Will AI Replace Valuation Professionals?

This question comes up more frequently every day.

As someone who has worked in valuation for nearly two decades, I have a somewhat different perspective.

Interestingly, my master's thesis back in 2012 focused on real estate valuation using Artificial Neural Networks. Even then, we were exploring how data-driven models could support valuation processes.

Today, AI-powered valuation systems can analyse thousands of comparable transactions within seconds, identify market trends, and generate value estimates faster than any human expert.

The technology is impressive.

However, after valuing everything from residential properties to industrial facilities, hotels, logistics centres, machinery, ships and power plants, I have learned that valuation is rarely just about data.

How does an AI assess:

• The operational risks of a manufacturing facility?

• The redevelopment potential of a site?

• The impact of legal constraints that are not fully reflected in datasets?

• The quality of a property's management and maintenance?

• Market sentiment in an illiquid segment?

These are often the factors that create the largest differences between a calculated value and a defensible market value.

AI will undoubtedly transform our profession.

It will automate repetitive tasks, improve efficiency, and help us analyse larger datasets than ever before.

But valuation is ultimately built on something that algorithms still struggle to provide;

Professional judgement.

In my view, the future does not belong to professionals who compete against AI.

It belongs to professionals who know how to work with AI while applying experience, market knowledge, critical thinking, and accountability.

The role of valuation professionals is not disappearing.

It is evolving.

And perhaps the most valuable expert of the future will be the one who can combine technology with human judgement most effectively.