The AI Edge Podcast: CRE & AI

“AI HYPE IS LYING TO YOU” Most people are using AI completely wrong. In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, Louis Fernandes sits down with Kyle Balkissoon, Managing Partner at Stance Capital, to break down what actually creates real competitive edge in investing, machine learning, and business systems. Kyle has spent over a decade building machine learning models, forecasting systems, and investm...

Most business owners think real estate is just a cost. They’re wrong. It’s either fueling your growth… or quietly killing it. In this episode, Bill Himmelstein breaks down how the best operators use real estate as a strategic weapon and why most companies leave massive value on the table. 📝 Description Most companies treat real estate like a transaction. The best operators treat it like a growth...

Everyone thinks real estate is about houses. It’s not. The real game is happening before the house even exists. And if you don’t understand this shift… you’re already late. 📝 DESCRIPTION Most people are chasing deals. Smart operators are creating them. In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, I sit down with Joe Rosinski, founder of Palms and Tides Land Development, to break down how the real esta...

Almost 1 in 3 employees are sabotaging AI inside their company. And the worst part? Leaders think they’re “implementing strategy”… when they’re actually creating resistance. 📝 DESCRIPTION Everyone is talking about AI. No one is talking about what it’s doing to people. In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, I sit down with Greg Zlevor, President of Westwood International and Founder of HopeMakers...

Nobody knows what AI will do to their business… …but if you don’t have an answer… 👉 buyers walk. Everyone is talking about AI in deals. Almost nobody understands where it actually matters. In this episode, Michael Lamm breaks down: • what buyers actually care about • where deals really break • how AI is changing M&A behind the scenes • and why relationships still decide everything This is not...

Most developers have it backwards. They chase rooftops… but the real game is jobs. What if everything you’ve been told about real estate development is wrong? In this episode, Paul breaks down the simple equation most investors miss: 👉 Every 1.8 jobs creates a household 👉 Households drive retail, healthcare, infrastructure 👉 Jobs are the real asset From billion-dollar projects to AI-driven ener...

Most “AI agencies” have never run a real business. This operator built one for 20+ years… and only THEN layered AI on top. Most people talking about AI have never actually built anything real. In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, I sit down with Burke Allen, COO of Squeegee Clean, a 20+ year service business that scaled from window cleaning routes into a full-scale residential and commercial op...

There are 47 steps just to lease one apartment unit. That’s why most operators are drowning in inefficiency. Arleen Garza runs a $650M multifamily platform and is doing something different: 👉 replacing back-end operations with AI 👉 reducing reporting from 2 weeks to 2 hours 👉 and turning leasing teams into revenue drivers, not paperwork processors If you think real estate is about buying deals…...

Most people talk about real estate like it’s easy. Ryan Nelson has seen the worst of it: family deals collapsing personal guarantees on the line navigating the 2008 crash from the inside And still built a $115M platform. In this episode, we break down: why deals aren’t closing right now how serious operators actually survive cycles and what it really takes to raise capital and scale If you think r...

Most investors are chasing returns. The best ones? 👉 They’re obsessed with NOT losing money. In this episode, Fernando breaks down: how he scaled 50+ self-storage facilities why off-market deals are everything and the exact system behind raising capital from 1,000+ investors If you think real estate is about finding deals… You’re already behind. Most real estate investors are focused on one thing...

Most investors lost money in cannabis. Chris Reece did the opposite. 👉 While others chased operators and got burned… 👉 He focused on the one asset nobody talks about: The real estate underneath it. No banks. No traditional financing. Massive demand for capital. That creates: 👉 12–15% returns 👉 Built-in downside protection 👉 Zero direct cannabis risk This is what happens when you operate where...

Everyone is throwing AI at problems… 👉 without ever defining the problem first. That’s how companies end up in what Billy Holder calls: 👉 “Digital purgatory” Where tools pile up… but nothing actually improves. In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, Louis Fernandes sits down with Billy Holder, Founder of Project AIDRA, to break down one of the most overlooked operational problems in business tod...

