Closing the Gaps: AI, Succession and the Future of Leadership in the Built Environment

The built environment is shifting at speed. AI is transforming how we design, plan, and deliver projects. At the same time, senior leaders are grappling with succession. Long-established businesses are under pressure to build resilience and adapt to uncertainty.

This is where my work with built environment professionals sits—helping firms attract, retain, and develop their people; grow their business; and shape a culture fit for the future.

Rethinking Business Development

Before going further, it’s worth explaining my role as a Business Development Consultant and Coach. I hesitate to use the term business development because it’s so often misunderstood. Many assume it means selling, being the loudest voice in the room, or a role that lives in a department far from project delivery.

In reality, business development is about making the business more relevant to clients and the market. It delivers strategy, but also feeds back to shape it. At its best, it is everyone’s responsibility—requiring curiosity, trust-building, and connecting the dots. Networking, in whatever form suits you, is part of this. In fact, you can’t excel in our profession without adopting business development as part of your skillset.

The mindset shift is key: BD is not an add-on. It is integral to leadership.

The Leadership Gap

One of the biggest themes I see is the gap between today’s leaders and the next generation. Senior leaders bring immense value: technical depth, trusted client relationships, and the experience of steering through tough markets. But emerging leaders are motivated differently. They want to lead with purpose, balance technical and people skills, and approach a world that looks very different from the one before.

For many current leaders, BD is intuitive – something they “just do.” But that makes it hard to transfer to others. Without a strong BD culture, professionals focus on project delivery until suddenly, at senior level, they are expected to generate work. That gap in BD capability can discourage future leaders from stepping up.

Closing this gap requires deliberate investment: transfer of skills and contacts, clear tools and processes, and a culture where BD is supported, rewarded, and shared. Otherwise, succession stalls.

Why BD Matters for Diversity

At the heart of BD is the ability to build a strong network inside and outside the business. Yet I often hear: “BD isn’t for me” or “I don’t have the right personality.” The truth is, there are many authentic ways to approach BD—and I’ve never met anyone I couldn’t help find their own.

This matters because BD is also a route to influence. The next generation of professionals are naturally aligned with the next generation of client leaders. By embedding BD as a leadership behaviour, businesses open doors for more voices at the table. That includes women and under-represented groups who, too often, miss out on visibility.

The very skills women frequently bring – listening, empathy, collaboration – are exactly what the industry needs more of.

The Challenge for Women

Many firms I work with acknowledge their senior leadership isn’t balanced. They’re developing emerging leadership programmes for all – but also targeted initiatives for women – because the barriers are real:

• Caring responsibilities that restrict traditional routes to leadership.
• Menopause, which can affect confidence and wellbeing but is rarely recognised in workplaces.
• Cultures that reward the loudest voices rather than the most thoughtful ones.

This isn’t just a women’s issue – it’s a leadership issue. If we undervalue empathy and collaboration, we miss the skills essential for tackling challenges like the mental health crisis in construction and the demand for inclusive client engagement.

The AI Question

AI is already reshaping the industry – bringing efficiency and new insights, but also raising doubts: What will be left for us to do?

For me, the answer is clear. The skills AI cannot replicate – empathy, trust, influence, connection – are the ones that matter most. AI can provide the data, but it cannot replace human relationships. At its core, people want to work with people they trust and connect with.

What Needs to Change

If firms want to close the gaps, they need to act on three fronts:

1. People Development
Help individuals understand themselves, build confidence, and grow into leadership roles. Support women at different life stages so talent isn’t lost along the way.

2. Business Growth
Embed BD into everyone’s role – not just a few. Give future leaders opportunities to practice client-centric skills early, so they grow into trusted advisors.

3. Culture Shift
Move from “BD belongs to a few” to “BD belongs to all.” Build resilience, support succession, and create a culture where women and the next generation don’t have to fit in – they can lead in their own way.

Why This Matters

Real Estate Balance has long championed diversity and inclusion. Achieving balance isn’t just about recruitment targets or policies. It’s about culture.

If we reframe business development as a leadership skill, invest in people, and plan succession deliberately, we won’t just prepare for the future – we’ll shape it.

Yes, the challenges are real – AI, succession, leadership gaps. But so are the opportunities. We can create confident individuals, connected teams, and thriving cultures where future leaders and women aren’t asked to play by old rules – they are empowered to write new ones.