Program Speakers
Joseph Aamidor is an experienced product leader and expert in smart buildings, real estate technology and facility operations. He provides product and market strategy guidance to building owners/operators, established building management firms, technology providers, investors, and early-stage innovators. Previously, he served as Director of Product at Lucid Design Group and was a product manager at Johnson Controls.
Farooz Alikhan is Managing Director IT of DivcoWest and is responsible for all IT resources and initiatives. With his more than 17 years of experience, he helps define and execute the IT strategy in line with the overall business strategy.
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.
Serene Almomen is the CEO and co-founder of Senseware, a sensor-based technology platform that provides real-time assurance to commercial real estate leaders. Gain visibility into critical areas such as energy consumption, water damage, equipment status, indoor air quality, and more. She has received 12 patents for her work and has been named one of Forbes top 50 women-led startups who crush tech and Women Who Mean Business by WBJ.
Aaron Altscher is the Director of Technology Initiatives at Carr Properties. Aaron leads IT innovation efforts and is the architect and developer for Carr’s Data Analytics, iOT, Machine Learning AI, and Hospitality platforms. Aaron’s 2022 focus is on IT innovation around data automation and the return to work movement.
Soroush Amidi is the Director of Product Management for Cooper Lighting’s Connected Systems. In this role, he leads the product direction and strategic vision for the company's Connected Systems and Solutions. He has been working with Cooper Lighting Solutions since 2014. Previously, he worked at Honeywell in both project operations and product marketing roles.
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.
Gayla Arrindell has spent 23 years in telecommunications, first with 3M Communication Markets and now with Corning as a Market Development Director for In Building Networks. She represents Corning as a Founding Member of the TIA Smart Building Program as well as the Association of Passive Optical LAN and is a strong industry advocate for in building wireless and fiber deep networks in buildings.
Marlena Badway has fifteen years of experience in commercial real estate focused on strategy and business transformation. Marlena has deep real estate domain expertise, having worked with global Real Estate Owners and Investment Managers operating portfolios across all asset sectors and several geographic markets, including the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Chris Barbier is the Industry Principal for Investment Management at Yardi, working with clients, sales, services, and the product team in delivering real estate investment solutions. He has over 27 years of experience working with global software, financial, and professional service businesses. Chris has worked in many aspects of the real estate investment management industry, including product management, consulting, technology leadership, and portfolio accounting as a former CPA.
Ruairi is a respected high-performance building design expert. His aim is to elevate the built environment and restore order to the climate for future generations. He specializes in commissioning services for new and existing buildings, building energy assessments, high performance building design, energy modeling/advanced building simulation, and measurement and verification consulting.
Currently, Keith Bereskin is the Vice President of Information Technology & Building Operations at Healthpeak Properties, a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests primarily in real estate serving the United States healthcare industry. Keith previously gained IT experience with companies in Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Semi-Conductor sectors.
Howard Berger has over 30 years of experience in technology and commercial/investment real estate. As Realcomm's SVP Programs, he manages its US and international conferences and CIO programs. Previously, he was with The Jamesan Group, which specialized in strategic technology consulting for the commercial real estate industry and prior to that, he was with TRW Real Estate Information Systems where he developed real estate information systems for the mortgage, appraisal and title insurance industries.
Andy Birch is an experienced business software professional with a unique blend of marketing, technical, industry, product and sales expertise. Proven success in delivering sales and marketing programs that achieve game-changing results. Particularly strong at taking complex issues and turning them into understandable value propositions for customers and partners.
Christopher Blackman serves as SVP and CIO responsible for the day to day technology direction and implementation for Empire State Realty Trust, a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), owns, manages, operates, acquires and repositions office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area, including the Empire State Building, the world's most famous building.
Clayton Broemsen is VP of IT Infrastructure for Cousins Properties, a REIT based in Atlanta, GA. He is responsible for all aspects of Cousins’ IT Infrastructure as it applies to the Corporate Office and Property Infrastructure including Networks, End User Devices, Security, Data Centers and Disaster Recovery.
Joe Brown is responsible for enhancing technology, innovation, resiliency and sustainability, driving value across KingSett's real estate portfolio of over $16 billion of assets under management. He began his career consulting on energy projects and building commissioning and has spent the last 15 years in building technology and operations through various roles.
Jesse Carrillo is SVP and CIO for Hines. He is responsible for directing all corporate technology, strategy and standards for Hines worldwide. At Hines since 1994, he previously assisted in the implementation of the firm's accounting and property management software, held the lead IT role in the Enterprise Resource Planning implementation, and led the application development team until taking over as the head of Information Technology in 2007.
James Chung is a Co-Founder of StratoDem Analytics, an Altus Group company. StratoDem Analytics is a machine-learning platform that generating hyper-local analytics and forecasting for the real estate asset class. James’ primary professional objective is to help make advanced technology productive for the world’s largest asset class . . . real estate.
John Chung is Vice President, Portfolio Technology, Enterprise Innovation at QuadReal Property Group. He has over 20 years of experience in real estate currently focusing on technology within the built environment including IoT, AI/ML, Data Management, Cloud, and Smart Buildings.
Cory Clarke is Vice President of Product Management for RXR’s Digital Lab, where he is leading the development of RxWell – a comprehensive, public-health-based, data-driven platform for the workplace. He is responsible for software and hardware roadmap, technology partnerships, go-to-market and deployment for the RxWell products and services across RXR’s portfolio as well as 3rd parties. Cory brings to RXR 20+ years of experience bridging technology and design to deliver compelling user experiences.
Jon Clarke is Head of Smart Building Technology and responsible for overseeing the strategic deployment of Building Technology, Proptech and Innovative solutions across the portfolio. He leads the building technology team who research and trial emerging technologies with a focus on solving real problems with scalability to deliver the next generation of cutting edge digitally enabled buildings.
