AI in the built environment: FOMO not fear

How the sector can build confidence, improve digital literacy, and adopt AI to unlock its greatest asset – people.

"…it's not AI that's going to take your job, it's the people who know how to use AI that will take your job". A word of warning from Nathan Reid, founder of tech startup Morero Construction Change and project manager at leading developer Urban&Civic. Nathan joined Anna Aldous, real estate lawyer at Mills & Reeve, to discuss all things proptech and AI on our podcast Built environment brief. Their conversation captures the tension running through our sector: the tools are ready but are our people?

AI literacy and inclusive adoption

If Nathan’s statement sends a chill down your spine, then you’re not alone. Leadership teams are grappling with the gap between ambition and capability. Salesforce research shows that one of the biggest hurdles for today’s leaders is the AI literacy of their workforce. With only 8% of senior employees holding strong AI knowledge, it’s easy to see why we’re worried about being outpaced by digitally savvy colleagues. In the built environment, this shift is already happening – Arup’s survey reports that 80% of professionals use AI weekly and over a third use it daily. But like every sector, the built environment’s real strength is its people. The challenge now is helping them swap fear for FOMO and to feel confident using AI.

Start small, early wins, scale what works

When you’re building confidence, small, repeatable wins beat grand unveilings, Nathan Reid advises. Think about repetitive task that can be automated. Whether that’s agents producing standard documents such as heads of terms, lettings reports or even legal precedent documents. At Mills & Reeve, a third of our real estate practice voluntarily signed on for a daily e-mail programme over seven weeks developed in-house to increase awareness of and confidence in using Copilot. This provided a mix of work and personal uses of GenAI tools to help understand prompting and reduce barriers to use.

Be brave and trial pilot technology platforms. We’ve ramped up our use of Avail over the last three years and it is now embedded across our built environment practice. Bitesize personal style training resulted in 50% increase in usage in 2025 and we reviewed over 4,100 titles using Avail in 2025.

Equally important is how we interpret so‑called “failed” pilots. Learning fast and moving on is a feature, not a bug. Our approach to trialling new technology should be to embrace change, learn quickly from each attempt, and move on when something isn’t right. In a fast moving space where most AI pilots won’t succeed, acknowledging this early helps teams stay confident and keep improving.

Make inclusion a design requirement, not an afterthought

The government recognise that tech poverty is an economic issue, particular amongst women, and have found the UK is suffering an annual loss of between £2bn and £3.5bn because of women leaving the tech sector. A Women in Tech Taskforce has been launched to help remove these barriers. We’re supporting this ambition by investing in capability and community through initiatives such as Inspiring Women in Tech, which provides resources, support and a strong network to empower women both within the firm and across the industry.

Campaigns, upskilling programmes and Generation Z “superusers” can help build confidence across the workforce – supported by practical initiatives such as AI focused professional development plans, prompt writing challenges and internal AI champions.

As we enter what many describe as the next industrial revolution, a significant challenge remains: fewer than half of people feel confident using AI at work. Strengthening digital literacy is key to closing this gap and AI capability isn’t just a skills issue but a retention one – especially for women, who are disproportionately affected when confidence gaps widen.

Strong governance and cyber security: The Foundation

As AI becomes more integrated into daily work, strong governance and cyber security are essential. Many organisations in the built environment are still catching up, with only around a quarter currently have a formal AI policy in place, leaving gaps in oversight and risk management. At the same time, a key concern is how tech companies handle data. By implementing governance (clear user guidelines, data‑handling rules, human checks, and cyber security practices) we can safely unlock AI’s benefits while maintaining trust and protecting critical information.

Businesses that do not embrace AI and new technology will not survive the next decade. The winners will be those who act now to build trustworthy systems, inclusive teams and practical skills. For those willing to embrace change, invest in their people, and experiment with purpose, AI isn’t a threat to survive, but an opportunity to lead, helping organisations lean into opportunity with a sense of FOMO, not fear.

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