Commercial real estate developers are navigating a unique moment in the market. While uncertainty remains around interest rates, capital availability, and the pace of recovery, many industry leaders are seeing signs of stabilization. According to Deloitte’s latest Commercial Real Estate Outlook, 83% of respondents expect revenue growth.
This cautious optimism offers leaders in commercial real estate a chance to think differently about technology investments, especially around artificial intelligence (AI) and financial automation. But enthusiasm for new technology alone does not guarantee results. The real question for developers is how to invest in technology in ways that provide clear value and strengthen financial operations both now and over the long term.
Why AI and Financial Automation Matter for Financial Operations
Periods of economic transition tend to reward organizations that can adapt quickly while maintaining strong operational discipline. For commercial real estate developers, projects involve significant capital, lengthy timelines, and complex supplier ecosystems. When market signals shift, finance teams need accurate data and efficient processes to support decision making and risk management.
AI and financial automation help provide that foundation. These technologies support more consistent and data-driven decision making across key workflows such as cash flow forecasting, supplier payment management, and financial reporting. When systems reduce manual effort and improve data accuracy, finance leaders can spend less time processing information and more time analyzing it. This leads to better performance monitoring and clearer insight into risk across portfolios.
As commercial activity rebounds unevenly across regions and property types, the ability to adjust quickly becomes a competitive advantage. Technology helps teams stay flexible, maintain visibility into financial obligations, and adapt processes without disruption. This flexibility is a core element of digital resilience.
Digital resilience refers to an organization’s ability to continue operating and pursuing growth while navigating uncertainty. It is not only a technology objective. It is an operational capability. Teams that streamline financial operations through automation and intelligent workflows are better positioned to respond to market changes and maintain momentum as conditions evolve.
The ROI Challenge Facing Many Financial Leaders
Despite increased interest in AI, many organizations struggle to demonstrate return on investment (ROI). In many cases, this challenge stems from unclear objectives rather than ineffective tools.
Before adopting any AI-enabled solution, commercial real estate developers should take time to define what success looks like.
⬇️ What successful AI adoption looks like in commercial real estate:
- Identifying clear key performance indicators (KPIs) before implementation helps ensure alignment across finance, operations, and leadership teams.
- Example KPIs: Reducing invoice processing time, improving payment accuracy, increasing visibility into spend, or strengthening supplier relationships.
- Ensuring teams understand how AI will support their work, not replace it, to encourage adoption and long-term value realization.
When KPIs are established early, organizations can evaluate technology investments against measurable outcomes. This also creates a framework for continuous improvement as systems are refined and adoption increases. Without this clarity, AI and automation initiatives risk becoming disconnected projects rather than integrated operational improvements.
AI Is Already Part of the Financial Technology Ecosystem
Another important reality for commercial real estate developers is that AI is already embedded within many financial platforms. Accounting systems, payments tools, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software continue to incorporate automation and intelligence into core functionality.
As a result, the question is no longer whether AI will influence financial operations, but how organizations will adopt and govern it intentionally. While companies cannot control the pace of innovation, they can control how new capabilities are integrated into existing workflows.
A proactive approach includes selecting solutions with clear roadmaps, transparent automation processes, and defined outcomes. This allows teams to build confidence in new technology without treating AI as an experiment or disruption. Instead, it becomes part of a broader strategy to improve financial workflows, enhance visibility, and reduce operational friction.
The Role of AP Automation in Building Financial Resilience
Accounts payable (AP) remains one of the most labor-intensive areas of financial operations for many commercial real estate developers. Managing invoices across multiple properties, handling exceptions, and coordinating supplier payments can consume significant time and resources.
AP automation helps address these challenges by introducing efficiency, visibility, and control into the process. Automated invoice capture reduces manual data entry. Approval workflows ensure invoices move through the organization efficiently. Integrated payment processing improves timing and accuracy while supporting compliance requirements.
Tangible benefits of AP automation in commercial real estate:
- Clearer visibility into cash flow and liabilities for finance teams
- Fewer errors and delays across invoicing and payment workflows
- More time for staff to focus on higher value activities such as analysis and planning
- Greater financial resilience over time, especially during periods of uncertainty
Choosing Stability and Partnership in Technology
The rapid expansion of AI has led to a crowded technology landscape, with many new solutions offering bold promises. While innovation is important, commercial real estate developers must carefully assess risk when selecting partners for critical financial workflows.
Financial systems that support accounting and payments must be reliable, secure, and compliant. Organizations with a long history in financial automation bring deep experience supporting complex operational environments and evolving regulatory requirements.
✅ Industry experience that supports confident adoption
AvidXchange™ brings more than 25 years of experience in the accounting and payments space, supporting organizations through multiple market cycles and technology shifts. This depth of industry knowledge helps teams evaluate new AI-enhanced solutions with a clear understanding of operational realities, not just emerging trends.
✅ Stability during periods of technology change
As AI capabilities continue to evolve, working with an established partner can provide consistency amid change. Long-standing platforms are designed to evolve over time, reducing the need for frequent migrations or disruptive system replacements as new functionality is introduced.
✅ Continuity that preserves institutional knowledge
Platform continuity helps organizations maintain consistent financial operations. By avoiding unnecessary system changes, teams are better able to retain institutional knowledge, maintain established workflows, and minimize disruption across finance and operations.
A Practical Path to AI ROI for Commercial Real Estate Developers
Maximizing AI ROI is not about adopting the newest technology available. It is about making informed decisions that align technology investments with business priorities and measurable outcomes.
📋 How to adopt AI in commercial real estate:
- 1. Define clear objectives and KPIs tied directly to financial performance, including efficiency, accuracy, and visibility.
- 2. Evaluate solutions that embed automation thoughtfully and transparently, ensuring AI supports existing workflows rather than complicating them.
- 3. Select partners that combine innovation with industry expertise to ensure new capabilities align with long-term operational goals.
➡️ Keep Reading: Top 5 Use Cases for AI in Real Estate for 2025
Through this proactive and disciplined approach, technology becomes a tool for strengthening financial operations, improving visibility, and supporting your teams as they navigate change. In a time of cautious optimism, financial automation solutions help commercial real estate developers build resilience while positioning their organizations for sustainable growth.
As the industry looks ahead, 2026 presents an opportunity to reset how financial success is measured and achieved. By investing in technology that supports clear KPIs, streamlines core processes, and strengthens digital resilience, commercial real estate developers can work more efficiently without adding complexity. Working smarter, not harder, allows finance teams to focus on insight, control, and long-term growth. With the right tools and partners in place, the coming year can be defined not by uncertainty, but by measurable progress and new opportunity.
➡️ Learn more about how to improve your real estate tech stack in 2026.
Important Notice: The information presented on this page is based on research and intended for educational purposes only. Anyone seeking to follow the information contained herein should consult their own advisors and conduct their own research prior to doing so. AvidXchange, Inc. and its affiliates disclaim any and all liability resulting from reliance on the information contained herein.