Artificial intelligence is not only redrawing the contours of global business but also reshaping bricks and mortar.
Demand for AI-skilled workers across the United States and Canada has surged, with the talent pool swelling by more than 50% between mid-2024 and mid-2025 to over half a million people, according to CBRE’s analysis of LinkedIn data.
CBRE – the world’s largest commercial real-estate services and investment firm, headquartered in Dallas and operating in more than 100 countries – tracks how technology shifts labour and property markets. Its Tech Insights Center and annual Scoring Tech Talent report are widely seen as bellwethers for investors, policy-makers and developers.
“New York added the biggest absolute number of AI workers last year – 20,000”
Unsurprisingly, the greatest concentrations of AI talent are in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Seattle, Toronto and Washington, D.C. Together, the three largest hubs hold over a third of the total.
New York added the biggest absolute number of AI workers last year – 20,000 – while Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas–Fort Worth, Toronto and Washington each posted annual gains of 75% or more. Much of this expansion reflects existing staff reskilling to meet new demand, though new entrants are also swelling the ranks.
The migration of AI talent is fuelling demand across property sectors. Unlike other areas of technology, which have embraced remote work, AI remains rooted in physical office space. Early-stage innovation requires collaboration, boosting leasing volumes.
“In the first half of 2025, technology firms accounted for 17% of U.S. office leasing, up from 10% in late 2022”
In the first half of 2025, technology firms accounted for 17% of U.S. office leasing, up from 10% in late 2022. In San Francisco, AI companies have absorbed a quarter of all office space leased in the past two and a half years.Residential markets are also feeling the squeeze.
Between 2021 and 2024 rents rose by more than 14% in Manhattan, 12% in Washington, 7% in Seattle and nearly 6% in San Francisco. Elevated AI salaries, however, help retain affordability: in Manhattan, workers spend around 29% of income on rent, while in San Francisco and Washington the ratio is nearer 19%.
The FIRE sectors – finance, insurance and real estate – are adding fuel. As fintech competition intensifies, Wall Street and its peers are hiring AI talent aggressively, bolstering both office demand and residential inflows.
If AI continues on its current trajectory, the next great property cycle may be built not just on bricks and steel, but on algorithms.