Scott Cochrane is President and CEO of Cochrane Supply & Engineering, overseeing six branches throughout three states and one in Canada. He is an advisory council member for multiple industry manufacturers such as Honeywell, Johnson Controls, and Tridium.
Joe Consolo is a director with more than 20 years of business leadership experience. He has expertise in business development, operational excellence, sustainability and team leadership. Joe worked in multiple industries, including the energy, commercial, oil and gas, semiconductor, and medical fields. He started his career at Yardi in 2016 and has been instrumental in leading our growing energy business.
Brad is the Sales Director for Abound & Digital products at Automated Logic, a division of Carrier Global Corp, a leading provider of innovative building automation, IoT, and energy management solutions. Brad has over 14 years of HVAC & BMS industry experience across all sectors of the business in various roles in global and domestic, sales, product management, and business development responsibilities.
Bill Cune is responsible for understanding the intersection between technology trends and market needs to define and create new approaches to deliver future ready network and connectivity solutions. This includes identifying and collaborating with key ecosystem players and customers to deliver differentiated optical solutions that re-define networking in the millennial era. Bill’s wide-ranging industry expertise enables him to provide a broad perspective from which to evaluate new trends in the market and in technology.
Kevin Danehy is the CEO of North America, at Willow. In his role, Kevin leads the strategic direction, growth, and management of regional operations. Throughout his career, hehas cultivated, established, and led relationships with clients, as well as actively participated in transactional, leadership, and change management activities. Prior to joining Willow, Kevin served as Executive Vice President & Global Head of Corporate Development for Brookfield, where he worked to accelerate revenue and asset value growth across a global portfolio and played a pivotal role in the identification, introduction, and deployment of new technology platforms.
Emmanuel Daniel is responsible for building and delivering the Digital Transformation strategy for campuses across Microsoft and leads a global multidisciplinary team of architects and experience designers. He builds experiences that merge technology with the built environment, leading to the formation of spaces that respond to the needs of its users. He is also accountable for identifying, building and implementing the next generation of products that will make smarter and sustainable buildings.
Etrit Demaj, Co-Founder of KODE Labs, leads the company’s operations, with responsibility for businesses in North America and Europe. He also oversees the company’s ongoing expansion efforts into emerging markets. Before KODE Labs, Etrit helped run operations and sales with other companies in the industry.
Adam is the Founder and Managing Partner of Wilshire Lane Capital. Prior to founding Wilshire Lane Capital, he worked as a venture capital investor at Fifth Wall Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. Before his career in venture capital, Adam worked as an investor on Wall Street, both as a hedge fund investor at The Carlyle Group in the Real Estate Group at Morgan Stanley in New York City.
Drew DePriest,WELL AP, serves as a Director of Digital and Technology within CBRE's Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) group. Before CBRE, he headed the global Collaboration Services team at Aon, led business development at workplace technology startup Comfy (acquired by Siemens), and spent 12 years in sales and operations at building automation firm Automated Logic.
James Dice, PE, CEM, CMVP is the founder of Nexus Labs, a weekly blog, podcast, online school, and consultancy striving to create smarter, more efficient buildings. Its goal is to help tell remarkable stories that will educate and move the industry forward. Nexus Labs provides a free weekly newsletter and podcast covering the latest trends in smart buildings technology. James holds a professional engineering license and has a background in energy management, data analytics, commissioning, and HVAC design.
Carolyn Douglas-Greer leads USAA Real Estate’s Accounting Process team. Her expertise centers around collaborative business transformation via technology and process improvement. She focuses on leveraging Yardi, specifically the Investment Management (IM) module, to automate fund accounting and investor reporting, enhance system performance, and standardize data structures, resulting in data-rich information for use in both vertical and horizontal analysis across the entire portfolio. In addition, she is piloting RPA (Robotic Process Automation) in conjunction with IM to automate routine, high-risk processes.
Beth Eckenrode is co-founder of AUROS Group which merges building science and data science to cost effectively reach zero energy, zero carbon and healthy indoor air quality. AUROS Group's secret sauce lies is their proprietary integrated digital twin technology which demonstrates if a building is performing as it was designed and constructed to perform. Beth is co-author of the new book, the Power of Existing Buildings and is certified in many building performance standards.
Maureen Ehrenberg, FRICS, CRE, LAI is CEO of Blue Skyre, Innovation in the Built Environment. She is n internationally recognized expert on real estate business transformation, strategic redesign for the future of work and facility management. With more than 25 years’ experience, she has deep expertise in providing real estate advice and services to companies around the world. Before founding Blue Skyre, she was Global Head of Real Estate Operations and Strategic Services for WeWork. She has also held global executive roles with JLL, CBRE and Grubb & Ellis Company.
John Ensign is President and Chief Legal Officer of MRI Software. He most recently held the position of Executive Vice President & General Counsel. In his current role, John oversees all international operations at MRI Software as well as MRI’s shared services, including global client support, finance, legal, mergers and acquisitions, compliance, litigation, partnerships, talent management, employee relations, and benefits.
Robert Entin is currently EVP and CIO for Vornado Realty Trust, one of the nation's largest real estate investment trusts. Robert had founded Integrated Business Systems, Inc. in 1979 combining technical engineering expertise with accounting and property management experience to provide turnkey technology solutions for the real estate industry.
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.
Jonathan (JP) Flaherty is the Director of Sustainability at Tishman Speyer, one of the leading owners, developers, operators and fund managers of first-class real estate worldwide. In this role, he manages sustainability certificates, investor communications, worldwide performance tracking, and technological innovation implementation.
