Advisors
IBCon Advisory Council Co-Chairs
Ilene Goldfine is the Chief Digital Strategy Officer for Hines. She oversees the Global Digital Strategy Office, which uses technology and data to empower Hines employees, engage clients and partners, optimize operations and continuously transform our products and services. Previously she served as head of the Business Technology Group after having worked on several of the firm’s investment funds and in the financial/accounting functions across the firm.
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.
In his role, Neil Ross leads the development and delivery of product and technology strategy across Walmart’s corporate real estate portfolio. He leads a wide variety of initiatives including smart buildings and campus, workplace experience, mobile engagement, portfolio sustainability, and more. Neil, his team of SMEs, and their partners define device, platform, and data strategies required to enable and deliver value to Walmart and support its corporate objectives.
IBCon Advisory Council Members
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.
Farukh Aslam is the Chief Executive Officer of Sinclair Digital (SD) a low voltage design and consulting company developing Digital DC-Microgrid Buildings. In 2019, Aslam successfully developed the Sinclair Marriott Autograph Hotel which is widely considered the most diverse PoE and DC Microgrid project in North America. From the completion of the Sinclair Hotel, Aslam created SD to bring expertise of the sustainability and cost benefits of a DC building infrastructure to the marketplace. Since its inception SD has been involved in several design build projects and continues to evolve DC infrastructure in buildings.
Ajoy Bhattacharya is a Senior Technology Strategist working within Microsoft’s AEC sub vertical. In his role he works with CIOs and other executives to strategize on their IT and Innovation plans. He also serves as an Industry Executive for the AEC space. Prior to joining Microsoft Ajoy was a senior leader in IT and Innovation roles at Suffolk Construction, one of largest privately held General Contractors and a leader in the Construction industry. His passion lies in disrupting the construction industry and some of his works has led to innovative solutions for this industry that were created on Microsoft’s platforms.
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.
James Brogan, AIA RIBA NCARB, is currently a Principal / CIO with Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), responsible for the overall strategy and integration of digital technologies in KPF’s nine global locations, including Digital Practice, information, data and knowledge management, advanced modeling and immersive technologies, the KPF intranet.
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.
Charles Buscarino is a recognized leader in the design and implementation of integrated smart building systems. He founded The Clarient Group (TCG) in 2002 and under his leadership, TCG has developed innovative solutions for more than 100 clients and 55 million square feet of properties, including many well-known signature projects.
Vardahn is a Vice President in the Investments group at JBG SMITH where he leads the firm’s Digital Infrastructure strategy and business unit. JBGS is deploying an urban last-mile digital infrastructure investment platform across National Landing including fiber, data centers, towers (small cells & macro), and spectrum assets. Vardahn also oversees the firm’s venture capital fund investments (~$50M equity) and various other strategic initiatives to advance adoption of new technologies. Prior to joining JBGS, Vardahn was the lead consultant in Accenture’s Smart Cities and Digital Infrastructure practice where he worked across industries (public sector, real estate, telecom, resources) on strategy, investment, and operations consulting.
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.
Scott Collins has over 20 years of industry knowledge and experience in construction project management and building automation. He was previously with Bedrock where he implemented an integration with smart and cutting-edge technology across its vast real estate portfolio of 95+ properties and 14 million SF in downtown Detroit that resulted in capital expenditures reduction and enhanced tenant experiences.
Emmanuel Daniel is CEO & Founder of ALOSANAR. He is a visionary expert in workplace technology and human experience design focusing on Workplace Strategy, Sustainability, Smart Buildings, Cities & Campuses. He is known for his contributions to creating harmonious and efficient work environments across the world. With over two decades of experience at the intersection of technology and human behavior, Emmanuel has shaped the landscape of modern workplaces through his innovative strategies and empathetic approach to design.
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.
Maureen Ehrenberg, FRICS, CRE, is co-founder and CEO of Blue Skyre IBE, a Colliers Strategic Partner. Her firm specializes in operationalizing ESG for real estate portfolios and digitizing property operations. Ehrenberg is an internationally recognized real estate industry business leader whose expertise lies in business process transformation, strategic positioning, and operations of large, complex portfolios. She led, repositioned and doubled the size of three leading global real estate facility outsourcing businesses. With more than 35 years of experience, she has deep expertise in providing companies with global real estate advice and services. Before founding Blue Skyre, Ehrenberg held global executive roles with WeWork, JLL, CBRE, and Grubb & Ellis.
Brett Fisher is the Senior Director of Product Management for Workplace Service Delivery, and is tasked with defining and executing on the roadmap for the platform. Previously, he was a Senior Manager at Deloitte Consulting, with responsibilities in leading the IWMS practice. Brett has a decade of experience in leveraging technology to enable the Corporate Real Estate (CRE) function. He has led real estate technology strategy engagements, inclusive of technology system selection and modernization programs. He has relationships with real estate leaders, orchestrated the relationships with a variety of technology partners, and is a published thought leader, commenting on the future of real estate technology.
Robert Fitzgerald is the Regional Technology Director for JLL Technologies. In this role, Robert helps clients shape their digital transformation strategy. He and his team provide advisory and consulting expertise to clients to help identify, select, implement, and sustain workplace technologies, bringing fit for purpose solutions that deliver targeted business outcomes supporting workplace experience, portfolio optimization, operational efficiency, and carbon footprint reduction. Prior to his current role, Robert held several leadership roles with Nokia Workplace Resources helping transform their portfolio, organization and digital landscape globally.
