Agents, don’t be afraid of AI, advises technology expert Matt Britton – the more you use it to complete busy tasks, the more time you have to spend with customers.
Key points:
- The real estate industry is lagging behind in adopting AI for automated tasks – but change is coming quickly, according to AI expert Matt Britton.
- Agents who can set up their own AI workflows can spend more time building relationships with customers, he explained at a recent conference.
- As AI handles more mundane tasks, creativity becomes the key to success.
The real estate industry is behind the times when it comes to leveraging automation and freeing agents from time-consuming paperwork. However, this delay means there are opportunities for creative real estate professionals embracing new technology offerings to stand out from the crowd.
This is one of the messages that artificial intelligence expert Matt Britton shared at NAR NXT 2025 in November. Due to the rapid pace of AI development, many in the industry are at risk of falling behind, explained consumer insights platform founder and CEO Suzy.
The long-term impact of AI on the industry
The debate over private listings and persistently high mortgage rates may be grabbing headlines, but it's the technological changes in the back office – like AI's ability to help with social media posts and review documents for a transaction – that will make a difference for many real estate teams and offices in the coming year.
“This is moving so quickly that the work you do in the next 90 to 120 days will impact the next 10 years of your career,” Britton told an audience of more than 2,000 NAR members on Nov. 14.
While this causes anxiety for many who fear losing their jobs, Britton sees the upcoming changes as a positive for creative agents looking to reduce their hustle and spend more time with clients.
“That human trust and that human connection when you make the most important financial decision of your life is something that I don't think will ever go away,” Britton said, adding that agents currently don't spend enough time doing the things that make them uniquely human.
How AI can help agents
Britton predicts that automation in real estate is advancing faster than most expected – and that the industry's tipping point is now.
In this initial phase of AI adoption, most people are using the new technology as a tool to answer questions. The next step will be automation, as agents develop their own large language models for handling workflows – something that is already evident in other industries and is driving significant changes in the job market as companies like Amazon announce layoffs.
In the real estate sector, Britton assumes that “AI agents” will be used in the automation phase. These tools have the autonomy to make low-level decisions, such as whether a person who signs up for a real estate newsletter is someone an agent should meet with.
Change the work mentality
For some agents, the introduction of AI will change the way they view work. For example, Britton used AI to create a country music video in which he sings about the ins and outs of a standard home listing. Once the structure was in place, all he had to do was set the parameters for the AI.
AI can also help agents figure out what loan size a customer can get approved for and can create personalized emails for home buyers based on their must-have and nice-to-have lists. The most exciting thing about AI is that it will be accessible to everyone – not just techies.
“You don’t have to be an expert to do something great,” Britton said. “You just need to figure out what the most important problems are that you want to solve in your life and career.”