Real estate has an AI problem. This startup thinks it knows why

When Nova Scotia, Canada-based real estate agent Brynn Carmody suffered burnout at age 25, it wasn’t because she lacked direction. It was because she had too many – and no system to process them.

She was manually merging disconnected tools from CRM, marketing, transactional, and communications platforms. The result was long days, longer nights and ultimately a breaking point.

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“We had built a huge pipeline – thousands of leads, huge email lists – but no infrastructure to support it,” Carmody said Inman. “I was doing everything and acting as an integration layer over a fragmented tech stack. That kind of burnout is more common in this industry than people talk about.”

That experience became the basis for Her Market Lab. It’s a newcomer in the growing wave of all-in-one real estate “super apps,” which aim to simplify the way agents use technology and make AI actually work.

Carmody is the solo founder and CEO behind the platform, which launched on April 13 and granted access to its founding members. Carmody said Her Market Lab can replace five or more separate technology platform subscriptions for most agents.

A gender gap is emerging in AI adoption

Carmody’s frustration, which led to the creation of Her Market Lab, reflects a deeper problem in the industry. While AI adoption among agents is widespread and continues to grow, she says its real-world impact remains limited.

She pointed to a recent one National Association of Realtors Technology Surveywhich found that 46 percent of agents say AI has had little to no meaningful impact on their business. Carmody states that it is not about willingness, but about practicality.

Agents, she says, are often handed powerful AI tools without clear guidance on how to integrate them into their workflows. For many, the learning curve is simply too steep.

The divide can be even sharper when viewed through a demographic lens.

NAR’s 2025 member profile shows that 63 percent of officers are women. Yet a growing body of research shows that women are less likely to adopt generative AI than men, especially in the workplace.

This is evident from recent research by Lean Inthe nonprofit founded by Sheryl Sandberg, which focuses on female leadership and equality in the workplace, found that men are 22 percent more likely than women to use AI tools daily or continuously at work.

Carmody has a number of theories about why the gender gap in AI adoption persists.

“The most advanced AI tools being built for real estate agents are undeniably powerful. They are also out of reach for most agents,” she said. “Setting up servers, managing cybersecurity risks and configuring open source infrastructure is not realistic for someone running a real estate business between showings.”

According to Carmody, that’s the gap: The agents who could benefit most from them—often women running independent, bootstrapped businesses without dedicated technical support—are among the least likely to adopt these tools.

“Not because they are unwilling, but because the technology is not designed with their reality in mind,” she said.

Why onboarding is the real differentiator

Carmody said Her Market Lab’s approach flips the typical proptech model. Rather than leading the way with AI features, the platform focuses first on building a functional business infrastructure and then on bringing automation.

The product combines CRM, transaction management, email marketing and lead funnels into a single system, pre-configured specifically for real estate workflows.

But Carmody said the key differentiator is onboarding.

Agents are guided through a structured, seven-day setup process designed to build a working business system from the ground up. Only after that foundation has been laid will the platform’s AI agents be activated. The goal is to eliminate the fragmentation that causes agents to fall behind in the first place.

Early users say the difference is noticeable, especially in output quality. Carmody said initial feedback highlights AI-generated content that requires minimal editing and better reflects an agent’s voice — a common shortcoming in generic AI tools.

Community as a hallmark

Her Market Lab also relies on a support model that goes beyond traditional onboarding. Instead of static tutorials or recorded walkthroughs, the platform features ongoing “lab” sessions, where users can ask questions, troubleshoot workflows, and refine how they use the system.

This community feature is designed to address a core problem in the industry: agents often fail not because of poor tools, but because they lack the time or support to implement them effectively.

“Rather than just give someone a CRM or all-in-one platform (and maybe a Loom video for onboarding) we’re creating something that’s much more practical,” Carmody said. “Our users get weekly labs and implementation sessions with clear, actionable insights for their business, and they can ask us questions directly. That’s really where we bridge the gap.”

A bootstrapped gamble on control

Her Market Lab is not backed by venture capital. Carmody chose to start the company and used the income from her real estate career to finance the development. The decision, she said, was about maintaining control over the product’s direction and avoiding compromises that can come with outside investment.

“Too often, product decisions get lost in translation in boardrooms, and once you start adding more voices, it can quickly become a slippery slope,” says Carmody. “I had a very clear idea of ​​my positioning from the start, and I didn’t want it to get diluted. The other factor was that I had the luxury of taking that approach. I had worked in real estate for years and was able to make a living while building, so I leaned into it.”

The rise of the real estate ‘super app’

With her Market Lab she enters a market that is increasingly consolidating. From CRM platforms to transaction tools to AI assistants, the industry has seen an explosion of point solutions. Now many companies are trying to bring these capabilities under one roof.

“Super apps” for real estate agents range from Chat again from Homie to Breezy – and there are probably more to come.

Carmody believes this trend will continue, but warns that not all “super apps” will succeed. The difference, she says, won’t be how many features a platform offers, but whether agents can actually use them without becoming overwhelmed.

Why AI won’t replace real estate agents

As AI proptech solutions proliferate, many agents may also be wondering about their future in the industry. Carmody, like many, believes it is imperative that officers learn AI while they can.

“I think the reality is that agents who don’t adopt AI will simply be passed over by those who do,” says Carmody.

But like many in the industry, Carmody softened this statement with a caveat.

She noted that there is a lot of media hype about AI replacing jobs, and whether it will replace real estate agents in particular, or whether everyone will simply use tools like ChatGPT to buy and sell homes. But that was never really the core value of an agent in the first place.

“The real value is in relationships and trust,” Carmody said. “It’s no offense to platforms like ChatGPT or Realtor.com, but a first-time home buyer who has to navigate a stressful transaction or a deal that falls apart during inspection doesn’t want to have to rely on a chatbot. He wants human guidance.”

That said, Carmody said the officer’s role will change. AI will take over much of the transactional and administrative work.

“But if we get that piece right for both agents and consumers, it ultimately increases an agent’s ability to provide better service and take better care of their customers,” she said.

Email Nick Pipitone