Drees & Sommer has unveiled key findings from recent regional market research1 in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. The study examines major digitalization trends, focusing on AI usage, and the overall perception of digitalization in the real estate and construction industries. In Poland, nearly 30 percent of real estate workers already use AI, with 38 percent of those utilizing it daily. Additionally, 60 percent of real estate and construction professionals across all three markets expressed a strong desire to learn how to use AI in their workplace, indicating a high motivation to develop digital skills within this sector.
“Compared to the broader CEE region, Polish workers in the real estate sector are the most active AI users with the highest daily usage rates. This trend is expected to continue, thanks to the high level of motivation to learn and advance in this area. On the other hand, Poland also has a higher percentage of workers who do not trust AI (around 17 percent), highlighting the importance of data verification in our market,” commented Jan Grymin, Divisional Director/Proxy of Drees & Sommer Polska.
Barriers to AI adoption: insufficient overview of available tools, lack of time and training
A total of 30 percent of Polish workers reported actively using AI, mostly on a daily or weekly basis (both 38 percent), which is a higher rate than in the Czech Republic and Hungary. The most active users are those under 30 years old (40 percent) and senior and top management. Among Czech workers, around 27 percent are active AI users, with more than half using AI only weekly. Hungary lags slightly behind with 22 percent of active AI users.
Polish workers cited the main barriers to AI adoption as an insufficient overview of the available tools and solutions suitable for their work and company (26 percent), followed by inadequate training provided by the company (18 percent), lack of trust (17 percent), and lack of time (14 percent). In Hungary, distrust of AI is similar (15 percent), but in the Czech Republic, it is lower, at 9 percent. On the positive side, only 6 percent of workers across all three countries stated that they did not understand AI, and only 4 percent reported poor experiences with it.
Current and future AI applications: from reporting, data collection and analysis to improved planning and enhanced automation
Polish real estate workers primarily use AI for reporting (35 percent), document management and planning (32 percent), analyzing large amounts of data and automating processes (25 percent), data collection, and site analysis (23 percent). Other uses include developing new products and services and reducing operating costs (both 14 percent), intelligent space design, valuation and finances (both 11 percent), and building administration and accounting (9 percent). Hungary leads in data collection, with over 50 percent of workers using AI for this purpose, which is also the most common AI activity for Czech workers.
Looking ahead, Polish workers, given the right support, wish to use AI mainly for improved data collection (32 percent), planning, document management, and reporting (all 27 percent), followed by process automation (21 percent). Other future applications include improving the analysis of large amounts of data (19 percent), site analysis, reducing operational costs, developing new products and services, valuation and finance (all 12 percent), intelligent space design and energy efficiency (both 9 percent), and building administration (7 percent).
The Drees & Sommer Innovation Center has successfully established an AI strategy with several different AI task forces and AI stakeholders to assist companies worldwide, including those in the CEE region, with AI applications. This process begins with an AI Readiness Assessment to evaluate the AI maturity level of a company and aims to accelerate its future development. “Internally, we run regular company-wide Prompting Trainings, AI Learning Nuggets and AI Ideathons, and our latest development is Dreso.AI – a platform that integrates different AI agents and AI assistants,” explained Hanna Huber, Leader of Innovation Management at Drees & Sommer.
Polish workers are not well informed about AI promotion activities within their company
Over 50 percent of Polish real estate workers stated that their company either does not promote AI activities or does not inform its staff about them. The most common method for Polish companies to promote AI innovations is through participation in industry-specific events (14 percent), followed by employee training, establishing incentive systems for innovative ideas and projects, and cooperating with external research organizations and start-ups (all 11 percent). Cooperation with start-ups is more common in Poland than in the other two countries. Czech workers are even less informed about their company’s AI initiatives (60 percent). On the other hand, in Hungary, workers in this sector receive better training support (15 percent).
Besides AI, Poles frequently use document management software, cloud computing and business intelligence tools
A total of 43 percent of respondents across all three markets use other digital tools alongside AI. In Poland, the most-used digital tools after AI are document management software (16 percent), cloud computing (10 percent), project management software, and business intelligence tools (9 percent). In Hungary, nearly 30 percent of workers use cloud computing, while in the Czech Republic, the Internet of Things is increasingly significant (10 percent).
“With the rise of AI, it is becoming even more apparent that the magic happens at the intersection between different technologies. But it’s not only about the convergence of the technologies but also the enhancement in development speed – each technology fuels the others’ growth,” added Hanna Huber.
Poles are the most positive about the level of digitalization in real estate and construction
Poles are the most positive about the level of digitalization in the real estate and construction sector. Around 40 percent rated the level as good, 17 percent as very good, and 26 percent as sufficient. Only 13 percent of Polish workers think the level of digitalization is poor, and 2 percent view it as critical. Czechs are least positive in this regard, with 27 percent indicating the level of digitalization in this sector as poor and 5 percent as critical, while 41 percent think the level is good or very good and 25 percent sufficient. In Hungary, over 46 percent consider the level of digitalization to be good or very good, 26 percent as sufficient, and 20 percent see it as poor.
Digitalization: the biggest challenge is the lack of digital skills among employees, while the greatest opportunity lies in overall increased efficiency
The primary challenges across all three markets are a lack of digital skills among employees (44 percent), insufficient investment in digital tools, systems, and processes (35 percent), lack of awareness of the benefits and opportunities of digitalization (34 percent), data security and protection concerns (30 percent), and insufficient leadership from company management to promote digitalization (21 percent).
In Poland, the biggest opportunities provided by digitalization are seen as increased efficiency and reduced operational costs (57 percent), improved service quality (44 percent), increased transparency through digital documents (35 percent), process optimization (30 percent), and enhanced employer attractiveness for young professionals (20 percent). In the Czech Republic, process optimization is viewed as a bigger advantage of digitalization, while in Hungary, workers are more convinced about the potential for improved service quality.