Roei Friedberg is the CEO of Aura Air Americas. The company is listed in TASE (AUSA) and present in more than 50 countries worldwide, working with international corporations, hospitals, universities, and government agencies. Previously, he served as VP of Sales and Business Development at the parent company (Aura Smart Air LTD).
Alex is responsible for developing a smart building strategy and framework to execute across one of Australia’s largest property portfolios. He has held various roles in Information Technology, with over 20 years’ experience in organisations including Dexus, Deutsche Bank and the University of New South Wales (UNSW). One of his specialties is in-building connectivity.
John Fuson has been overseeing the Telecommunication, Network Infrastructure, and CDAS team at the University of Colorado Denver|Anschutz Medical Campus for the last 5 years. His team covers approximately 12000 phones, 60000 network ports and more than 25 buildings with both public safety and CDAS across 2 campuses and 39 remote UCHealth Clinics.
David Gazek is President of Gazek Consulting in the San Francisco Bay area and serves as an organizational advisor and strategist to leaders of companies to help them diagnose their organizational challenges, design a process to address them, and deliver lasting solutions that improve company performance. David brings to this role a career in the real estate industry as a developer, public agency director, advisor, and consultant.
As the Head of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development for MetaProp, Zander Geronimos leads relationships and communications with key players across the real estate value chain and acts as a conduit between strategic real estate firms and the emerging PropTech community.
Jason Gheradini is currently SVP, IT at Sares-Regis, a preeminent developer and provider of comprehensive commercial and residential real estate services throughout the western United States. He provides all aspects of IT leadership from business strategy, infrastructure operations and support to overseeing innovation and emerging technology. Jason has over 15 years of experience in commercial and multi-family real estate, construction and the software industry.
John is COO/EVP/CTO of Rudin Management Company (RMC which manages 15 million square feet of commercial and residential space, the largest privately owned real estate company in NYC owned by the Rudin Family. John has been involved in every major project the company has developed over the last 24 years. As a co-inventor of Nantum® building operating system and Executive Chairman of Prescriptive Data, his vision is to future proof real estate by giving all buildings a 'brain'.
As President, Don Goldstein is responsible for the overall leadership, operations, cyber security strategy, and direction of 5Q’s four service lines. He is an accomplished, award winning C-Level technology executive as Global CIO and CISO, with a distinguished 37-year career of providing robust technology and cyber security solutions to enable business growth. He possesses over 22 years of commercial real estate experience across all lines of business with the largest commercial real estate services, investment management and development company in the world.
Mike Goodwin is Stockbridge's Director of Technology, CISO. He oversees information technology, information security and cybersecurity for the firm. He has a combined 18 years in the industry across different operational functions.
Fred Gordy is an industry expert within building intelligence data analysis for building control and power monitoring systems with emphasis on cybersecurity. With over 18 years in the BAS space, over 6 years of BAS cybersecurity and 20 years in the IT space, Gordy is nationally recognized as a cybersecurity thought leader and speaker. He is currently working with a national top 5 healthcare provider, acting as Facility Operation SME for the customer’s national facility group cybersecurity programs and is also actively involved cyber assessments for REITs, retail, US and Canadian government facilities. Additionally, Gordy has developed Intelligent Building’s Smart Building technology assessment processes and tools.
Alex Grace is a subject matter expert in smart building technology, big data analytics, and their impacts on building and facility operations. He currently leads the go-to-market strategy execution at Clockworks Analytics, a global building analytics platform. He has spoken at many national conferences on energy efficiency and analytics and is a published author in the textbook "Automated Diagnostics & Analytics for Buildings.”
As a key member of Stanford University’s Sustainability and Energy Management (SEM) team, Gerry Hamilton oversees the department’s long-term energy use planning; designs, implements, and directs assessment and outreach for sustainability programs; oversees business systems and analytics initiatives; and steers academic integration to aid program implementation.
James Hamrick brings more than 20 years of technology leadership and multifamily industry experience. James is Vice President of Information Technology for Gables Residential where he develops technology strategy to enhance company performance and achieve strategic initiatives. He previously held technology leadership roles with RealPage, Bell Partners, and Ernst & Young.
Dean Hopkins is currently COO of Oxford Properties. He draws on over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, public company CEO, change agent, and thought leader to organizations seeking to leverage technology to achieve their global ambitions.
Tama Huang is Chief Innovation Officer. A member of CohnReznick’s senior leadership team, she leads a culture of innovation – cultivating teaming across the Firm to generate new ideas, implement emerging technologies, and improve procedures to drive growth for CohnReznicks and its people. She also works closely with other Firm leaders throughout the world to innovate through global strategic alliances and partnerships.
Todd Januzzi is SVP & CIO of Paramount Group, a best-in-class owner, operator and manager of Class A office properties.
Nathan Kehr leads Tridium’s Vykon channel sales team in North America. In his ten years in the connected buildings space, Nathan has worked extensively with systems integrators, consulting-specifying engineers, building automation and control systems manufacturers, enterprise IoT software developers, property management firms, and Fortune 500 clients. He is an avid proponent of digital transformation and the role of integration in connected enterprise and smart building projects.
Sineesh Keshav is the Chief Technology Officer at Prologis. In this role, he oversees all aspects of the technology strategy and is responsible for leading the company’s global data and digital transformation. Since joining Prologis in 2018, Sineesh and his team have been focused on a capability driven, customer-centric approach to innovation and digitalization.
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.
Jeffrey Kok serves as the Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Information Officer for Mill Creek Residential. He is the chair of the Innovation Committee and a member of the Audit and Administrative Committee. In his role, Jeffrey is responsible for overseeing Innovation, Building Technology, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) with the goal to transform how Mill Creek leverages technology as a competitive advantage and increase the value of its communities.