Everyone thinks raising money is the goal. It’s not. 👉 Most companies should NEVER take venture capital 👉 Most founders don’t understand what investors actually expect 👉 And AI is making bad businesses easier to build… and faster to fail This is what real investors are actually looking for. Raising venture capital is not the goal… and for most founders, it’s actually the wrong move. In this epi...

AI is already underwriting deals… But there’s one problem nobody is talking about: 👉 It can’t give you the same answer twice. In an industry built on precision, legality, and trust… That’s a massive flaw. Until now. AI is transforming commercial real estate… but not in the way most people think. In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, I sit down with Raymond Dozier, MAI, founder of Valuexpose Sof...

Everyone says they want passive income… But almost nobody understands what actually creates it. In this episode, we break down: → Why most people stay stuck in W-2 thinking → How high-income professionals build real cash flow → And what “leverage” actually means when done right Most people think real estate investing means flipping houses or owning properties themselves. That’s where they get it w...

Most investors don’t fail because of bad deals. They fail because something breaks when they try to scale. And by the time they realize it… the money is already gone. Scaling in real estate sounds simple. Do more deals. Make more money. But in reality, scaling is where most investors break. In this episode, we sit down with Mark Hayes, President of Bridge South Investments, to break down what actu...

AI can already write an appraisal report. That’s not the problem. The problem is… you don’t know if it’s right. And that’s where real risk begins. AI is already transforming commercial real estate. But there’s a problem no one is talking about: 👉 Speed without defensibility creates risk. In this episode, we sit down with to break down what’s really happening inside valuation, underwriting, and de...

You can have the perfect deal on paper… and still lose it. Because real estate isn’t just numbers, it’s negotiation, timing, and understanding what people actually want. Most people get that wrong. Theresa Mueller has been winning deals for 30+ years… and she’ll tell you exactly why. Most real estate deals don’t fail because of bad underwriting. They fail because people don’t understand negotiatio...

What if I told you there’s a model where you can buy real estate at 27 cents on the dollar… create homeowners… and still deliver 15–18% returns to investors? Most people think that’s impossible. John Laine is doing it right now. Most investors are fighting over thin margins, praying for cap rate compression, and hoping the market turns. John Laine is playing a completely different game. In this ep...

What is this… who did you hire to do this?” “No one. It’s an AI assistant reading your deal in real time. Most AI tools feel like demos. This one feels like a real employee. In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, I sit down with Jeremiah Taylor, Co-Founder of Ribera AI, to break down what happens when AI moves from being a tool… to becoming part of your team. We go deep into: • Why most AI in rea...

Most real estate deals don’t fail because of the deal. They fail because of capital, structure, and what no one sees behind the scenes. In this episode, Steven Stein breaks down: why deals collapse late what lenders actually care about and the hidden rules that separate closers from everyone else If you’re raising capital, structuring deals, or scaling in CRE… 👉 this is the part of the game nobod...

Most real estate deals don’t fail because of bad opportunities… They fail because the system behind the deal breaks. In this conversation, Matt Hagar exposes where deals actually slow down, why most brokers never scale, and how AI is quietly reshaping the future of commercial real estate faster than the industry can keep up. Just wrapped a powerful conversation with Matt Hagar, co-founder of AI CR...

Most people think real estate deals fall apart because of financing… But right now, deals are dying for a completely different reason… Insurance. And if this keeps going… it’s going to reshape the entire housing market. What if the biggest threat to real estate right now… isn’t interest rates… but insurance? In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, Louis sits down with Robert Feldman, CEO and Co-Fo...

Most real estate deals don’t die because they’re bad… they die because capital and execution are completely out of sync. Today’s guest is solving that at a $3.5 trillion level… and what he’s building could completely change how real estate gets owned. What if the biggest problem in commercial real estate isn’t deal flow… but broken capital flow? In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, Louis sits d...

Most real estate deals don’t fail because they’re bad deals… they fail because capital never shows up. In this episode, we break down what actually moves money… and why most operators are getting this completely wrong. Just wrapped a powerful conversation with Linda Holtz, a real estate development and finance operator with experience across institutional capital, underwriting, and large-scale pro...