Founder Series: What Tenants Actually Want vs What the Industry Thinks with David Abrams

The CEO Breaking the AI Hype Cycle, Ryan Adelman of Verantum

Every vendor in the built world calls itself an AI company. Verantum's CEO refuses to. In this Founder Series episode, Ryan Elazari sits down with Ryan Adelman, Chief Executive Officer of Verantum, to talk about why his company traded a 22-year-old brand name for one nobody had heard of, and what that rebrand signals about where building performance is headed. Phoenix Energy Technologies spent 22 years becoming the name that large, multi-site portfolio operators trusted to manage HVAC, refrigeration, lighting, and energy across their buildings. Adelman joined the company six years ago and became CEO two years ago. Under his lead, the company expanded past comfort and energy optimization into full asset lifecycle management, tracking the health of the equipment itself rather than just its settings, culminating in this year's rebrand to Verantum, a name built from verus and quantum, truth quantified. Adelman explains why facilities and energy teams keep shrinking while the portfolios they manage keep growing, and why so much smart building technology gets installed, demoed well, and then dies the moment a technician has to use it in the field. He makes the case against leading with AI, even though Verantum has used it for 15 years, and lays out how a conservative industry with zero tolerance for risk comes to trust one company enough to open its entire network, every controller and sensor, to outside integration. The conversation also covers Verantum's partnership with Leap, what deferred capital actually costs an owner over time, and the trait Adelman looks for after mentoring founders through Cleantech Open and Village Capital. Show Notes: 00:10: Intro: welcome to the Founders' Series 01:52: What's on your desk? 02:49: From Custom Bike to Verantum 06:33 From Phoenix to Verantum: what the rebrand signals 09:33 Shifting owners from deferred to preventive maintenance 10:10 Condition-based maintenance at scale 12:58 Equipping technicians in the field 16:32 An operator's scar: alerts nobody understood 18:42 Why Verantum refuses to lead with AI 21:25 Structured data first: garbage in, garbage out 23:53 What a vendor should say instead of "we have AI" 25:43 Earning trust 29:15 The Leap partnership and virtual power plants 32:42 What makes a founder who will make it 37:34 How Ryan Adelman unplugs 41:32 Ryan's postgame recapCONNECT WITH RYAN ADELMANLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adelmanryan/Verantum's Website: verantum.com FOLLOW CRE UNPLUGGED ⁠creunplugged.com⁠ [creunplugged.com] | ⁠LinkedIn⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/cre-unplugged/] | ⁠YouTube⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@CREUnplugged] | ⁠Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/cre.unplugged] Want to be featured on the Founders' Series? We're spotlighting bold leaders building the future of commercial real estate. Reach out at info@creunplugged.com. We’re always looking to spotlight bold leaders and founders who are building the future of commercial real estate. If you’re solving real problems, challenging outdated norms, or reshaping how this industry operates, we want to hear from you.

Why Most CRE Firms Will Fail At AI with Nadine Ezzie

Most CRE firms are about to fail at AI, and not for the reason they think. In her farewell as co-host, Nadine Ezzie tells Ryan Elazari why buying the tools is the easy part. Nadine Ezzie, Managing Partner of Ezzie and Co. has spent twenty years in law and PropTech watching the industry chase shortcuts. Her warning: the firms treating AI as a switch to flip, without clean data or trained people, are setting themselves up to fail. If your data isn't ready, you're automating slop. If you skip upskilling, adoption stalls. She makes the case for human-centric commercial real estate, explains why skill-based roles get automated while human skills move to the center, and reads the migration to the Midwest. Two years after they launched CRE Unplugged at a NAIOP dinner, this is Ryan and Nadine closing her run as co-host with the candor the show was built on. CHAPTERS 00:00 A bittersweet farewell 01:16 How CRE Unplugged started at a NAIOP dinner 02:59 What the show is set out to do 05:37 Thanks to Hilo and the team behind the show 06:52 What Hilo does for buildings 08:30 Favorite episodes and guests 14:36 The human-centric CRE thesis 17:33 From hustle culture to human-centricity 18:49 How AI is redefining work and space 20:36 Why technology fails without training 25:04 Customer success versus customer service 29:51 The new kind of leader CRE needs 33:47 The rise of fractional work 37:36 What is real in AI adoption right now 41:11 Data readiness and enterprise AI 44:48 Building an AI-first culture 46:15 The migration to the Midwest 51:00 Affordability, climate, and where people are moving 54:58 Saying goodbye and what is next for Nadine ABOUT THE GUEST Nadine Ezzie is the Managing Partner of Ezzie and Co. With two decades of experience across law and PropTech, including Lease Pilot. She is a partner in CRE AI Studio, a co-founder of CRE Unplugged, and is now based in Canton, Ohio. Connect With Us 📧 Email: info@creunplugged.com 🌐 Website: www.creunplugged.com 📺 YouTube: @CREUnplugged 💼 LinkedIn: CRE Unplugged 📱 Instagram: @CREUnplugged This episode is sponsored by our awesome partner, HILO, making connectivity and engagement a breeze in commercial real estate.

