JLL Finds AI Will Transform Rather Than Replace Jobs

New study from JLL finds that a majority of senior business leaders expect their workforces to grow (60%), not shrink (40%) – similarly, most expect AI to reinvent human roles (60%), rather than replace them (40%). JLL's 2026 Future of Work Survey finds this picture is more pronounced among the most AI-advanced organizations, which are utilizing technology as a workforce augmenter and focusing on strategic expansion— even though they recognize it will not be uniform and some jobs will still be cut. Hence, more than others, they lean toward hiring full-time employees, investing in entry-level talent and actively redesigning roles to be enhanced by AI rather than eliminated.

The 2026 survey found that despite 78% of respondents expecting AI to drive significant changes to their real estate portfolio strategy, only 31% are actively preparing to redesign spaces for human-AI collaboration and just 15% have reached the optimizing stage of AI adoption. The gap between what organizations believe and what they are doing defines the central challenge of the moment and it is being driven by critical tensions in terms of execution decisions, capabilities and budget constraints.

An Execution Barrier
While AI is generally expected to enhance human roles according to JLL's survey, most organizations are still examining the impacts on their organization, which leaves them in early stages of adoption. A small pool of respondents (15%) is in the optimization phase, moving beyond the pilot and scaling phases to actively prepare for the redesign of roles and places of work. However, the majority are in the monitoring and analysis stages, with 46% focused on tracking AI trends and 40% analyzing potential impacts on their CRE function. These CRE leaders are depending on workforce decisions as it relates to AI adoption in order to define their organizations' space transformations, creating a holding pattern that prevents forward progress.

"The public conversation around AI has been dominated by its impact on jobs and our research reveals that most companies are focused on the opportunities that come with AI," said Neil Murray, CEO of Real Estate Management Services at JLL. "Most forward-thinking leaders aren't just buying technology; they are investing in their people. They are pursuing a strategy of human-machine enhancement to create additional roles, boost productivity and drive sustainable growth."

The Capability Concern
AI is also requiring new skills and expertise from CRE teams for them to make an impact on their organizations, with skills gaps in AI, analytics and emerging technologies (36%) being cited as the top barrier in doing so in the next three to five years. Limited change management expertise (26%), organizational silos (25%) and measurement challenges (23%) further compound the problem.

This creates a "technology dilemma" that reflects the vulnerabilities of an increasingly connected and AI-driven business environment. Organizations must invest in advanced technology to achieve productivity goals, which is seen as a core CRE key performance indicator (KPI), beyond traditional cost metrics, according to C-suite respondents (46%). However, three of the top four portfolio risks are technology-related — including cybersecurity and data privacy (47%), technology/AI disruption (41%) and uncertainty around AI's impact on space (40%), with economic volatility and budget pressures (43%) being the other top concerns. This layering of competing priorities requires new, adaptive strategies to navigate a landscape where challenges converge.

"We are seeing a fundamental shift in what defines a high-performing company. It's no longer just about market position, size and scale – it's about becoming an AI-powered enterprise with the adaptability and organizational readiness to transform effectively amid continuous disruption," said Peter Miscovich, Global Future of Work Leader at JLL. "Leading organizations are demonstrating deeper integration between real estate, HR and technology to support their business strategies. These companies leverage data-driven AI decision intelligence to reimagine their workplaces for greater human performance and to achieve superior business outcomes. This fully integrated approach is the new blueprint for building a resilient enterprise that can thrive amid continuous disruption."