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.
Michael Frazee is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of Lendlease, a globally integrated real estate and investment group committed to the creation of communities which thrive. With over 28 years of IT experience at Lendlease, Michael is a trusted leader in building global teams and large-scale security programs that address cybersecurity, technology risk and enhance operational resilience. Michael also serves on the Leadership Board of the Real Estate Cyber Consortium (RECC), an organisation focused on elevating awareness across the real estate community about cyber security preparedness for buildings and facilities.
As CEO, 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.
Arv Gupta is an Operating Executive with extensive General Management background in Retail /Consumer Products and Services, known for building and transforming organizations to drive significant sales growth and value. Accomplished in leading business units within multiple consumer industry sectors, including iconic consumer brands, driving "turnaround" performance, by gaining organizational commitment for revitalized business directions. Arv is currently the Senior Vice President of Operations Services, at Cadillac Fairview Corporation, with a mandate to drive national operational efficiency and effectiveness, while maintaining a standard of excellence in client experience across all properties.
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.
Russ Holton leads the Building Management System design, integration, project management, commissioning, retro commissioning, functional testing, service and support for the Bedrock Detroit and the Bedrock Cleveland Real Estate Portfolio. The portfolio currently has 55 commercial and residential sites approaching 15 million square feet of integrated properties.
Ali Hoss is Triovest’s Chief Sustainability Officer responsible for advancing ESG performance and innovation for a portfolio of $12B of commercial properties. He has over 20 years of work experience in sustainability and energy management and is regarded as a strategic builder of unique products and services for design and implementation of energy conservation and GHG emission mitigation projects.
Michael Izzo is the firm’s Senior Vice President, Carbon Strategy responsible for leading Hines’ efforts to assess its carbon emissions and develop the strategy to set and achieve the firm’s science-based targets. He engages regularly with the firm’s global teams to provide strategic leadership and ensure continuity and the successful progression on the firm’s strategy and commitments and help lead the industry’s carbon emissions response.
Karen Jalon is Cadillac Fairview's Vice President of Sustainability, Energy & Smart Technology and is responsible for the company’s award-winning approach to sustainability, climate, and energy management as well as its smart building technologies strategy and execution. Karen is an industry-leading pioneer in establishing Green Building standards and sits on many of the guiding committees that set the sustainability standards to which the global real estate industry adheres.
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.
Ryan Knudson, is the AVP for Operations and Energy Management at Macerich. He is responsible for the development, execution and operations for all Capital Expense Energy and Smart Building projects as well as national program vendor management. He oversees the daily operations of Macerich’s portfolio with a focus on same center NOI growth.
Jeremy Kopstein joined Uber in May 2017, bringing 15 years of experience within CRE Technology. With these skills and previous experiences, he is working to build a state-of-the-art Workplace & Real Estate Application Platform for Uber. Jeremy is currently responsible for the development and maintenance of Uber's Application Platform for the Workplace & Real Estate Team which includes Lease Administration, Transaction Management, Facility Management, Project Management, Smart Building, and Data Strategy. In this role, he focuses on the strategy, leadership, and delivery of the tools needed to optimize Uber's real estate portfolio and meet reporting requirements.
Skilled in communicating technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences alike, Brad Kults helps clients navigate the ever-changing technology landscape to select flexible, scalable solutions that adapt to present and future needs. Brad believes buildings should respond to the occupants, and that technology must seamlessly enable productivity without being a focal point. With a background in low voltage systems, he brings a unique perspective to strategizing intelligent buildings solutions. Brad is the founder the Building Intelligence Group (BIG), a non-profit association providing networking and education for intelligent building owners, operators, and professionals across all industries and at a local level.
Sabine Lam brings the digital building vision to the forefront of Google's Facility Operation teams, enabling a secure, integrated and scalable platform that delivers next generation services to realize 2030 sustainability commitments, operational efficiency, and support healthy and productive spaces for Googlers. Her responsibilities include leading the development of a Workplace Platform to efficiently integrate building systems, facilitating the transition to a digitized and connected real estate portfolio, and collaborating with industry leaders to inspire and enable industry transformation.
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.
James McHale is CEO & Founder of Memoori, an independent analyst company based in Stockholm providing market research, business intelligence and advice on Smart Building technologies.
Lawrence Melton is the CEO and Founder of The Building People. With over 25 years of Federal Executive experience, Lawrence established the company in 2013 and found early success in its global reach to drive greater efficiency, investment, and performance for its clients. He is recognized globally as an expert in Facilities Management, Smart Buildings and Asset Management.
Charlie Miller is a real estate technology and innovation leader with over 20 years of experience driving digital transformation through design, product development, and technology. He has been a trusted advisor to some of the world's most innovative destinations, including Hudson Yards, The Grove, LAX Airport, The Obama Presidential Center, and ICD Brookfield Place Dubai. Charlie was formerly VP Innovation & Digital Experience at Brookfield, where he is now a consultant, leading innovation and digital experience advisory for Brookfield Properties commercial and land development businesses.