Climate Migration: Is Your State Next? | Founder Series with CENSAI

The data center industry is losing the public narrative, and CENSAI has the survey numbers to prove it. In this Founder Series episode, Ryan Elazari sits down with Devin Boesen, Director of Population and Migration Products, and Jon Liggett, Head of Data and Partnerships at CENSAI, to dig into what population intelligence actually reveals about how Americans move, where they avoid, and why the stories being told about climate migration and data center opposition don't always match the data. CENSAI was built during COVID, when census data was stale, U-Haul surveys were passing as market intelligence, and nobody could answer basic questions about where people were actually going, at the income level, the building level, or the zip code level. Devin and Jon explain how individual-level address history going back to 2009 became the foundation of a platform now used for multifamily diligence, student housing underwriting, and Snowbird market analysis across South Florida. The conversation covers climate migration in detail: why the prediction of a great Midwest exodus isn't showing up in the data, what is actually happening along the Gulf Coast and in markets like Tampa and Orlando, and how insurance cycles interact with, but don't fully explain, where people move. They also address AI, specifically what has changed inside CENSAI in the last three months and why the real advantage isn't the chat layer everyone is bolting onto their products. And they share fresh survey data on data center sentiment: 44 percent of respondents oppose a data center near their home, a more negative reaction than they have to power plants, gas lines, battery storage facilities, or nuclear reactors. Show Notes: 00:10: Welcome to the Founders' Series 02:03: Window seat or aisle seat: travel icebreakers 04:25: Morning routines before the workday starts 06:09 How Devin and Jon met? 13:54: CENSAI's founding: the data gap COVID exposed 18:39: First sales call: proving a Bronx rehab added value 23:41: South Florida Snowbird analysis and the retail development decision 24:58: Insurance withdrawal, reinsurance cycles, and coastal markets 30:45: The Midwest climate haven myth: what the migration data actually shows 34:57: How AI has changed CENSAI's workflows in the last three months 43:06: Data center sentiment: why the industry is losing the public narrative 53:33 Has the data changed where you would raise your family? 56:51 Advice that stuck 1:00:34 Ryan's Postgame Recap ABOUT THE GUESTS Devin Boesen is Director of Population and Migration Products at CENSAI, where she leads the development of the platform's consumer and demographic intelligence. She holds a master's in Economics from George Mason University and completed a graduate fellowship at the Mercatus Center. Jon Liggett is Head of Data and Partnerships at CENSAI, with a background in macro trading, hedge fund allocation, and building proprietary data assets. He holds a BBA from UNC and previously founded a fintech compliance startup he sold during COVID. FOLLOW CRE UNPLUGGED creunplugged.com [creunplugged.com] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/cre-unplugged/] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@CREUnplugged] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/cre.unplugged] Want to be featured on the Founders' Series? We're spotlighting bold leaders building the future of commercial real estate. Reach out at info@creunplugged.com. We’re always looking to spotlight bold leaders and founders who are building the future of commercial real estate. If you’re solving real problems, challenging outdated norms, or reshaping how this industry operates, we want to hear from you.

Ep. 20 - What Real Estate Brokerages Actually Want From Technology with Ashley Stinton

What do brokerages actually want from technology? Ashley Stinton, Managing Partner of NAR REACH, decides which real estate technology companies get to scale across the largest organized real estate market in the world. Here is what she sees most founders getting wrong. Trillions of dollars are flowing into PropTech, but the gap between a great demo and real Realtor adoption is where most companies die. In this episode of CRE Unplugged, host Ryan Elazari sits down with Ashley Stinton, Managing Partner of NAR REACH for a ground-level breakdown of what brokerages actually want from technology and where residential real estate innovation is heading next. The conversation covers the two biggest mistakes founders make when selling into brokerages, why the top down approach into franchise brands rarely translates to agent adoption, and why a champion inside the organization is the difference between a tool that gets used and a tool that gets forgotten. Stinton also tackles where robotics are realistically headed in construction and multifamily, why the digitization of the real estate transaction is finally accelerating, and how AI photo disclosure policy is reshaping the trust conversation between brokerages and consumers. Show Notes: 0:10: Introducing Ashley Stinton 1:32: Chicago vs New York: The Pizza Debate 5:07: From Coca-Cola and 3M to Real Estate: Why the Path Was Not Linear 8:46: Two Biggest Mistakes Tech Founders Make Selling Into Brokerages 12:14: What Global REACH Markets Reveal About US Real Estate Gaps 14:40: Climate Tech, Property Resiliency, and the Trillionaire Thesis 18:30: Why Most Tech Dies After the Demo 22:55: Robotics in Construction and Multifamily: What Is Realistic for 2026 26:35: AI Photo Disclosure Policy and the Trust Problem Facing Brokerages 31:51: The Themes Shaping the Next Five Years of Residential Real Estate 39:29: The One Thing Realtors Should Focus On in the Next Twelve Months 41:13: Ryan's Takeaways GUEST BIO Ashley Stinton is the Managing Partner of NAR REACH, the scale-up program operated by Second Century Ventures, the strategic investment arm of the National Association of Realtors. Based in Chicago, she oversees the US residential program and has supported the program's expansion into global markets including the UK. She is the person responsible for identifying which PropTech companies are ready to scale across the housing market and connecting them with the Realtor community that can actually drive adoption. Before real estate, Stinton built her career at Coca-Cola and 3M, working with enterprise accounts across the construction, home improvement, and consumer goods space. That cross-sector background gives her a distinct perspective on how legacy industries adopt new technology and what it takes for early stage companies to break through at the enterprise level. If you love what you hear, please take a moment to rate and review us. Your feedback helps us grow and improve! Connect With Us 📧 Email: info@creunplugged.com 🌐 Website: www.creunplugged.com 📺 YouTube: @CREUnplugged 💼 LinkedIn: CRE Unplugged 📱 Instagram: @CREUnplugged This episode is sponsored by our awesome partner, HILO, making connectivity and engagement a breeze in commercial real estate.