Olga Koroleva is the founder of Capital Brain, whose mission is to harness the power of artificial intelligence to streamline real estate acquisitions, asset management and investment sales. In joint ventures with institutional investment managers, Capital Brain has launched quant real estate investment strategies run by machine learning algorithms.
Chris Kulbago is the Manager of Business Development at RoviSys Building Technologies, and oversees new and existing customers in the fields of building management, facilities engineering, and energy usage analysis. He is passionate about helping end users and clients find a powerful and user-friendly custom solution for their needs by utilizing RoviSys’ independence and deep history in PLC & DDC controls design. Chris has worked with countless customers in many industries, including Mission Critical Facilities, Life Sciences, Clean Room Environments, Large-Scale Manufacturing, and full-scale BMS Design.
Ken Kurz brings over 20 years of leadership and operational experience in cybersecurity, network technologies, information systems, risk mitigation and remediation, and technical project management to COPT. Supporting COPT as CIO since 2016, he has prior experience as the CISO for the University of Delaware, CISO for the University of Oklahoma, and CIO for the US Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation. He has also held various technical and leadership positions within the Department of Defense.
Sabine Lam is the Building Operating Systems (BOS) Global Lead for Google's Real Estate and Workplace Services (REWS) organization. In this role, she focuses on bringing the connected building vision to the forefront of Google real estate and facilities operations teams and equips them to deliver next generation services and workspaces to enhance employee's security and productivity.
Thano Lambrinos has over 15 years’ experience in the construction and building technologies space, and leverages digital transformation learnings across vertical markets to drive innovation and change in commercial real estate. At QuadReal, Thano works to deploy advanced technologies that redefine the way buildings are designed, built, managed, and how the occupants experience their environments. As Senior Vice President, he leads the Digital Buildings, Customer Experience & Innovation teams, and is focused on the development and execution of the digital strategy across a global real estate portfolio.
Aaron Lapsley works with real estate organizations and people to make the most out of technologies in and around their facilities, improving occupant experiences, operational efficiency, and building health and sustainability using data and digital solutions. Aaron most recently co-created and led Cushman & Wakefield’s Digital Buildings Practice, and has experience in technology with Switch Automation, management consulting with Deloitte, and engineering consulting and design with Lilker Associates in New York City.
Donnie Law has over 29 years of experience in enterprise real estate management software development and best-practice implementations. His experience began at Walmart where he was responsible for the design and development of their architecture, construction and real estate system. Since then Donnie has developed and delivered REM and utility billing software solutions to customers around the world. As a thought leader, he is often sought out for advice and recommendations.
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.
Turner Levison is focused on helping CRE occupiers leverage solutions from the Yardi Corom suite. He was the CEO and co-founder of CommissionTrac, a deal flow and commission management platform for CRE brokerages, which was acquired by Yardi in 2020.
Brian Loper is the Cyber Security manager for Silverstein Properties. He is currently responsible for the overall security strategy and implementation for both IT and OT for the organization. With 17 years of technology experience, 11 years specifically in real estate, he has overseen the transition to modern operating platforms to create well-defined and unified end-user experiences. With a focus on security and business alignment, Loper continues to create programs to enhance the overall security posture at Silverstein Properties.
Bayron Lopez is the Director, Operational Technology responsible for managing and innovating Kilroy Realty's smart buildings systems. He helps determine policies and processes from security to maintenance and growth to increase building efficiency and tenant experience. Kilroy is a leading West Coast landlord and developer globally recognized for sustainability, building operations, innovation and design.
Kevin is an Integrity Analyst in the Facility Automation Services department at Penn State University. He analyzes, troubleshoots, and repairs Building Automation systems and their networks. He also designs, develops, edits, and implements control programs for BAS applications in order to provide energy management solutions and network integrity.
As an information technology leader, Mike MacMahon has more than 18 years of experience pioneering and managing complex IT solutions. Through a history of collaboration with Fortune 500 companies, he is accomplished in providing technology consulting, training, strategic fiscal planning, and implementation.
Michael Mandel is the Co-Founder & CEO of CompStak, the world's first crowdsourced marketplace for commercial real estate information. A former NYC commercial real estate broker, Michael is passionate about making commercial real estate information available and transparent and is a building a team to change the way it works.
Hazel Mann is principal for Zetta Advisory, an organization that help real estate investment management firms transform with practical technology solutions. She is an entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in real estate operations and technology, specializing in translating emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain and IoT for practical applications in the future of work.
Ted Maulucci is the President of SmartONE Solutions, a company committed to advancing the digital living experience in communities. He assumed the role of President at SmartONE after a 26 year career as the Chief Information Officer of a leading Toronto based multi-family real estate developer. He was recognized as the Private Sector Canadian CIO of the Year in 2016 for his achievements in connected buildings.
Paul Maximuk is currently Senior Intelligent Building Consultant at Newcomb & Boyd. He has deep experience in building controls, commissioning, and intelligent buildings implementation. Previously worked at Ford Land where he managed smart building programs, innovation and construction projects. Paul is eager to apply his experience as an owner to help others on the path to Intelligent Buildings and successful Operation Technology projects.
Kevin McCann is a senior business technology executive with over 20 years of experience. Currently, he is Chief Information Officer at Phillips Edison & Company. Previously, Kevin was CIO and VP at IRC Retail Centers where he created and developed the company’s technology department, and set strategic technology goals. Previous to IRC, he was the IT Director for the Inland Real Estate Group of Companies.
Senior engineering program/product manager with deep experience in delivering technology solutions from conceptualization through maturity. Proven history of building successful technology programs and high-performance teams across multiple business sectors. Focus on business systems design and enterprise data architecture. Current mission: Build an IoT infrastructure delivery service at Google scale offering a secure and reliable foundation in support of critical business initiatives.