Scott Mitton is a collaborative 30-year IT veteran that has worked with clients globally to execute their business goals with the purposeful use of technology. Scott transitioned into the construction industry 10 years ago to apply his IT knowledge and experience to the build space. He collaborates with executives and operations teams to ensure the technology is leveraged in such a manner to not only meet business and financial goals but to operate more efficiently while creating a unique and progressive user experience. His work truly supports the most important asset: the people who work or live in them.
Matthew Montañes works in the Global Real Estate group at JPMorgan Chase & Co. In that capacity, he is responsible for Global Property Management and Regional Asset Management activities for the firm’s corporate and retail portfolio. He was previously Director of Global Property Operations at Tishman Speyer.
Trent Morano is currently SVP at Power Designs. With more 20 years in the construction industry, he is a highly accomplished Fortune 500 executive leader with exceptional vision, strategy and sales acumen complemented by proven results in business transformation models. With his unique background in construction, electrical, mechanical, and IT, Trent brings forward financial models to executives that impact the bottom line.
Sara Neff is the Head of ESG, Lendlease Americas, where she provides leadership and management oversight in developing, implementing and driving Lendlease's corporate sustainability framework in the Americas region. Prior to that role, she served as Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation. Under her leadership, Kilroy has been recognized as a leader among publicly traded real estate companies on sustainability in the Americas by GRESB for seven of the last eight years as well as being recognized by NAREIT, and achieved carbon neutral operations at the end of 2020.
David is the Sustainability Manager for Mirvac’s $9 billion investment portfolio. He leads a team of in-house sustainability professionals who are responsible for the delivery of Mirvac’s This Changes Everything sustainability strategy across the Office, Industrial and Retail portfolios.
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.
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.
Tony Schaffer has led a distinguished career spanning over 25 years in the wireless industry, marked by his exceptional leadership, business acumen, and deal-making prowess. Renowned for his loyalty, trust and strong rapport with C-level executives in REITs, Developers, and Owners across various real estate sectors, Tony is committed to delivering First Class service to HALO Clients and his team with unparalleled integrity.
Jeannie Schneider is the SVP & CTO for Hines. She is responsible for all corporate and global real estate technologies, strategy, and standards. Jeannie has established a reputation as a versatile, strategic leader who has a very deep knowledge of real estate and how technology can transform the industry and Hines to create more value.
Brian Schwartz has over 20 years’ experience in information technology and is currently responsible for infrastructure, end user computing, cybersecurity and privacy at Macerich as Vice President of Infrastructure. Brian’s responsibilities include both PropTech infrastructure as well as more traditional IT infrastructure to support the entire enterprise. Brian is passionate about leveraging technology to create value and enhance customer 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.
Maya Setchkova is a Managing Director at Cushman & Wakefield, San Francisco, in charge of a global account spanning all service lines. She has over 20 years of experience in real estate investment, asset management, finance, brokerage, property and facility management, project management, and lease administration. Maya is passionate about introducing innovative technology to the traditionally conservative real estate sector. She has piloted/implemented a large number of new PropTech solutions in various property portfolios. Maya also serves as CFO/COO/CSO advisor to startups in the real estate and healthcare space. She is an established PropTech expert and has spoken at PropTech forums and published articles on the subject.
Michael Sherwood isthe Chief Innovation and Technology Officer for the City of Las Vegas. He has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of process improvement, technology and innovation. Prior to the city of Las Vegas, he served as the Deputy Director of Public Safety, Business Services & City Technology for the City of Irvine, California. Michael is extremely passionate about technology and believes that through innovation, workforce development and collaboration, we can create brighter and sustainable communities.
Mike Smith is a real estate technology expert with more than 15 years of experience focused on technology, operations, infrastructure, innovation and energy-saving solutions for the real estate industry. He launched WhiteSpace in 2015 to provide a single source of building technology solutions for the real estate market.
Nicholas Stello is the SVP, Digital 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 Nick to both differentiate and increase the value of its properties by structuring innovative agreements with national cellular carriers and other related technology providers.
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.
Nada Sutic is the Vice President, Sustainability, Innovation and National Programs at Epic Investment Services. In this role, Nada is responsible for strategy and implementation of sustainability, digital building transformation and numerous operational programs with a focus on implementation through building operations and performance across the company’s diverse portfolio. With 15+ years of experience in commercial real estate, focused on sustainability, operational excellence and property management, Nada leads with a drive for successful implementation and critical measurement.
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.
Brian leads FPC Global’s Technical Consulting practice where they support the development and delivery of digital programs across client’s portfolios at scale. He is tasked with the organizational & technical development of the team required to support FPC & their clients goals. With a variety of roles in consulting, product management, solutioning, design, and operations, across many different verticals, Brian has spent over 15 years helping clients give shape to, and realizing, their strategic goals. This breath of experience gives him a unique understanding of how the technology stack in the built environment can be leveraged to create value and achieve a clients goals.
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.
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.
Leon founded Bueno in 2013, with a vision of using technology and his engineering expertise to improve building energy performance. His vision has seen rapid growth and success. Prior to Bueno, Leon worked as an Energy Efficiency Consultant in the Australian commercial property sector and was involved in the development of the world’s first legislated Building Performance Standard (NABERS).
IBcon 2024 | Low Voltage Advisory Group
Tyler Andrews is a leader and influencer on Intelligent Buildings and Power Over Ethernet. With his unique mix of technical expertise, construction experience, and project management knowledge, Tyler leads PoE Texas by making technology accessible to facility owners.
