Polish Real Estate and Construction Sector: AI Adoption Reaches 30% Among Workers
Reporting, data collection, and site analysis is the present; the future lies in planning, automation, and large data analysis
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Warsaw (ots)
Drees & Sommer, a global consulting company providing a single source of consultation and implementation services for the real estate industry and infrastructure, has unveiled key findings from recent regional market research(1) in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. The study examines major digitalization trends, focusing on AI usage, and the overall perception of digitalization in the real estate and construction industries.In Poland, nearly 30% of real estate workers already use AI, with 38% of those utilizing it daily. Additionally, 60% of real-estate and construction professionals across all three markets expressed a strong desire to learn how to use AI in their workplace, indicating a high motivation to develop digital skills within this sector.
“Compared to the broader CEE region, Polish workers in the real estate sector are the most active AI users with the highest daily usage rates. This trend is expected to continue, thanks to the high level of motivation to learn and advance in this area. On the other hand, Poland also has a higher percentage of workers who do not trust AI (around 17%), highlighting the importance of data verification in our market,”commented Jan Grymin, Divisional Director/Proxy of Drees & Sommer Polska.
Barriers to AI adoption: insufficient overview of available tools, lack of time and training
A total of 30% of Polish workers reported actively using AI, mostly on a daily or weekly basis (both 38%), which is a higher rate than in the Czech Republic and Hungary. The most active users are those under 30 years old (40%) and senior and top management. Among Czech workers, around 27% are active AI users, with more than half using AI only on a weekly basis. Hungary lags slightly behind with 22% of active AI users.
Polish workers cited the main barriers to AI adoption as an insufficient overview of the available tools and solutions suitable for their work and company (26%), followed by inadequate training provided by the company (18%), lack of trust (17%), and lack of time (14%). In Hungary, distrust of AI is similar (15%), but in the Czech Republic, it is lower, at 9%. On the positive side, only 6% of workers across all three countries stated that they did not understand AI, and only 4% reported poor experiences with it.
Current and future AI applications: from reporting, data collection and analysis to improved planning and enhanced automation
Polish real estate workers primarily use AI for reporting (35%), document management and planning (32%), analyzing large amounts of data and automating processes (25%), data collection, and site analysis (both 23%). Other uses include developing new products and services and reducing operating costs (both 14%), intelligent space design, valuation and finances (both 11%), and building administration and accounting (9%). Hungary leads in data collection, with over 50% of workers using AI for this purpose, which is also the most common AI activity for Czech workers.
Looking ahead, Polish workers, given the right support, wish to use AI mainly for improved data collection (32%), planning, document management, and reporting (all 27%), followed by process automation (21%). Other future applications include improving the analysis of large amounts of data (19%), site analysis, reducing operational costs, developing new products and services, valuation and finance (all 12%), intelligent space design and energy efficiency (both 9%), and building administration (7%).
The Drees & Sommer Innovation Center has successfully established an AI strategy with several different AI task forces and AI stakeholders to assist companies worldwide, including those in the CEE region, with AI applications. This process begins with an AI Readiness Assessment to evaluate the AI maturity level of a company, and aims to accelerate their future development. “Internally, we run regular company-wide Prompting Trainings, AI Learning Nuggets and AI Ideathons, and our latest development is Dreso.AI – a platform that integrates different AI agents and AI assistants,” explained Hanna Huber, Leader of Innovation Management at Drees & Sommer.
Polish workers are not well informed about AI promotion activities within their company
Over 50% of Polish real estate workers stated that their company either does not promote AI activities, or does not inform its staff about them. The most common method for Polish companies to promote AI innovations is through participation in industry-specific events (14%), followed by employee training, establishing incentive systems for innovative ideas and projects, and cooperating with external research organizations and start-ups (all 11%). Cooperation with start-ups is more common in Poland than in the other two countries. Czech workers are even less informed about their company’s AI initiatives (60%). On the other hand, in Hungary, workers in this sector receive better training support (15%).
Besides AI, Poles frequently use document management software, cloud computing and business intelligence tools
A total of 43% of respondents across all three markets use other digital tools alongside AI. In Poland, the most-used digital tools after AI are document management software (16%), cloud computing (10%), project management software, and business intelligence tools (9%). In Hungary, nearly 30% of workers use cloud computing, while in the Czech Republic, the Internet of Things is increasingly significant (10%).
“With the rise of AI, it is becoming even more apparent that the magic happens at the intersection between different technologies. But it’s not only about the convergence of the technologies but also the enhancement in development speed – each technology fuels the others' growth,” added Hanna Huber.
Poles are the most positive about the level of digitalization in real estate and construction
Poles are the most positive about the level of digitalization in the real estate and construction sector. Around 40% rated the level as good, 17% as very good, and 26% as sufficient. Only 13% of Polish workers think the level of digitalization is poor, and 2% view it as critical. Czechs are least positive in this regard, with 27% indicating the level of digitalization in this sector as poor and 5% as critical, while 41% think the level is good or very good and 25% sufficient. In Hungary, over 46% consider the level of digitalization to be good or very good, 26% as sufficient, and 20% see it as poor.
Digitalization: the biggest challenge is the lack of digital skills among employees, while the greatest opportunity lies in overall increased efficiency
The primary challenges across all three markets are: a lack of digital skills among employees (44%), insufficient investment in digital tools, systems, and processes (35%), lack of awareness of the benefits and opportunities of digitalization (34%), data security and protection concerns (30%), and insufficient leadership from company management to promote digitalization (21%).
In Poland, the biggest opportunities provided by digitalization are seen as increased efficiency and reduced operational costs (57%), improved service quality (44%), increased transparency through digital documents (35%), process optimization (30%), and enhanced employer attractiveness for young professionals (20%). In the Czech Republic, process optimization is viewed as a bigger advantage of digitalization, while in Hungary, workers are more convinced about the potential for improved service quality.
Download the full report: Digital Transformation in the Construction and Real Estate Industry: A Central European Perspective
1) The market research was conducted by the agency STEM/MARK in August and September 2024 in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The representative sample included 313 respondents from each market (939 in total) actively working in the real estate and construction sector across various positions and job statuses, reflecting the percentage representation of these workers in the labor market.
Drees & Sommer: Uniting opposites to create a world we want to live in.
Drees & Sommer is a partner-managed, global consulting company providing a single source of consultation and implementation services for the real estate, infrastructure and industrial markets. The company delivers sustainable, innovative, and economically viable solutions that meet each client’s unique needs. Founded in 1970 and long recognized as a pioneer in driving sustainability and digitalization, today Drees & Sommer employs more than 6,000 people at 63 offices. The company’s interdisciplinary teams are involved in around 6,500 projects worldwide, working to create a livable future and unite concepts which can at face value appear to be opposites: tradition and future, economy and ecology, analog and digital, efficiency and well-being. As ‘intrapreneurs’, the Drees & Sommer Partners are personally responsible for managing the company. www.dreso.com/pl
Contact for media:
Tereza Procházková
Drees & Sommer
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Email: tereza.prochazkova@dreso.com
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