Man's Best (Digital) Friend: AI Adoption Is Like Getting a Dog

What if the biggest thing holding your AI strategy back isn't the technology - it's your willingness to take it for a walk?

I've had a good few conversations over the last month with senior CRE leaders who tell me they want to "do some AI." They say it with conviction, usually over coffee. And almost every time, I ask the same follow-up: "What does that look like for you in practice?" The answers trail off somewhere around "we've got a few licences" or "the team have been playing around with it."

Here's what's genuinely surprised me. There is a real gap between wanting AI and investing in AI. Not investing in the venture capital sense - investing in the time-and-attention sense. The willingness to sit with it, learn it, get frustrated by it, and come back the next morning to try again.There is an expectation that day 1 it should fit the organisation and be perfectly behaved.

It sounds cliche (because it is), but AI adoption - and I use the word adoption deliberately - is remarkably like getting a dog.

From the Shelter to the Sofa

Think about it. You can walk into a shelter tomorrow and pick up a young stray for next to nothing. You can sign up for a ChatGPT Pro subscription in about the same time. Both will follow you home. Both will sit in the corner looking at you expectantly. And both, if you're unwilling to put the hours in, are going to piss up the curtain.

A dog doesn't train itself. Neither does your AI. You wouldn't blame a rescue pup for chewing through your sofa if you'd left it alone all day without a walk. So why are we blaming AI tools for producing generic output when we've given them nothing to work with?

The adoption journey has all the same hallmarks. Done well, it brings genuine joy - it might even become your best friend (.... ooh, friend!) in a professional context. But it requires care, attention, regular walking, and yes, every now and then, you have to pick up shit. The question is whether you're committed enough to keep showing up.

Sorry, couldn't resist

An Unlikely Convert

I should confess something. I was never a dog person.

That changed when I spent time looking after eight dogs on a vineyard in the Chilean Andes (tough life). Feeding them on the veranda each morning, watching them tear through the vines, coming back dusty and pleased with themselves. Admittedly it was a softer introduction - I wasn't paying for their food and they could do their business amongst the Cabernet Sauvignon without anyone batting an eyelid. But the point stands. I changed. I became a dog person.

I was hardly tech-forward either, yet six years ago I founded a PropTech business that digitised commercial leasing. I'm piling on the analogy thick here, but old dogs can learn new tricks.

The parallel is real. You don't need to have been born into it. You need to be willing to start, to be a bit rubbish at it initially, and to stick with it long enough for the relationship to develop.

2019 simpler times, long before Ai had arrived

Five Basic Tricks to Start Life with Your AI Companion

So for those ready to bring your new digital companion home, here are five foundational habits that will stop it chewing through the furniture and start it earning its keep.

1. Build a Knowledge Base with Projects

Most AI platforms now let you create project spaces where you upload documents, data sets, and reference material that the model draws on. Think of this as giving your dog a familiar scent - the more context it has about your world, the better it performs.

2. Implement System Instructions by Role Prompting

Before you ask your AI to do anything, tell it who it is. "You are a senior commercial real estate advisor with 20 years of leasing experience in central London, who wants to provide candid advice to clients." This is basic obedience training - you're setting the boundaries of behaviour before you let it off the lead.

3. Provide Prompting Examples

Don't just tell your AI what you want - show it. Paste in two or three examples of the output you're after, whether that's a client email, a market commentary, or a deal summary. Dogs learn by watching. AI learns by example. Give it something to imitate and it'll get there faster.

4. Break Down Complex Tasks Iteratively

You wouldn't teach a puppy to do an agility course on day one. Start with "sit." Then "stay." Then build from there. The same applies here - break a complex brief into stages. Draft the structure first, then refine each section, then ask it to tighten the language. Walk before you run.

5. Enforce Output Validation (The Safety-First Check)

Never publish, send, or act on AI output without reviewing it. This is the equivalent of checking whether your dog has actually done its business before you let it back inside. Validate the facts, check the tone, make sure it hasn't hallucinated a comparable that doesn't exist. Trust, but verify.

Here boy!

Bringing It Home

Here's the thing. Most senior property professionals reading this are, by any reasonable measure, successful. Many of you have a nice place in the countryside with a proper garden and, more likely than not, a dog happily running around in it. You've already done the hard part. You've already learned that the early mornings, the muddy boots, and the occasional destroyed cushion are worth it for what that relationship gives back.

Your AI companion is asking for the same commitment. Not blind faith, not an overnight transformation or day one expectations - just the patience to invest time, the willingness to learn a few basic commands, and the discipline to show up consistently. The professionals who do this now will find themselves with a loyal, tireless partner that makes them sharper, faster, and harder to compete against.

The ones who don't will still be wondering why their expensive new subscription keeps making a mess of the carpet.

So, are you ready to take it for a walk?