Farukh Aslam is the Chief Executive Officer of Sinclair Digital (SD) a low voltage design and consulting company developing Digital DC-Microgrid Buildings. In 2019, Aslam successfully developed the Sinclair Marriott Autograph Hotel which is widely considered the most diverse PoE and DC Microgrid project in North America. From the completion of the Sinclair Hotel, Aslam created SD to bring expertise of the sustainability and cost benefits of a DC building infrastructure to the marketplace. Since its inception SD has been involved in several design build projects and continues to evolve DC infrastructure in buildings.
Jim Baldwin is the founder and CEO of Domatic, a company that is revolutionizing how to build smarter, healthier buildings. With over 30 years of experience in software and hardware design and development, he has led and contributed to innovative projects at Apple, Microsoft, Intel, and several startups.
Steve Corcoran is the president of SDC Next Consulting, a data-driven firm specializing in network design, system optimization, and technology convergence for commercial building projects in North America. With over 30 years of experience in wireless and wireline networks, he excels at uniting the right people and technologies to deliver optimal solutions for clients.
Derek is a values-centered entrepreneur who is passionate about the environment and making bold leaps in energy efficiency through system integration. He is a subject matter expert in building controls and intelligent DC Nanogrids, and contributes to industry working groups to promote efficient building technologies. As founder and CEO of LumenCache, he is leading the collaborative effort to globally change the standard for power distribution in buildings making them smart, safe, efficient, and resilient.
Kim Johnson serves as the chief marketing officer for MHT Technologies, a leader in Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) lighting and the building automation software space. Johnson is responsible for refining and promoting the company’s global brand and increasing exposure for its industry leading smart-building technology solutions. In 2022, she was elected by peer organizations to be the first president of the PoE Consortium, a group of 40+ companies that came together to form an organization to promote the use of Power-over-Ethernet technology as a safe, sustainable, and smart backbone for intelligent buildings. She led the organization from its nascent beginnings to being an nationally known advocacy and educational non-profit through 2023.
As the NA Market Development Manager for the DALI Alliance, Carol continues her journey of bringing higher value digital lighting into reality. She’s a 35-year veteran of the lighting industry, but she's anything but an industry standard. With a diverse background having been a lighting designer, a ‘labbie’ at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and a manufacturer—the constant is her commitment to innovation and market transformation. She’s performed in various roles ranging from front-end innovation to product management and marketing, and most recently is the owner of Beyond Light Consulting. Carol has long been involved with standards development, professional associations and Federal policy. With 40-plus conference presentations and 20 publications under her belt, she’s well-known as a speaker and author.
Trent Morano is currently SVP at Power Designs. With more 20 years in the construction industry, he is a highly accomplished Fortune 500 executive leader with exceptional vision, strategy and sales acumen complemented by proven results in business transformation models. With his unique background in construction, electrical, mechanical, and IT, Trent brings forward financial models to executives that impact the bottom line.
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.
IBcon 2024 | Precon: Automation ≠ Smart Co-Chairs
Anto Budiardjo is CEO of Padi.io. He has been a veteran in the connected building space since 1989, having developed numerous integration platforms for buildings focused on interoperability. Today, Anto focuses on system integration in the Internet era with an online platform Padi.io. Core to Padi is the advocacy of CNS/CP (Connection Profiles), an interoperation mechanism being adopted as the open mechanism by Digital Twin communities.
IBcon 2024 | Precon: IB Boot Camp Co-Chairs
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).
IBcon 2024 | Precon: Smart Building Integrator Summit (SBIS) Co-Chairs
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.
Ed Merwin has over 46 years of experience in the building automation industry in field operations, sales, marketing, and management. Ed is currently the Director of Strategic Business working with Tridium marketing, engineering, and sales teams to support Tridium’s long term business strategy in various markets. He also works with end users, owners, consultants, and system integrators daily to help understand the technology needs of these valued customers.
Trent Morano is currently SVP at Power Designs. With more 20 years in the construction industry, he is a highly accomplished Fortune 500 executive leader with exceptional vision, strategy and sales acumen complemented by proven results in business transformation models. With his unique background in construction, electrical, mechanical, and IT, Trent brings forward financial models to executives that impact the bottom line.
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.
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.
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.
IBcon 2024 | Precon: Smarter Connected Buildings Forum Co-Chairs
Ilene Goldfine is the Chief Digital Strategy Officer for Hines. She oversees the Global Digital Strategy Office, which uses technology and data to empower Hines employees, engage clients and partners, optimize operations and continuously transform our products and services. Previously she served as head of the Business Technology Group after having worked on several of the firm’s investment funds and in the financial/accounting functions across the firm.
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.
In his role, Neil Ross leads the development and delivery of product and technology strategy across Walmart’s corporate real estate portfolio. He leads a wide variety of initiatives including smart buildings and campus, workplace experience, mobile engagement, portfolio sustainability, and more. Neil, his team of SMEs, and their partners define device, platform, and data strategies required to enable and deliver value to Walmart and support its corporate objectives.
IBcon 2024 | Precon: Sustainable Impact Forum Co-Chairs
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.
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.
Ali Hoss is Triovest’s Chief Sustainability Officer responsible for advancing ESG performance and innovation for a portfolio of $12B of commercial properties. He has over 20 years of work experience in sustainability and energy management and is regarded as a strategic builder of unique products and services for design and implementation of energy conservation and GHG emission mitigation projects.