Brian McGowan is Managing Partner at BlueWave Ventures, a merchant venture development company that sponsors, builds and commercializes new technologies. McGowan also advises proptech start-ups and growth-stage companies with expansion into new markets and the launch of new products.
Charles Meyers has over 40 years of financial systems and technology experience. Currently, he is spearheading the Real Estate Cyber Consortium (RECC) to elevate awareness across the real estate community to improve cybersecurity preparedness for buildings and facilities. He recently retired and was formerly the SVP & Chief Technical Architect, Corporate Property Group of Wells Fargo and was responsible for emerging technologies that optimize the company's real estate portfolio.
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 a Principal and Co-Founder of Intelligent Buildings, LLC, founded in 2004 to help customers manage risk, enhance occupant wellbeing, and improve performance.
Sigalit Mutzafi is the CEO and co-founder of RadGreen, a cloud-based environmental quality monitoring and alerting platform. It tracks air quality and pollutants, viral index, thermal temperature, noise, radiation, and light parameters 24/7, indoors and outdoors. Users access real-time results and gain actionable recommendations to improve the health and safety of their buildings and provide transparency to tenants and customers.
Robb Napolitano is the CIO for the Brooksville Company and is responsible for all oversight of its information and technology platforms. As a member of Brooksville's Senior Leadership Team, he contributes to the firm's strategic direction by using Information and Technology to reduce cost, improve operational process efficiencies and maximize revenue. Robb has more than 20 years' experience in the application of IT solutions across multiple industries.
Sean Nealon is the Information Security leader for Brookfield Properties Retail Group (Formerly GGP). Brookfield Properties Retail Group is a large Real Estate Investment Trust managing 161 retail properties in 42 states which encompass 146 million square feet. In this role, he has created an information security program from the ground up and established a risk management strategy for the corporate offices and vast amount of IoT devices across the portfolio.
Richard Newberry is the Strategic Advisor to the Board of Directors of KMC Controls, a leader in energy management and building automation solutions. Newberry, formerly President and CEO at KMC, has led corporate development, new product innovation, and competitive strategy for the company since 2014. With more than 30 years of executive and general management experience in energy, oil and gas, technology manufacturing, and building automation segments, Newberry applies a total solution view to guiding innovation and forging strategic partnerships with industry-leading technology firms.
Lucian Niemeyer is the CEO of Building Cyber Security, a non-profit organization enhancing global safety in a smarter world. He applies his expertise and experience in the convergence of facilities, real estate and technology to counter emerging global threats. Lucian is also a former Assistant Secretary of Defense, US Senate professional staff member, small business owner, and an Air Force veteran.
Ali Niroo, a Founding Managing Partner of CNSG an AppSmart company, is one of the channel’s foremost experts in IT and digital transformation including cloud communications, contact center, network, connectivity, and cybersecurity. With a proven background spanning 14 years, working with some of the largest and most recognized companies and brands, Ali is well versed in what drives favorable technology outcomes – client engagement, solution alignment, and unrivaled support.
Chuck Niswonger is the President of NiceNets Consulting, a veteran-owned, independent technology advisory services company specializing in commercial and corporate real estate. He provides businesses with unbiased guidance on technology strategy, selection, integration, and implementation. Chuck has also been a long-time partner with Realcomm as their Investment Management Board chairman.
Simon Okunev oversee the strategy and execution of Tishman Speyer's Global Information Technology function. He has 25 years of experience building and leading teams, as well as developing and implementing innovative technologies and systems.
As Vice President of Duke Realty’s Information Technology Department, Don Oldham leads technology solutions research and manages initiatives to digitize the real estate business model. He and his team are tasked with discovering new technology opportunities, reducing the cost of doing business and adding efficiency to business processes. They improve efficiencies through the development and implementation of innovative technologies.
Dedicated entrepreneur/technology executive with a passion for creating products that are easy to use, scalable, and solve real problems for the digital workplace. As Founder and Chief Strategist at The CXApp, Leon is a highly-skilled, results-oriented visionary with 20+ years of executive leadership paving the way for emerging technologies shaping the future of work.
Sunder Pappu has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is currently the VP, Technology at Inland Computer Services. Prior to Inland, Sunder worked at JP Morgan Chase, Avanade and Deloitte Consulting, holding leadership positions in the areas of strategy consulting, project management and application delivery.
Trevor Pering is a software engineer focusing on physical IoT system design with an emphasis on security, networking, testability, and device management. His career has centered around the intersection of physical and cyber systems, covering mobile computing, interactive experiences, and now building-oriented projects. He is the column editor for the IEEE Computer IoT Connections article and active contributor to the FaucetSDN open-source community.
Marc Petock is a pioneer in leading the Intelligent/Smart Buildings and M2M movements pushing the industry forward and has contributed to transforming and changing the Intelligent Buildings and M2M (now IoT) industries. As Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Lynxspring, Marc leads corporate and product marketing, strategy, brand management, public relations and communications that support the company’s strategic and growth initiatives.
John Petze is a partner and co-founder at SkyFoundry, the developers of SkySpark™, an analytics platform for building, energy and equipment data. John has over 35 years of experience in building automation, energy management and M2M, having served in senior level positions for manufacturers of hardware and software products.
Doug Prichard is BentallGreenOak’s Vice President, Business Enablement and Innovation focusing on Investment Management applications. The Investment Management team’s application portfolio include Argus Enterprise, Chatham Debt Management, DealCloud, Dynamo, Investran, MRI and RealPage BI / AIM. Prior to this position, Doug was responsible for BentallKennedy’s US Business Process team, and has also had overall responsibility for the IT function in a predecessor company.
