Realcomm 2024 | Precon: CIO Roundtable

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.

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.

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.

Roger Smith is the CEO & co-founder of TermSheet. He is a seasoned entrepreneur with extensive experience in technology companies and deep roots in proptech. Prior to founding Term Sheet, Roger served as Chief Technology Officer for a real estate-focused private equity firm based in Kansas City. He was responsible for the creation and maintenance of internal, advisor-facing,and investor-facing technology systems. Previously, Roger was co-founder at Groundbreaker, Inc., where he built the firm’s white-label real estate crowdfunding product, which powers a number of current applications.

Andrea Curley is currently a Director for Yardi. She is a seasoned sales executive and relationship manager with over 20 years experience building and leading sales operations and client relationship efforts. Background includes managing complex sales processes, growing existing business and demonstrating intricate system software.

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.

Nate Fyie is the Global Head of Modern Workplace Services at RealFoundations and has twenty years of technology experience in infrastructure, engineering, leadership, and design. He specializes in developing and executing IT strategy, with a focus on digitally transforming traditional IT departments to meet the changing needs of their business. Prior to joining RealFoundations, Nate spent over ten years in the REIT industry, leading Macerich’s corporate IT infrastructure teams and designing property technology solutions.

Gregg Haverstick is an Enterprise Managing Consultant with RealFoundations. With more than 20 years of real estate management and consulting background, Gregg has a deep understanding of multi-sector operations, real estate enterprise strategy and industry-leading technologies. Over the course of his career, he has leveraged this knowledge to strengthen the operating platforms of many prominent commercial, retail and multifamily owner/operators, and developers.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.