Michael Izzo is the firm’s Senior Vice President, Carbon Strategy responsible for leading Hines’ efforts to assess its carbon emissions and develop the strategy to set and achieve the firm’s science-based targets. He engages regularly with the firm’s global teams to provide strategic leadership and ensure continuity and the successful progression on the firm’s strategy and commitments and help lead the industry’s carbon emissions response.
Karen Jalon is Cadillac Fairview's Vice President of Sustainability, Energy & Smart Technology and is responsible for the company’s award-winning approach to sustainability, climate, and energy management as well as its smart building technologies strategy and execution. Karen is an industry-leading pioneer in establishing Green Building standards and sits on many of the guiding committees that set the sustainability standards to which the global real estate industry adheres.
Lauren Brust Moss is the Senior Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer at Vornado Realty Trust, where she oversees the company’s industry-leading sustainability programs including initiatives focused on energy efficiency, green cleaning, waste diversion, technology and infrastructure, and healthy environments. Lauren has more than 20 years of experience managing sustainability, energy and capital improvements for large-scale buildings and portfolios, and is recognized as an industry thought leader and advocate on green policy, regulation and compliance.
Nada Sutic is the Vice President, Sustainability, Innovation and National Programs at Epic Investment Services. In this role, Nada is responsible for strategy and implementation of sustainability, digital building transformation and numerous operational programs with a focus on implementation through building operations and performance across the company’s diverse portfolio. With 15+ years of experience in commercial real estate, focused on sustainability, operational excellence and property management, Nada leads with a drive for successful implementation and critical measurement.
Precon: CRE Cybersecurity Forum Co-Chairs
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.
Greg Fitzpatrick is the Business Development Leader for IoT and Integration at Cochrane Supply and Engineering, where he supports end users, consulting engineers and systems integrators in the area of IoT, Integration and Enterprise Software. With over 25 years in the Building Systems and Controls business, he helps clients match new technology for Smart Buildings through specification writing, technology presentations and design assistance. Greg is also Executive Director for the Real Estate Cyber Consortium (RECC) focused on promoting cyber security awareness for operational technology.
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.
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.
Cecilia Li has more than 20 years of experience as a proven technology strategist and business transformation expert. She is currently the SVP, CIO of Urban Edge Properties, a REIT that focused on management, acquiring, development and redevelopment of retail real estate in urban communities. Urban Edge owns 77 properties totaling 16.2 million square feet of gross leasable area.
Sean Nealon is the Information Security leader for Brookfield Properties Group. In this role, he has created an information security program from the ground up and established a risk management strategy for their more than 70 companies across all real estate verticals including protecting a vast amount of IoT devices across the various portfolios.
Helane Stein is SVP, CIO of Brixmor responsible for the overall technology vision, strategy, systems and infrastructure that support business operations. She leads the implementation of transformational solutions that drive organizational efficiency, increase productivity, enhance collaboration and deliver results. Brixmor owns and operates a high-quality, national portfolio of open-air shopping centers. Its 632 retail centers comprise of approximately 64 million square feet of prime retail space in established trade areas.
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.
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.
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Mark is truly "living the dream" as Atlassian’s resident Modern Work expert and evangelist. Focused on practice over theory, Mark spends his days coaching both Atlassian and customer teams on new ways of working, then sharing what he's learned at events around the world! Joining Atlassian in 2019, Mark brings over a decade of experience experimenting with work and helping people, teams, and organizations transform at places like Boeing, Nordstrom, TD Ameritrade, and Rocket Mortgage. Mark has made it his mission to inject modern ways of working, a transformation mindset, and the power of expert storytelling into everything he does.
Greg is a Studio Director in Gensler’s San Francisco office and Digital Experience Design Leader for the firm’s Northwest region. He specializes in developing experiential design projects focused on media and technology for the built environment. With over 20 years of experience, Greg works with clients to imagine what’s next in immersive art and technology to enable the newest and most advanced concepts for work, leisure, and learning environments.
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.
Cliff is a CEO, entrepreneur and business executive whose success has come from building and leading outstanding teams, creating trusted relationships, identifying new market opportunities, and working with vision and integrity. He draws on 40 years of experience, spotting opportunities to capitalize on technology innovations, leveraging a customer centric approach. Cliff most recently co-founded Welo, a hybrid work solution that provides all of the intangibles of working together in an office so that colleagues who are in the office, remote or in hybrid situations can feel productive and connected. Welo is backed by Atlassian and Zoom.
Skip Rodenbush, Founder and CEO of The Virtual Specialist (TVS), excels at identifying applications and designing best-of-breed technology solutions that yield immediate measurable results at scale. TVS focuses on healthcare, sustainability, and commercial real estate specializing in improving the user experience and enabling people to work together virtually with actionable information regardless of location.
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.
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Stuart is an award-winning digital innovation and transformation leader recognized for strategic leadership. As the founder of Bay Tech Advisors, Stuart is an advisor to various PropTech startups and VCs and he provides Digital and Technology advice to firms across the real estate, private equity, and investment management industries. Stuart is currently on the board of the US Proptech Council and was previously an Innovation & Technology leader at CBRE, where he led their technology and smart buildings work at Google.
