Advisory Council

Francisco Acoba is a principal at Ernst & Young LLP with more than 24 years of global experience providing management consulting services to Fortune 500 companies and the world’s largest public sector entities.

Ryan Allbaugh has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry. Currently, he leads highly knowledgeable and collaborative teams to design and implement technical solutions for Wells Fargo’s corporate properties group. As the former CIO of the largest private commercial real estate developer in the southeast, Ryan applied his extensive knowledge to implement technology solutions impacting the real estate industry, such as his role in the development of one of the most technologically sophisticated buildings in the world, the Duke Energy Center in Charlotte, NC.

Stuart Appley is a Managing Director in CBRE’s Global Workplace Solutions Group, where he is responsible for providing executive technology oversight and consulting to clients. Stuart also has a technology innovation & thought leadership role, helping to develop, drive, and lead pilots on innovative digital projects across CBRE. He was previously the CIO at Shorenstein Realty Services, where he led the transformation of the company’s technology environment into an innovative and best in class organization.

As Vice President of Real Estate and Facilities for Oracle, Mike Bangs is responsible for the design, construction and operation of Oracle’s 6.5 million square feet real estate portfolio in the San Francisco bay area. Bangs has developed and operated corporate campuses around the world, including properties in Boston, Budapest, Dublin, Paris, London, Noida, Singapore, Tel Aviv, and the San Francisco Bay Area. He has more than 25 years of experience working for technology companies, including Adobe and Juniper Networks, where he served as director of global real estate.

As head of Workplace Performance and Innovation, David Berz manages the technology and data teams that give Global Workplace Services the insight it needs to drive incredible employee experiences. David’s team seeks innovative technologies that enhance the employee experiences in interacting with LinkedIn’s global real estate portfolio as well as providing data-informed decisions for Workplace Design and Construction.

Murad Bhatti has over 20 years of experience in process engineering, corporate real estate and technology management. He is currently Sr. Director, Technology, Business Intelligence and Communication Infrastructure Management (CIM) at RBC Corporate Real Estate. He is responsible for management/oversight of strategy, operations and implementation of real estate applications, workplace technologies and the business intelligence program. He recently led the transformation of RBC’s Corporate Real Estate technologies with the completion of innovative projects such IWMS, RBC Business Intelligence and Analytics program, IoT and several smart workplace technology initiatives.

Mark Brown is the Strategy and Transformation Practice leader for CohnReznick. Mark is part of the Firm’s STaT (Strategy Technology and Transformation) group and leads a global team on business acquisitions, IT strategy, change management, risk management, technology, and business transformation.

Jeff Chulick is the Technology and Innovation Leader for EY Real Estate Services. He leads a global team of professionals focused on the identification, innovation, design and realization of technology solutions that greatly enhance the workplace experience. His areas of focus include digital strategy, smart workplace, IoT, visual communications, workplace management, physical access and audio/visual technology. Jeff has over 20 years of enabling workplace strategies and delivering innovative solutions for EY and external clients across many different industries.

Maureen Ehrenberg is the Global Head of Digital Facility and Asset Management Services for WeWork’s Powered by We segment, a full-service Strategy, Services and Technology solution for CRE. She is leading WeWork’s growth in the global digital facility and property services market, responsible for developing and implementing products and services that enable Corporate Real Estate, Facilities leaders and real estate investors to unlock the value of their portfolios. She is responsible for designing service delivery systems with processes and digital solutions that increase productivity, comfort and support the future of work.

Kathy Farrington is a chartered professional engineer and Technical Program Manager at Google. She leads an internal program to make Google's buildings smart. She previously worked at an engineering consultancy where she led a team designing the smart infrastructure of data center, retail and commercial buildings and residential complexes.

Joydeep Ganguly is currently the Senior Vice President of Corporate Operations at Gilead Sciences –. In his current role, his accountabilities include providing leadership for multiple functions: Corporate Engineering and Facilities, Sustainability and EH&S, Procurement, CFO2020 program and the CFO PMO (Program Management office). Joydeep joined Gilead in 2016 from Biogen, where he was Vice President and head of Biogen’s Global Biologics Manufacturing & Technical Operations organization.

Karen is the VP of Global Workplace Strategy and the Change Management Program Manager for Fidelity Investments. She embraces an entrepreneurial spirit and focuses on understanding the business, empowering teams and creating new ways to engage employees in purposeful experiences while in the workplace. Her goal always includes demonstrating value through innovation and considers both the physical and virtual worlds.

