5 New AI Jobs Titles in 2025 (and What They Actually Do)

AI & ML Generative AI Services 3 min read

As AI moves from experimental to essential infrastructure and organizations become AI-First in their foundational structure, new, highly specialized roles are becoming indispensable. The search for this talent and these new roles, however, is probably the greatest barrier.

For starters, the search can take anywhere from 6 to 12 months. The competition for AI talent is fierce, with job postings for AI-related skills growing 21% annually and compensation rising 11% annually since 2019.

Check out this list of emerging AI roles to seek out for your real estate operation, whether in-house or via strategic partnerships.

The Emergence of Critical AI Roles: Beyond the Data Scientist

AI Operations Engineer

What they do: This role is central to bridging the gap between AI development and real-world deployment. AIOps is the discipline of engineering, deploying, monitoring, and governing machine learning models in production. They ensure AI systems run 24/7, integrated with live systems, and handle messy, real-world data.
Why they’re crucial: AI systems are dynamic assets that suffer from “model drift”—their predictive power decays as real-world environments change (e.g., a rent prediction system trained before interest rate hikes becomes inaccurate). AIOps engineers provide the “Continuous Retraining & Auto-Upgrades” necessary to prevent this degradation and ensure reliable performance. Without this expertise, “Pilot Paralysis” due to unclear ROI can occur.

AI Data Architect

What they do: AI is entirely dependent on the quality, timeliness, and accessibility of data. This role focuses on tackling the “Data Silos” problem, where data is trapped in disconnected systems like Yardi for accounting, Salesforce for leasing, or various IoT platforms. They design and implement a data fabric architecture to create a unified, logical data layer, ensuring data quality, lineage tracking for compliance, and consistent access for all AI models.
Why they’re crucial: Poor data quality is a top challenge for successful AI implementation, and “brittle data pipelines” built for pilots often fail at enterprise scale. This role ensures a solid data foundation is in place, which is a non-negotiable prerequisite for scaling AI.

AI Governance & Compliance Specialist

What they do: Navigate the complex and rapidly evolving legal landscape governing AI. This specialist helps establish a Governance Framework, potentially serving on or supporting an AI Governance Board, which includes leaders from Legal, IT, Asset Management, and Operations to approve use cases, set risk tolerance, and review bias audits. They enable controls to be properly implemented in frameworks such as SOC-2, GDPR, and Fair Housing Compliance.
Why they’re crucial: The real estate sector faces unique regulatory pressures. The DOJ antitrust lawsuits and its multifamily clients is a stark reminder of the catastrophic legal and reputational risks associated with opaque, ungoverned algorithmic pricing. The EU AI Act explicitly classifies real estate valuation and tenant screening as “high-risk,” imposing stringent requirements. This role also combats “Shadow AI,” where employees use unsecured public tools, feeding sensitive company data into them and creating massive data leakage risks.

Agentic AI Application Developer

What they do: Unlike generic AI developers, these specialists build and customize AI applications that are purpose-built for the complexities of commercial real estate, working natively within the CRE ecosystem. They develop specialized Agentic AI Applications, pre-trained on industry specifics like lease types, clauses, and local compliance nuances.
Why they’re crucial: These specialists turn AI’s potential into measurable results, potentially driving dynamic revenue management, predictive maintenance, intelligent document processing, and significant reductions in repair costs and asset downtime. AI engineers can also build ready-to-use connectors with key CRE platforms like Yardi, MRI, and Salesforce, ensuring AI applications work seamlessly within existing systems.

AI Adoption Specialist

What they do: Focus on the human element of AI adoption, crucial for overcoming change resistance. They ensure that a well-engineered AI tool is actually used by employees by providing proper training, clear communication about benefits, and integrating the tool into existing workflows. They identify and empower “AI Champions” within business units to drive adoption.
Why they’re crucial: Without strong change management, firms risk user adoption failures, leading to zero ROI despite significant technological investment.

The MAIS Advantage: Bridging the Talent Gap through Partnership

The In-House Challenge: Building and maintaining these specialized teams internally is incredibly costly and complex. The DIY fantasy quickly dissipates when you confront what enterprise AI actually demands.
Managed AI Services (MAIS) as a Solution: MAIS is a full-cycle AI enablement model that provides the necessary AI agents, engineers, strategic alignment, and continuous model evolution, covering everything from data pipelines to regulatory readiness.
Key MAIS Benefits: MAIS offers lab engineers that are ready on day 1, instead of a lengthy talent hunt. With MAIS, organizations can leverage the full power of AI without the significant cost, complexity, and risk of building and maintaining a dedicated, in-house AI operations team. You retain complete strategic control and data sovereignty, while we extend your capabilities.

Lead the Market, Don’t Chase It

As commercial real estate moves rapidly into an AI-first future, the organizations that will thrive are those ready to embrace these new roles and build the right foundations for success. From AIOps to AI Adoption Specialists, the next wave of CRE leaders will be those who can seamlessly integrate human expertise with intelligent technology.

Do you want a deeper dive into how to structure your leadership teams, align strategy, and leverage Managed AI for sustainable growth?

Download The CRE C-Suite Playbook for Managed AI to future-proof your real estate strategy.