As the VP of Enterprise Applications and Operations at Phillips Edison & Company (PECO), Gary Bailey oversees the IT application development, and infrastructure and operations teams. He leads with operational excellence and innovation, delivering IT solutions that support the company's vision and goals. PECO is one of the nation's largest owners and operators of grocery-anchored shopping centers. Gary has been with PECO for 16 years, and has 24 years of IT experience, including 8 years as a Lead Network Engineer in an IT consultant role.
Joseph Martino has responsibility for Primaris’ overall Information Technology strategy. He has over 20 years of experience in Information Technology, Digital Transformation and Technology Operations. Joseph was previously consulting on ERP and major Digital Transformation projects and prior to that, Global VP of Information Technology at a market leader in connected vehicle and sensor technology.
Sunder Pappu has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is currently the SVP Head of Technology Strategy at Inland Real Estate Group and is responsible for leading project management and application development for the IT department, while ensuring Inland’s technology strategy is aligned with businesses and that technologies are available to meet each entities’ unique business demands.
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Sunder Pappu has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is currently the SVP Head of Technology Strategy at Inland Real Estate Group and is responsible for leading project management and application development for the IT department, while ensuring Inland’s technology strategy is aligned with businesses and that technologies are available to meet each entities’ unique business demands.
Soheil Pourhashemi is currently EVP, Business Technology and is responsible for establishing and executing the commercial real estate IT strategy, vision and roadmap for the office sector. He has a keen focus on data and analytics, automation, IoT and partnering with the business in executing new innovations across the portfolio. Brookfield Properties develops and operates more than 650 properties and 325 million square feet of high-quality, sustainability-focused real estate assets around the globe. It provides integrated services across all property investment strategies of Brookfield Asset Management, a global alternative asset manager with over $600 billion in AUM.
Helane Stein is SVP, CIO of Brixmor responsible for the overall technology vision, strategy, systems and infrastructure that support business operations. She leads the implementation of transformational solutions that drive organizational efficiency, increase productivity, enhance collaboration and deliver results. Brixmor owns and operates a high-quality, national portfolio of open-air shopping centers. Its 632 retail centers comprise of approximately 64 million square feet of prime retail space in established trade areas.
Realcomm Advisory Council Co-Chairs
Sunder Pappu has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is currently the SVP Head of Technology Strategy at Inland Real Estate Group and is responsible for leading project management and application development for the IT department, while ensuring Inland’s technology strategy is aligned with businesses and that technologies are available to meet each entities’ unique business demands.
Soheil Pourhashemi is currently EVP, Business Technology and is responsible for establishing and executing the commercial real estate IT strategy, vision and roadmap for the office sector. He has a keen focus on data and analytics, automation, IoT and partnering with the business in executing new innovations across the portfolio. Brookfield Properties develops and operates more than 650 properties and 325 million square feet of high-quality, sustainability-focused real estate assets around the globe. It provides integrated services across all property investment strategies of Brookfield Asset Management, a global alternative asset manager with over $600 billion in AUM.
Helane Stein is SVP, CIO of Brixmor responsible for the overall technology vision, strategy, systems and infrastructure that support business operations. She leads the implementation of transformational solutions that drive organizational efficiency, increase productivity, enhance collaboration and deliver results. Brixmor owns and operates a high-quality, national portfolio of open-air shopping centers. Its 632 retail centers comprise of approximately 64 million square feet of prime retail space in established trade areas.
Realcomm Advisory Council Members
Warren Adair is responsible for leading the LMH Information Technology (IT) team in designing, developing, and implementing organizational information systems and software applications. Adair is Security+ and CISSP certified and brings over 25 years of experience, expertise, and leadership to this role.
Farooz Alikhan is Managing Director Technology of DivcCore 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.
Stuart is an award-winning digital innovation and transformation leader recognized for strategic leadership. As the founder of Bay Tech Advisors, Stuart is an advisor to various PropTech startups and VCs and he provides Digital and Technology advice to firms across the real estate, private equity, and investment management industries. Stuart is currently on the board of the US Proptech Council and was previously an Innovation & Technology leader at CBRE, where he led their technology and smart buildings work at Google.
As the VP of Enterprise Applications and Operations at Phillips Edison & Company (PECO), Gary Bailey oversees the IT application development, and infrastructure and operations teams. He leads with operational excellence and innovation, delivering IT solutions that support the company's vision and goals. PECO is one of the nation's largest owners and operators of grocery-anchored shopping centers. Gary has been with PECO for 16 years, and has 24 years of IT experience, including 8 years as a Lead Network Engineer in an IT consultant role.
Porter Bellew is VP, CIO for Federal Realty Investment Trust. He is responsible for the Trust’s information technology strategy, services, operations and team. Porter has over 25 years of experience in real estate information management.
Scott Cardenas serves as Managing Director and the Chief Technology Officer for Bridge Investment Group. Over his career, Scott has worked globally implementing enterprise solutions to drive innovation, business efficiency and standardization. Prior to Bridge, Scott worked as the Chief Information Officer for the City and County of Denver. He oversaw the implementation of a new ERP platform, which served over 13K employees and 23 lines of business. In addition, Denver also implemented a new CRM platform that interfaced with over 700K residents, which improved overall communication and engagement.