Ep. 19 - Is the Data Center Boom Real? Power, Risk & What's Next with Dillon Zahler & Nathan Persky

The power grid holding America's AI future together was built decades ago and it was never designed for this. Two of the sharpest minds in data center development just told us exactly what's coming. Trillions of dollars are flooding into data center development, but most of the people chasing that capital do not understand the fundamentals. In this episode of CRE Unplugged, host Ryan Elazari sits down with Dillon Zahler, co-founder of Colossus Data Center Advisors, and Nathaniel Persky, Senior Director of Project Development at Dataprana, for a ground-level breakdown of what is actually happening in the data center market and what most people are getting wrong. The conversation covers the real risk profile of AI-driven demand, why the anticipated power wall around 2030 is more serious than most developers are pricing in, and why natural gas remains the backbone of the energy mix despite the industry's renewable commitments. Zahler and Persky also tackle the community education gap that is generating moratoriums and misinformation at the local government level, and explain why data centers are in fact subsidizing grid upgrades that should have been completed decades ago. Show Notes: 0:00: Introduction: Trillions Flowing Into Data Centers 1:32: Dinner Party Test: How Public Perception of Data Centers Has Shifted 4:26: What "Data Center" Actually Means 8:01: Dillon & Nathan's Origin Stories 11:47: AI Boom Risk: Overbuilt Capacity and the Reusability Problem 20:50: The Power Wall: What 2030 Actually Means for the Market 23:39: Who Is Really Paying for Grid Upgrades? The Subsidy Argument 34:01: Renewables vs. Reality: Why Natural Gas Is Still the Backbone 38:00: Nuclear Energy: Why Scaling It Is Harder Than Anyone Admits 44:57: Hyperscale vs. Smaller Sites: Where Is the Smart Money Going? 51:53: Community Pushback, Moratoriums, and the Education Gap 56:08: Economic Impact: Tax Revenue & Jobs 60:32: Advice for CRE Professionals Entering the Data Center Space 68:00: Ryan's Takeaways Guest Bios Dillon Zahler is the co-founder of Colossus Data Center Advisors, a development and due diligence platform that works with landowners, industrial groups, and financial institutions to evaluate data center potential. He began his career as a mechanical engineer serving the U.S. Navy and laboratory equipment sectors before moving into MEP design and construction management for data centers, where he has been involved in over five to six gigawatts of development exercises. His firm sits at the intersection of technical rigor and capital markets strategy. Nathaniel Persky is the Senior Director of Project Development for Data Center Construction at Dataprana, where he leads large-scale facility development from site selection through execution. His path into the sector is unconventional — he spent years as a commercial real estate broker focused on high-power industrial users including movie studios and medical marijuana facilities before transitioning into data center development. That cross-sector background gives him a distinct perspective on capital deployment, utility relationships, and market evaluation. If you love what you hear, please take a moment to rate and review us. Your feedback helps us grow and improve! Connect With Us 📧 Email: info@creunplugged.com 🌐 Website: ⁠www.creunplugged.com⁠ [creunplugged.com] 📺 YouTube: ⁠@CREUnplugged⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@CREUnplugged] 💼 LinkedIn: ⁠CRE Unplugged⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/cre-unplugged/] 📱 Instagram: ⁠@CREUnplugged⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/cre.unplugged] This episode is sponsored by our awesome partner, HILO [www.hiloapp.com], making connectivity and engagement a breeze in commercial real estate.