Mark Golan is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in real estate, finance and technology. Currently in his role as VP Real Estate & Workplace Services (REWS) at Google, he oversees the organization's business partnerships, central facilities services, events & guest services, transportation, and all facets of design and construction.

Eugene Gutkin, MS, brings over 25 years of Building Management Systems. Prior to founding IBS in 1997, he performed various consulting roles for Siemens Building Technologies. IBS has grown in 20 years from a BMS consulting company to a multi-million dollar Corporation specializing in the design, implementation and support of enterprise-level IOT Solutions.

Gerry Hamilton directs the Facilities Energy Management department at Stanford University, which includes the operation of the campus Energy Management & Control System and oversight of the University's energy efficiency programs. Gerry ensures that buildings and associated processes are operated efficiently and that new facilities incorporate best practices for energy use.

As the leader of one of Hepta Systems’ fastest growing departments, Jason Houck is in charge of the design and implementation of smart building networks. He has over fourteen years of experience implementing and servicing Building Automation and Security Systems. His responsibilities include project management, programming, network design, and verification of building systems for both retrofit and new construction projects. Jason also has an extensive IT background which allows him to fully appreciate the importance of a properly designed network.

Arjun Kaicker is an Architect and Workplace Consultant with over 20 years experience specialising in innovative workplace design and technology, business and user needs evaluation and most recently, AI driven workplace optimisation. As Co-Head of Workplace Strategies at Zaha Hadid Architects and previously as Head of Workplace Consulting at Foster + Partners, he has worked on over 200 office projects in over 50 countries, including headquarters for Apple, Bloomberg, Comcast and HSBC.

Thomas Kaufman is the Senior Director, Corporate Real Estate at United Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with chronic and life-threatening diseases. He is responsible for managing the entitlement, design and construction of the company’s new headquarters, the largest commercial site-net zero building on the East Coast.

Srini is part of the Application & Incubation team supporting the Microsoft Real Estate Services group. The group drives the digital transformation of the Microsoft Redmond campus and sets standards/supports implementations for the Microsoft global real estate portfolio. In his specific role, Srini owns driving strategy for the following functionality verticals: healthy buildings, secure device provisioning and onboarding, integration architecture for edge devices and determining the appropriate usage of Microsoft products such as Azure Plug n Play/IoT Central/Sphere in the end state implementation architecture.

Phil Klokis is currently the CIO for the Public Buildings Service (PBS) of the General Services Administration. He is responsible for delivering Information Technology (IT) solutions and services supporting PBS' diverse real estate operations and portfolio management consisting of 1,500 owned assets, 9,000 active leased assets and nearly 350 million square feet of office space.

Michael Kruklinski is the Head of Real Estate for Siemens Gas & Power and Siemens USA. In this role, he oversees the company’s entire U.S. real estate portfolio (16’3M SF) and the global oil & gas, power and industrial markets (35’5M SF). With over 30 years of experience at Siemens, Kruklinski has held several senior positions within the company. Kruklinski led the creation of the Siemens Industry Sector as well as the Company’s Smart Grid business unit. Kruklinski was also involved in the rollout of Siemens’ flexible office design plan.

David Lacy leads Corporate Real Estate IT globally for Credit Suisse, a portfolio covering core Real Estate functions and building services. David has recently driven a technology transformation program targeted at reducing complexity and moving to a data centric architecture with strong data governance and ownership. Currently David is leading an IT program to transform the workplace experience through implementation of innovative technologies allowing staff to access and use Real Estate services efficiently and seamlessly.

Steve Lefkowitz is a results-driven and profit-minded executive in the national corporate real estate world with the proven ability to effectively manage large-scale real estate portfolios. He is a 39-year veteran of WarnerMedia (previously Time Warner) where he has held multiple titles including SVP of CRE for HBO. As the current Head of Global Real Estate Operations for WarnerMedia, he oversees FM operations and Design & Construction initiatives, and he has a demonstrated history of leading and directing teams through complex real estate projects and reorganizations.

Alex Lewis is the Global Strategic Operations Head of Citi Realty Services where he leads a team which oversees the development and implementation of policy & process, global CRS technology platform management, data compliance and reporting metrics, global resource strategy and monitoring of administrative budget. Over the last 16 years, Alex has served in several operational leadership roles with CRS in Poland and England including EMEA Strategic Workplace Head and Global Building Operations CAO prior to relocating back to the US in 2012 to settle into his current role.