As the Director of Information Technology at Woolbright Development, Luis Ramos is responsible for the corporate technology strategy, which includes the IT infrastructure and enterprise application platforms. Additionally, he is also responsible for implementing technology solutions toward the company’s existing business processes, and helping create new efficiencies throughout the company's business model. Since his arrival in 2004, his team has been responsible for the constant development of various industry-focused proprietary software applications and tools. These award-winning technologies have fundamentally changed the way commercial real estate has been done at Woolbright.
Richard Reid is an engineer with over 18 years' expertise in the field of design, implementation and operation of Building Control Systems, Smart Buildings and optimisation of Building Performance. Richard is responsible for the deployment of Google's Digital Building program for Google Real Estate across EMEA. He also provides technical input to the program through his extensive domain knowledge of the construction industry, facilities operations and building control systems.
As CEO of Albireo Energy, Phil Rogers has 35 years of experience in facilities management, engineering, energy, construction and real estate. Through his career, Phil has been a pioneer in the Facilities Management and Engineering Services industries. He has worked with many of the largest corporations including: IBM, DuPont, AT&T, Delta, Applied Materials, Nortel, and Bank of America in creating value for their companies.
Nick Romito is the CEO and co-founder of VTS, commercial real estate's leading leasing, marketing, and asset management platform. Under Nick’s leadership, the proptech unicorn just launched VTS Market, the CRE industry’s first integrated online marketing platform that enables landlords & their agency teams to market and lease their available space remotely for the first time. VTS manages more than 12 billion square feet of office, retail and industrial assets across 35 countries by more than 700 landlords and brokerage firms which includes CBRE, Blackstone, LaSalle Investment Management, Hines, Boston Properties & JLL.
L.D. Salmanson has extensive experience founding, advising, and investing in leading private technology companies. Prior to founding Cherre, he served as Executive Director of Oppenheimer’s Private Shares Group, after Oppenheimer acquired GreenCrest Capital, a firm he co-founded to enable pre-IPO transactions in some of the largest private technology companies in the world, including Facebook, Twitter and Uber.
With 35 years of experience, Kay is a recognized expert on workplace design and strategy issues. She is an award-winning designer who has worked with several Fortune 500 companies to optimize their global real estate portfolios and create innovative work environments. She is director of HOK’s WorkPlace team, a practice that supports organizations undertaking multiple projects in various locations, and a member of HOK’s Board of Directors.
Larry Schachter is Director of Technology at TGM Associates, where he responsible for all technology infrastructure, applications, and cybersecurity. TGM is a multifamily owner/operator/registered investment advisor with a nationwide footprint. Prior to joining TGM, Larry was the CIO for Benderson Development Company, a 40MM sqft. privately held real estate owner-operator.
Steve Schlanger is the Head of Hardware Engineering for iES Mach. Steve is an industry veteran with over 30 years of design and leadership experience with numerous patents and successful projects involving wireless secure data, power supplies, sensors, and alternative energy.
Andy Schonberger is currently Vice President of Client Services at Intelligent Buildings helping clients with advisory, site assessments and managed services. He has 15 years’ experience in facilities management and technology, ranging from large industrial to commercial office where he has held engineering, project management, advisory and hands-on implementation roles for organizations including Earth Rangers, Cisco Systems and the Canada Green Buildings Council (where he was Past Chair of the Toronto Chapter).
Pete Schow has over 15 years of experience in real estate technology and data management including enterprise level projects in both the commercial and residential real estate space. He has worked directly with the largest organizations in both sectors and spent several years providing consulting services for many other well recognized names.
Brian Schwartz is responsible for Smart Building Infrastructure at over 50 centers portfolio wide. He oversees the installation and support for CCTV, Wi-Fi, Energy Management, shopper counting, and DAS. Brian supports digital marketing initiatives including digital signage and property websites.
John is the Global Head of Sales for RealFoundations. He has 15+ years of success in high-profile sales, with a career focus on providing business process outsourcing, professional services, and enterprise technology solutions to the commercial real estate industry, including REITs, advisors, brokers, insurance and financial institutions. John consistently aligns solutions with evolving client business objectives and leads the joint development and implementation of key strategic projects that meet or exceed client goals in the areas of retained revenue, profit margin and cost reductions results. John has transformed inefficient and ineffective departments and groups into cohesive and dedicated teams driven to achieve unparalleled results. He co-chaired the development of the go-to-market plan for Energy Supply Advisory service focused on mid-market accounts list, as well as led the process redesign of Procurement Operations that resulted in a 35% reduction in headcount and streamlined the RFP and vendor selection.
Bill Sechen is Managing Director at Harrison Street and is a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Bill leads initiatives focused on the technology, data, process and information security needs as well as leading initiatives for M&A activities.
Justin Segal is an operations executive and entrepreneur specializing in real estate investment and management, startups, and technology. He is the founder of Stemmons Enterprise, a universal operations platform that allows companies to operate with pervasive data and unparalleled agility. He often speaks on topics involving enterprise data, analytics, and user experience.
Having spent most of his career within the Distech Controls organization with 15 years of experience in the industry, Ryan Sen most recently served as Director of Sales where he was in charge of the sales channel for the entire Canada. He has previously held a multitude of management roles within the organization. Ryan has also performed Business Development for the Distech Controls Energy Services division and briefly supported the Canadian Market in a Regional Sales Management role.
Tom Shircliff is a co-founder and principal of Intelligent Buildings. Intelligent Buildings was founded in 2004 and provides managed services and advisory services that reduce operational risk and lower cost structure in commercial real estate. Their services support smart building design development, contractor cybersecurity and facility public health solutions.