Joe Chiappetta has been VP & CTO at Simon Property Group since joining the company in 2001. Joe has responsibility for the company's core business applications, Project Management Office and Project Execution, business intelligence solutions, and new value creation consistent with the company's business strategy. In his role, he has delivered on several large scale projects, driven new business processes, and implemented leading technologies such as Salesforce.com, Hyperion Financial Management, and Cognos tools. His group leads application architecture as well as the evaluation of new technologies for the business. Prior to joining Simon, Joe was a Certified Project Manager with IBM Corporation.
Nick Covello is the SVP and CIO for The John Buck Company. He is responsible for the overall information technology strategy, infrastructure, and all enterprise-wide systems. Nick brings over 20 years of experience in the field of information technology with a diverse background including corporate, asset management, and construction development platform solutions. His extensive knowledge is integral to developing synergistic relationships between technology and tenant experiences.
Sandeep Davé is the Chief Digital & Technology Officer for CBRE. In this role, Sandeep leads the company’s digital strategy and all aspects of technology globally. He and his team provide the technology capabilities and infrastructure to support CBRE’s clients and professionals across the globe. Prior to his current role, Sandeep served as Chief Digital and Technology Officer for CBRE’s Global Workplace Solutions business with responsibility for digital enablement and transformation of the business.
Sach Diwan is the Global Head of Data and Digital Products at LaSalle Investment Management. In this role, he oversees all strategic aspects of business technology and is responsible for driving innovation in global data and digital technology. Previously, Sach was a Senior Vice President at Northern Trust Asset Servicing, where he held product leadership roles in investment data science and investment operations and led numerous global implementations for investment operations outsourcing and outsourced trading for the company's leading investment management clients.
Fred DuBois has over 35 years of experience in CRE industry accounting, systems, finance and consulting. He has been with First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR) for 18 years where he is now Director of Business Systems Applications. FR is formed as a REIT and is known for excellent customer service, leasing, reporting and development systems. His past experience includes work for top companies like Ernst & Young, RealFoundations, Post Properties, and The Habitat Company. Fred is also a board member for the Oracle Real Estate User Group (OREUG).
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.
Ian Feagin is currently the CTO at Jamestown, a national, vertically integrated real estate operator with approximately $11.2 billion of assets under management. Previously, Ian was Director of Technical Support at Leapfrog for 14 years where he was responsible for providing technical services to over 10,000 users worldwide with a staff of 65 technicians.
Talia Fine is the SVP, Information Technology, responsible for the strategy and oversight of technology at Tanger. Prior to joining Tanger, Talia worked at Brookfield in both the office and retail sectors. She has over 15 years of experience in the real estate industry.
James Florian is the SVP, CIO of Related Companies, a privately owned real estate firm with a portfolio of over $60 billion in real estate assets owned or under development that is made up of best-in-class mixed-use, residential, retail, office and affordable properties. Prior to becoming CIO, James was the CISO at Related Companies. He has over 20 years of experience in helping businesses navigate the digital landscape, optimize infrastructure technology, and secure company assets.
Susan Gerock currently serves as SVP, Information Technology and CIO for Elme Communities, formerly known as WashREIT. She has over 25 years' experience in various technology roles spanning manufacturing, consulting, application service provider and commercial real estate organizations. Her specialties include ERP selection and implementation, project and change management, and cybersecurity. She is also a proponent of the use of social media and the overlapping relationship between technology and marketing.
Amanda Gibb has over 17 years’ experience in the commercial real estate space, leading technology teams for the past 10 years at Westfield, Starwood Retail, JLL, and now Bedrock in Detroit, MI. At Bedrock, Amanda works to deploy a fit-for-purpose application tech stack for the vertically integrated real estate company, including M&A, property management, leasing, development, construction, marketing, HR, legal, and accounting, across all asset types and classes. As CTIO she leads multiple technology teams, including Infrastructure, Applications, Building Controls, Data & Analytics, and Help Desk, working closely with the CTO and Innovation teams. The teams focus on projects that improve operational efficiency, cost savings, tenant experience, innovation, and data quality/insights.
Mike Goodwin is Stockbridge's CTO. He oversees information technology, information security and cybersecurity for the firm. He has a combined 18 years in the industry across different operational functions.
Sandy Jacolow is the SVP, CTO at Empire State Realty Trust. He oversees technology innovation supporting Property Management, ESG, and PropTech activities. He also runs ESRT’s IT and OT Cybersecurity programs working closely with the Information Technology and Compliance teams to monitor and mitigate risk associated with today’s cyber threats. He also serves as Chairperson of the REBNY (Real Estate Board of New York) Cybersecurity committee.
As SVP, CIO, Colin Joynt oversees the platform, implementation, and services team at BXP. He brings more than 20 years of IT experience, particularly in the application space, and most recently at NavigatorCRE, an industry leading asset management and reporting solution built on Microsoft technologies. Prior to NavigatorCRE, Colin held SVP of Information Technology roles at Retail Properties of America (RPAI) and Kite Realty Group.
As Group Technology Director, Kevin is responsible for maximizing the value of technology investments in Grosvenor. With over 20 years’ experience in technology, the last 17 of which have been in the property industry, he is passionate about how technology can be used to improve sustainability in the built environment, enhance the customer’s experience, and drive business performance. Since joining Grosvenor in 2014, Kevin has spent time in both London and Hong Kong, where he headed up the IT and Digital programme and development functions.
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.
