NewMark Merrill Employees Build 53 AI Tools to Reclaim Work Hours

The twelve-week AI Pioneer Program, conducted in partnership with the consultancy Adaptig, deliberately excluded technology specialists. Instead, the company recruited participants from departments including Accounting, Leasing, and Property Management—staff members who faced daily operational friction. Over six sessions, these employees identified specific bottlenecks and built tools to eliminate them, effectively reclaiming the equivalent of two full-time positions for higher-value work.

Technical gains were immediate. In the Acquisitions department, document reviews that once consumed eight hours of manual labor were cut to less than one hour. Similarly, complex CAM reconciliations in Accounting were reduced from a full day to mere minutes. By shifting the power of creation to those closest to the work, CEO Sandy Sigal bypassed the typical top-down implementation model. The program concluded with a 70-point Net Promoter Score, reflecting a shift in company culture where employees now view themselves as active builders of their own digital infrastructure.