Zorba Manolopoulos is the Global Program Manager over Smart Campuses at Facebook. His group is responsible for developing and executing the Smart Building/Campus strategy. They are charged with incubating ideas and leading development of solutions for Facebook’s world-wide portfolio and pushing forward the Smart Campus vision to bridge the gap of current product offerings. Their goal is to deliver comprehensive Real Estate solutions supporting the Occupant Experience while benefiting teams in Facility Management, Workplace Design, and Construction.

Gary Merrow is the VP, Facilities for the Atlanta Airlines Terminal Corporation (AATC). His primary focus is to provide the leadership and direction regarding facility operations to AATC at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (H-JAIA). Gary’s previous military and civilian careers have seen allowed him to hold various facility positions with increasing leadership responsibilities.

Charles Meyers is SVP & Chief Technical Architect, Corporate Property Group of Wells Fargo and responsible for emerging technologies that optimize the company's real estate portfolio. Currently, he is focused on mitigating the emerging threats and cybersecurity vulnerabilities around building operational and physical security technologies. Charles has 39 years of financial systems and technology experience. Since 2016, he also been spearheading the industry association, Real Estate Cyber Consortium (RECC), to elevate awareness across the real estate community to improve cybersecurity preparedness for buildings and facilities.

Scott has close to 30 years of experience working in the real estate industry. Over that time frame, Scott has worked globally with numerous real estate owners, operators, developers, advisors and users of real estate with the objective of maximizing the value of their holdings. This includes providing strategic advice relative to market positioning, improving the underlying operations of the company, and using technology in ways that creates real long term sustainable value. Scott has developed a strong reputation for his knowledge, creativity, integrity and ability to execute.

Rob Murchison has over 20 years experience in strategy consulting, sales and design of technology to real estate developers and commercial businesses with expertise in networking, and software and data base applications. He is currently Co-founder and Managing Director of consulting firm Intelligent Buildings Inc., a nationally recognized specialist in real estate technology with expertise in strategy and standards development, organizational alignment and financial analysis.

Sandra Oliver is Section Chief, Global Real Estate of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and oversees the global real estate program consisting of 200+ properties (office and residential) located in over 100 countries. Sandra leads a team of professional and support staff providing clients operating in member countries an array of real estate services. She also provides strategic guidance for the asset management and disposition functions for owned facilities in the Washington D.C. area and generating revenue through a mix of office, retail and other tenant arrangements.

Jeff Peel is a Real Estate Technology professional with over 20 years of industry experience. Jeff specializes in system implementations and has led Real Estate application roll outs for several Fortune 500 companies. He is an expert on Real Estate processes including transactions, lease administration, lease accounting, capital projects, and space management. Jeff currently works for AIG in the Global Corporate Real Estate group where he is the IWMS Program Manager.

Claire Penny is a motivated self-starter who likes to shake the 'apple cart' and has a proven track record of applied innovation, global community and relationship building, quarterly revenue generation and operational cost efficiency. She is a strong advocate of the power of data and digital transformation, helping clients to realise their full digital potential and deliver on their digital strategies. Previously, she was IBM's Global Industry Leader for Watson IoT in Buildings.

As Executive MD of Workplace Innovation, Corporate Solutions | Americas, Keith leads Colliers' clients with using the workplace as a competitive advantage to advance their business objectives through innovative and insightful workplace solutions. Additionally, Keith brings more than 30 years of experience. Previously, he was Senior Director, Global Workplace Innovation at Johnson & Johnson, responsible for program design and deployment of a set of new workplace principles of its global office portfolio of 60 million SF and more than 900 locations.

Scott Phillips is the Director, Corporate Real Estate for McDonald’s Corporation responsible for Real Estate, Facilities, Project Management, and Workplace Strategy for approximately 2 million SF of office portfolio. Scott and his team recently completed McDonald’s relocation from Oakbrook, IL to a newly developed 500,000 SF Global Headquarters in the West Loop of Chicago. Scott has over 25 years experience in Corporate Real Estate and Facilities with McDonald’s, U.S. Cellular, and State Farm Insurance.

Rudy Reagin is the Global Programme Lead for Deutsche Bank's Corporate Services. With more than thirty years of experience in IT, Rudy is currently responsible for the application architecture that supports lease administration, facilities management, space management, security operations, and a wide range of business services. In recent years, Rudy has driven a data warehousing and BI project that successfully integrates information from a range of sources to facilitate performance monitoring and decision support.

