industry still being in the ‘experimentation phase’ with AI adoption, Matthews believe AI will become a prerequisite in the near future.

 

“We’re probably not too far off from AI becoming an invisible backbone that augments and powers a significant portion of what we do both on the ownership side and the brokerage side,” says Matthews. “We’re probably entering the nice-to-have phase and then at some point in the next 12 to 24 months, we will be in the need-to-have phase.”

 

Already ahead, Matthews™ view AI as a ‘necessary element of routine and daily workflows’. The firm leverages AI for a variety of purposes, from underwriting and lease abstracts to image and video generation. Recently, the company has used it for data management, including data cleaning and reconciliation.

 

“We’re taking a multi-pronged approach, and we are laying the foundation internally to hyper-tune models for strategic areas that we hope to dominate in,” he explains.

 

It is likely that AI adoption will coincide with a market recovery. Matthews notes the MBA originations index is up year-over-year, meanwhile the 10-year will likely fall below 4% more consistently this year. The industrial, retail, and hospitality sectors have also posted healthy activity, pointing towards signs of better economic performance.

 

This will potentially aid brokers who persevered, or who are just starting out.

 

“Professionals really got hurt by the sluggish market over the last 36 months, and it led to some well-established teams maybe hanging up the cleats,” says Matthews. “There’s a wide-open opportunity for young developing talent in the space.”

 

Matthews also notes the industry is improving every year, with 2025 improving over 2024, and 2026 will improve over 2025. “In these troughs in commercial real estate, there’s never a siren that goes off that says all clear, it’s time to come back and invest,” says Matthews.

 

“The recovery truly has started,” says Matthews. “The future is bright.”

 

Click here to read the full article and gain more insights from Matthews™ Founder & CEO, regarding future performance of each CRE sector and how AI will play its part.