Cecilia Li has more than 20 years of experience as a proven technology strategist and business transformation expert. She is currently the SVP, CIO of Urban Edge Properties, a REIT that focused on management, acquiring, development and redevelopment of retail real estate in urban communities. Urban Edge owns 77 properties totaling 16.2 million square feet of gross leasable area.
Joseph Martino has responsibility for Primaris’ overall Information Technology strategy. He has over 20 years of experience in Information Technology, Digital Transformation and Technology Operations. Joseph was previously consulting on ERP and major Digital Transformation projects and prior to that, Global VP of Information Technology at a market leader in connected vehicle and sensor technology.
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.
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.
In his role as leader of Information Technology at Thompson Thrift, Don Oldham provides advisory, orchestration and integration services to advance the cause of innovation in obtaining business value from technology. He and his team are tasked with discovering new technology opportunities, reducing the cost of doing business, adding efficiency to business processes and providing secure, customer focused access to technology. They improve efficiencies through the development and implementation of innovative technologies. Don has over 24 years of technology experience within the real estate sector finding, implementing or developing new solutions to solve business problems.
Clint Osteen is Sr. Director of IT and is responsible for directing Granite’s information services and telecommunications across the portfolio. Prior to joining Granite, Clint spent 10 years in consulting, providing commercial real estate companies technology and business improvement services.
Niraj Patel is Chief Information Officer at Greystone. He has over 25 years of operational and board experience with corporate, venture and private equity backed entities. Prior to joining Greystone, Niraj was the President of AI, Analytics and Platforms at DMI. Other roles include CIO of lending platforms at IBM, Strategy Officer at Selex, co-founder and President of ISGN and CIO at GMAC Commercial Holding. At GMAC he led the startup, scaling-up and exiting of six different divisions in the technology and services focused on lending.
Jeremy Poteet is the EVP of Technology at JBG SMITH where he leads a team of business minded technologists responsible for technology and innovation based transformative initiatives. He has over 20 years in real estate technology across many asset types in the real estate space and is passionate about the adoption of technology and leading others in solving complex process, technology, reporting, and organizational challenges.
As VP 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.
Joe Rich is EVP, CIO of Related Companies, a privately owned real estate firm with a portfolio of over $50 billion in real estate assets owned or under development that is made up of best-in-class mixed-use, residential, retail, office and affordable properties in premier high-barrier-to-entry markets. Joe has over 20 years experience as a CIO focused on global cultural change within the organization.
Kim Scharf has been the Senior Vice President of Information Technology at SITE Centers Corp. since April 2017. Before this, Kim served as SITE's Vice President of IT Enterprise Services. She is a member of the executive steering committee for SITE's Women of Influence program, the Realcomm Advisory Council, the Building Cyber Security (BCS) Advisory Board, and the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).
Pete Schow's career spans over 20 years in Information Technology with 17 years in various sectors of Real Estate. Throughout his career, he has managed multiple enterprise level initiatives in Residential/Multi Family development, Investment Real Estate, Commercial Mortgage, Debt as an Asset, and Private Equity. He recently joined Affinius Capital as Executive Director - Head of Data where he is focused on Data Management and Reporting Automation.
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.
With strategic oversight of MAPP's Property Management functions, Robert ensures that people, technology and processes are effectively structured and connected. He explores and implements new technology to aid growth, and works with clients to identify their requirements and interpret that into action, ensuring excellence in service delivery and an occupier centric approach. Robert has over 20 years' experience in managing significant client portfolio mandates and working with sector leading organisations to deliver change, engagement and performance.
Thomas Taddeo is SVP, CIO at Kimco. He is responsible for the overall technology strategy, systems and infrastructure which support Kimco's global business operations. He also directs the implementation of enterprise initiatives that leverage technology to improve organizational efficiency and productivity. Prior to joining Kimco, Tom was a Senior Manager at Deloitte in their Real Estate Consulting Practice. He has a Bachelor of Science, Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.
With over 25 years of experience in the technology space, Sonny Thind brings valuable expertise from a variety of industries to the QuadReal leadership team. As Chief Technology Officer, he focuses on leading QuadReal’s IT team and driving the company’s vision through the strategic use of technology to support higher levels of innovation and customer service.
Yael Urman is Silverstein’s Chief Information Officer and oversees the company’s technology initiatives and strategy. Its Technology Group transforms creative ideas into customer products and services that do not exist anywhere else. The team partners with startups and entrepreneurs from its own Silvertech Ventures to experiment and leverage new technologies while supporting young companies. The Technology Group uses its diverse background, working alongside industry leaders, to translate ideas into practical functions. Yael has previously held various leadership roles in Energy, IT services, Biotech and Pharma.
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.
Travis Vokey is SVP, Technology & Innovation of Allied Properties REIT, an owner-operator of distinctive urban workspaces in Canada’s major cities. In this role he is responsible for the strategy and delivery of technology investment and innovative solutions. With a diverse industry background from the Canadian Forces to BlackBerry and more, he brings a user-centric perspective to challenge the status quo and deliver real results across the organization.
Marguerite Westbrook is VP, Technology at EDENS, a nationally leading retail real estate owner, operator and developer. She oversees creating value for the company by improving user productivity through collaboration and data analytics, as well as automation and integration of EDENS’ systems. She is responsible for providing solutions, direction and leadership to align the technology strategy with the company's goals and objectives.
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.
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.