Kevin Shtofman is the COO of NavigatorCRE and oversees global enterprise engagement. With over 16 years' experience, Kevin is recognized as one of the leading commercial real estate tech executives in the industry and is a noted speaker, author and blogger within the growing PropTech sector.
Kevin Smith is the CTO of Tridium, providing technology strategy and direction. The author of seven technology books on the subjects of cybersecurity, semantic interoperability, and software engineering, he is a frequent speaker at industry conferences on various topics, including a focus on cybersecurity and building control systems. For more than 25 years, Kevin has led technology organizations and endeavored to develop highly secure, data-focused software solutions for a wide variety of customers, including both US government and commercial industry.
Peter Smith leads business development efforts for the RXR Digital Lab, a technology and innovation team developing solutions to improve building operations and workplace experience. He has spent over a decade developing and implementing sustainability, health and well-being, and technology solutions for leading organizations seeking to transform their global real estate portfolios to enhance human experience, advance Environmental Social Governance (ESG) initiatives, and improve business metrics.
Helane Stein is SVP, CIO of Brixmor, which owns and operates a high-quality, national portfolio of open-air shopping centers. Its 393 retail centers comprise of approximately 69 million square feet of prime retail space in established trade areas.
Nicholas Stello is the SVP of IT Infrastructure for New-York based Vornado Realty Trust. His responsibilities include leading the company's IT initiatives as they relate to in-building cellular, networking, cyber security and smart building connectivity. Vornado’s unique assets have enabled Mr. Stello to both differentiate and increase the value of its properties by structuring innovative agreements with national cellular carriers and other related technology providers.
Charlie Stephens is the head of NYC Tri-State Partnership at HqO, the premier mobile app that helps landlords provide the best 'Tenant Experience' by engaging tenants within their office portfolio.
Dan Sterk is an Enterprise Managing Consultant with RealFoundations. Dan has significant experience addressing clients’ business needs and delivering solutions through a combination of organization, process, and technology changes. Dan has spent his career focused on serving the real estate and construction industries completing over twenty successful consulting engagements and five complete lifecycle system implementations.
Craig Stevenson is President of AUROS Group, who pioneered the use of technology to bridge the gap between building science and data science. Craig is co-author of the recently released book, “The Power of Existing Buildings—Save Money, Improve Health and Reduce Environmental Impacts” and the often-referenced ASTM article, “Project Case Studies and the Lessons they Teach about Whole Building Envelope Air Leakage Testing.” Finally, Craig holds two United States’ patents in the field of data science for the built environment.
Tyson Strandberg is Bell Partner's Director of Client Relations. Bell Partners has earned over 80% repeat investors from Fund to Fund resulting from their attention to the investor experience, alongside a strong track record over 40+ years in business. She manages investor relations and broadened the reach of Bell’s Investment Management platform through Juniper Square to include over 100 additional contacts related to property management clients and lender partners. Tyson’s experience has spurred additional technology enhancements including an online payment portal, electronic delivery of all materials, and a fully automated fundraise.
Rajavel Subramanian is the co-founder and CPO of Facilio. He heads Facilio’s product strategy and is committed to making it easier for property stakeholders to maintain and operate large real estate portfolios spread across geographies. Subramanian's career spans over 20 years of product and revenue operations focusing on enterprise-scale telecom, and IoT solutions. He is passionate about leveraging cloud-based solutions to solve operational challenges at the portfolio scale and transforming the future of building automation.
Pat Sweeney is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at TIA. In this role, Pat is responsible for driving membership, and developing marketing programs to grow TIA’s standards committees, technology programs and overall position as a the leading industry association for the connected world. Prior to joining TIA, Pat has driven sales and marketing programs with Sprint/Nextel and Sierra Wireless. During his ICT career, Pat has focused on leading edge technologies for M2M and IOT solutions to drive value for partners and customers.
Lisa Tecklenburg is the Chief Marketing Officer of R-Zero, bringing over 15 years of experience in Marketing, Sales, and General Management at P&G, Bayer, and GE. Lisa has worked across many industries including biotech, pharmaceuticals, CPG, B2B, and foodservice. Shehas a consistent track record of turning around teams and businesses to deliver record-breaking campaigns and business results.
Rob Teel is responsible for product development, support and implementations of Yardi's Commercial Property Management and Investment Management suites. Rob joined Yardi Systems in 2003, and he has nearly 20 years of property and financial systems implementation experience.
Vivek Thadani leads Product Strategy for the CRE unit at Moody’s Analytics. His team evaluates and supports new product development, as well as integrations across the growing portfolio of CRE products with the rest of the Moody’s Analytics ecosystem and strategic industry partners. Prior to the role he has managed the Product team at REIS, and the Structured Finance Advisory team at Moody’s Analytics.
Jesse Timmerman is a Vice President of Information Technology at Shorenstein Realty Services overseeing its data management, reporting, and application integration functions. For the past 15 years, he has maintained an affinity for Microsoft-based BI technologies, and is currently a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert in Data Management & Analytics. Jesse’s current strategic priorities for his team include a slow-but-steady migration from legacy systems to reimagined cloud replacements, as well as hopping on the low-code app dev bandwagon.
Brian Turner, CEO of Buildings IOT, is leading the disruption of how mart building systems are viewed, maintained, and reported. For more than two decades, he has worked with some of the world’s largest property owners and facility managers in developing lasting strategies for complex integrations and enabled solutions to the problems found, fuels his passion for making smart buildings as they should be to show the world what they can be.
Clayton Ulrich is the firm’s Senior Vice President, Corporate Operations and Engineering Services and also serves as Global Sustainability Officer. He is responsible for the firm's industry-leading standards in operations and maintenance, environmental policy, equipment efficiency, energy management and engineering employee development. His experience with building operations, technologies, equipment, components and systems is instrumental in optimizing performance and minimizing risk for the assets Hines manages.