As the Director of IoT, HQ for Real Estate and Facilities at Oracle, Francisco Ruiz is responsible for partnering with global teams to help design, secure and guide the implementation of enterprise IoT Energy Solutions. Prior to Oracle, he consulted various Real Estate teams utilizing IoT for continuous improvement and sustainable business operations including Adobe, GSA, eBay, PayPal and NASA. He is active on various industry boards and organizations which supports his continuous pursuit of the most energy efficient and sustainable technologies.

As an Executive Director and Chief of Staff for the Global Workplace and Enterprise Services Leadership Team (GWESLT), Carlos Santiago is responsible for developing, managing and executing the organization's strategy and portfolio of strategic initiatives. He leverages the top leaders within the organization to drive transformational changes. He also leads efforts in the creation and integration of GWES Digital Strategy, manages Facilities Operations in Latin America, provides strategic oversight and leadership for Technology & Innovation, Capital Management, Energy & Sustainability and Maintenance Excellence.

Darrell Smith has more than 20 years of experience in facility management, with a wide range of industry experience in technology, retail, data centers and manufacturing. He is currently the director of Central Services for Google's Bay Area Portfolio where he oversees a team who is responsible for the facility management, critical environments, planning and other facilities services at one of the most innovative companies in the world. Having spent his career at the intersection of real estate, big data and technology, Darrell believes in using technology as an enabler for progress and optimization.

Jared Summers is a motivated execution-oriented high performance individual who has extensive experience managing large-scale global programs. He brings a unique ability to understand and articulate complex technologies in a relatable way while rapidly fielding innovative capabilities. Currently Jared is the Digital Foundation Manager at ExxonMobil, delivering on the promise of transformational change enabled by digital technologies across the entire global real estate portfolio.

Steve is a well-regarded international executive, who ties financial and operational solutions with corporate strategy and margin improvement needs. He has extensive international experience leading teams and engaging clients across the United States and Europe. In 2018, he founded Open Sourced Workplace, a professional network for business owners and workplace professionals seeking to maximize workplace productivity and employee experience.

Edward Wagoner serves as the Executive Director and Digital Chief Information Officer at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., a role to which he was named in 2020. Most recently, he served as Global Chief Information Officer of Corporate Solutions at the company. Wagoner joined Jones Lang LaSalle in 1996 and has held various roles with increasing responsibilities including, Director of Information Technology for Americas, Implementation Manager of National Property Service Center, Manager of Audit and Quality Control and Chief Information Officer for Americas.

Phil Wales is the founder of EBUSINESS STRATEGIES. For more than 30 years, he's enabled some of the world's largest private/public sector organizations develop and apply best practices and business solutions for critical enterprise assets: people, processes, technology, physical plant. Working with Fortune 500 corporations and federal/state/ local government agencies, he is helping change the way complex, capital-intensive entities view/manage their operations in the face of constant change, shifting marketplace economies and unpredictable constituent demands.

Charles Whiteley is the digital lead for Environmental & Property Solutions (E&PS) at ExxonMobil. He manages digital strategy for the CRE portfolio, including master planning and strategy, global projects organization, facilities and operations and an environmental stewardship group. The E&PS organization in total manages ~25M square feet of CRE across the globe. He is also responsible for ExxonMobil’s strategies tied to smart buildings, digitally connected workers and resident experience. The primary driver behind Charles’ role is maximizing the value that CRE generates for the firm’s business lines.

Terry Wood is VP, Real Estate at Kaiser Permanente, one of America’s leading healthcare providers, responsible for executing real estate services for Kaiser Permanente’s over 70 million square foot real estate portfolio, including more than 1,000 facilities, with a replacement value of over $32 Billion. He is accountable for developing industry leading tools, implementing strategy, and establishing industry best practices for all key functions within the Real Estate Division. Terry has more than 25 years of experience in all facets of domestic and international corporate real estate, including strategic planning, real estate transactions, facilities management and construction.

At Cushman and Wakefield, Pay Wu leads the Global Occupier outsourcing business in the East region across Strategic Advisory, Transactions Management, Facilities Management and Project Management services and brings business insights to solve clients' most complex workplace and real estate challenges. She is a versatile CRE advisor and executive with over 25 years of industry and consulting experience, managing teams to produce positive P&L results.