Jim Valente leads RealFoundations global Data Services Team, which is focused on helping real estate firms collect, organize and manage their data to support the investment decision making process, as well as the tracking and reporting of performance. With a core background in investment strategy and research, Jim has helped many of the largest global investors and real estate managers align their investment strategies with benchmarking and tools to measure performance and manage risk. Jim previously served as the Head of US Research for ING Clarion and Bentall Kennedy, and as both the Head of Real Estate Product Management and the Global Head of Real Estate at MSCI, Inc. During his time at MSCI Jim created and launched the PREA/IPD suite of Property Fund Indexes and transformed their attribution and risk platforms for real estate.
Brandon Van Orden is SVP & CIO for Cousins Properties Incorporated based in Atlanta. He is responsible for Cousins technical vision and all aspects of the Information Technology organization including people, strategy, development and operations. Prior to joining Cousins in 2016, Brandon was VP of Global Applications for Novelis and prior to that he was with GE Energy for 12 years where he held a number of IT leadership roles increasing in responsibility after he graduated from the GE Information Technology Leadership Program in 2003.
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.
Donny Walker leads Newcomb Boyd's Intelligent Building Systems group. He has over 20 years of engineering, project management, and partner-in-charge responsibilities in communications, security and integrated building automation systems. His experience includes aviation facilities, health care buildings, judicial facilities, advanced technology developments, military installations, data centers, mixed-use developments, performing arts facilities and college campuses. With prowess designing technologically sophisticated campuses, his background encompasses over 150 projects specializing in an integrated design with network-enabled systems.
Sheridan Ware manages all aspects of technology at Charter Hall. Multi-layered with far-reaching impact, her team constantly seeks new ways to leverage platforms and data – to drive deeper insights that will not only create better choices in property investment, but also ensure the business is operating as efficiently as possible to continue to grow and support its investors’ future wealth. As a human-centric designer, Sheridan puts people at the heart of everything she does.
Andrew Weakland is the Director of Systems Development for W. P. Carey, a net-lease REIT focused on providing long-term sale-leaseback and build-to-suit solutions for companies in the U.S. and Northern and Western Europe. Andrew specializes in bringing emerging technologies into the real estate space to drive competitive advantage while maintaining the cohesiveness of the overall enterprise technology footprint.
Jim Whalen serves as SVP and CIO/CTO responsible for the direction and implementation of technology and applications at Boston Properties, a fully integrated real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners and developers of Class-A office properties in the United States. Over a 27-year IT career, Jim has supported real estate operations ranging from residential, construction, public housing, commercial office and retail.
With significant experience as a Global Technology Program Manager, Hampton is proficient in strategic planning and leadership. He possesses extensive knowledge in collaboration, experiential, network and digital communication technology, as well as with smart building and building automation system technology. Adept in finding cost-effective solutions that meet customer requirements on schedule, Hampton has a proven ability to manage global multi-million dollar technology projects.
Charles Whiteley is VP, Global Digital Leader, B+P at AECOM. He has 15+ years of experience driving digital and business transformation efforts for Fortune 100 companies across a variety of industries. Charles is responsible for defining global digital strategy for AECOM’s B+P (Buildings and Places) business line and acts a key technology and strategy advisor for key client and government pursuits tied to smart cities, digital twins, smart campuses, common data environments, sustainability and large scale master plans and urban revitalization efforts.
Grant is the Vice President of Data Partnership at Cherre, Grant is currently leading the creation and growth of our Data Partner network as well as strategic Business development efforts. Prior to Cherre, Grant had 20 years of experience in the software world, majority of which was focused on the CRE industry leading sales and business development teams for Yardi, VTS, Juniper Square, and Realpage. Before CRE Grant worked for Oracle and SAP.
As Managing Partner, VP of Strategy & Business Development, Lisa Woods is responsible for developing Realcomm's strategic relationships with those technology companies that participate in the company's conferences, seminars and CIO events. Prior to joining Realcomm, Lisa spent 10 years working with building owners and managers, providing technology solutions in telecommunications, access control and security.
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.
Leon Wurfel is the CEO of BUENO. Leon founded BUENO in partnership with Airmaster Australia with the aim of utilising current and emerging technologies to drive innovative sustainability and operations solutions.
In 1982, Anant Yardi recognized the need for an integrated accounting and property management software for the residential marketplace. With his background and years of programming experience, he designed “Basic Property Management” which was created for the Apple II computer and was sold to the company's first customer, Sabaco Realtors. Since then, Anant has directed the company through over 30 years of steady growth, remaining the president and sole owner as Yardi became a leader in real estate asset and property management solutions. Today, Anant continues to serve as president of Yardi Systems, and his vision is the driving force behind the development of effective and innovative software solutions for global real estate portfolio management.
Founder of Realcomm Conference Group, an education organization that produces Realcomm, IBcon and CoRE Tech, the world's leading conferences on technology, automated business solutions, intelligent buildings and energy efficiency for the commercial and corporate real estate industry. As CEO, Jim interacts with the largest companies globally pertaining to some of the most advanced and progressive next generation real estate projects under development.
Ilan Zachar is currently Chief Technology Officer at Carr Properties, a privately held REIT known for its portfolio of trophy-quality properties in the Washington D.C. In this role, Ilan leverages vision and foresight to cross-pollinate best practices, processes, systems and resources across corporate operations/affiliates. Under his leadership, this has resulted in improvements in bottom-line costs, top-line business growth/scalability, operational sustainability and high performance and overall, strengthening his company’s role as a market leader. For over 20 years, Ilan has been executive business leader and innovative technology strategist for multinational real-estate and property development companies worldwide.