Disclosure
Pacific Software Ventures publishes this list and ranks itself first. The criteria and every source are on this page so you can check the ranking, and each firm's entry says when it is the better pick.
PSV ranks first on the seven criteria below.
Pacific Software Ventures is CRE-focused, has a CRE practitioner as co-founder, builds in the environment you choose, trains your team and publishes named results. AI Consulting Network and NextAutomation tie for second, and Innovation Vista publishes fuller pricing than PSV does. PSV wrote this list.
- Criteria met: 6 of 7 in full, 1 in part.
- Named result: Westlake Realty Group cut underwriting to 20 minutes, then took AI into asset management.
- AI Consulting typically $10K to $25K, fixed before the work starts.
The four kinds of AI help for CRE
Most of the confusion in this market is that four different kinds of firm all call themselves AI consultants. Start with the kind you need.
- CRE-specialist AI consultancies: Pacific Software Ventures (PSV), The AI Consulting Network and NextAutomation. Firms focused on real estate that build AI into how a firm works, with training alongside. Hire one when you want the plan, the build and the training from one partner.
- CRE practitioner training programs: AI for CRE Collective, CRE AI Studio and GowerCrowd. Practitioners who teach your team to use AI tools, through workshops, memberships or executive programs. Hire one when the goal is skills, not a build.
- Software and AI engineering firms: SFAI Labs and Ascendix Technologies. Engineering firms that build custom software and AI systems to a brief. Hire one when you already know what to build and need it engineered.
- Fractional IT and AI leadership: Innovation Vista. Senior advisers who act as a part-time CIO or AI officer and run assessments, without an implementation practice. Hire one when you need leadership, not hands.
How we ranked them
Seven criteria, each something a buyer can check on a firm's own website before a first call:
- CRE is the focus. Real estate is the firm's stated focus, not one sector among many.
- Practitioners on the team. A named leader or adviser has worked CRE deals: investment, brokerage, lending or transaction law.
- Builds in your environment. It builds systems that run in your own stack or cloud, and you own the result.
- Trains your team. Training your people to run the work is part of the offer.
- Named case studies, with numbers. It publishes client stories or case studies for named real estate clients, with figures. Names without figures count as partly.
- Security documentation. It publishes how client data is handled and where the work runs.
- Published pricing. It publishes prices for what it sells. Some priced and some by quote counts as partly.
Criteria met in full, then in part. PSV meets 6 of 7 in full, 1 in part.
- Read. We read each firm's public pages in a real browser on October 3, 2026, and re-checked some on October 4.
- Mark. Each criterion is marked yes, partly, or not published, with the page it was read from.
- Order. Firms are ordered by criteria met in full, then in part. Ties are alphabetical.
These criteria favor a CRE specialist that both builds and trains, which is what PSV is. A firm lower on the list can be the right pick for a different job, and its entry says when.
The nine firms, and who each one is for
In ranked order, with each firm's best fit. Facts verified October 3, 2026; each one links to the page it was read from.
Ranked first. Criteria met: 6 of 7 in full, 1 in part.
1. Pacific Software Ventures (PSV)
Founded by Aidan Scudder, Zed Truong and Gedeon Baende, Pacific Software Ventures (PSV) is an AI consulting and engineering firm for commercial real estate brokerages, owners, investment firms and lenders.
It audits how a firm works, builds the Company Brain, and stays on as the firm's embedded AI team. Clients own what PSV builds for them.
Best for CRE investors, operators and brokerages that want one CRE-focused partner for the roadmap, the build and the team training.
Pick PSV if the work depends on your firm's own knowledge, templates and approval rules, and you want the system in the environment you choose and yours to keep.
Published results.
- Westlake Realty Group: per-deal review time, 6-8h → 20m.
- Saunders Real Estate: senior time per opinion, 4-8h → 30m.
- Stride Commercial: lead response time, 4h → <5m.
Why it ranks first.
- People. Zed Truong, co-founder and partner, previously worked in institutional real estate at PGIM Real Estate and in brokerage at Voit Real Estate. He has closed $1B+ in commercial real estate transactions and underwritten $11B+ across asset classes. Zed Truong's profile
- Where it runs. The Company Brain can run in PSV-managed cloud, a dedicated single-tenant environment, or the client's own cloud or VPC, bound to its SSO. PSV Company Brain
- Security. Its public security page sets out three deployment configurations, the split between PSV's control plane and the client's data plane, and six controls. PSV is pursuing SOC 2 Type II and does not hold it. PSV security
PSV is not the pick if your vendor review requires SOC 2 Type II in hand today, if you want a fractional CIO and no build, or if one priced workshop is all you need.
More about PSV, with sources (21)
- Price. AI Consulting typically costs $10K to $25K, depending on the business functions in scope, and the price is fixed before the engagement starts. PSV AI Consulting
- Monthly pricing. PSV's monthly advisory and training costs $2K to $5K a month, in three plans at $2,000, $3,000 and $5,000 a month. PSV AI Consulting
- Focus. PSV works with commercial real estate firms, and its own summary calls it an AI consulting and engineering firm for commercial real estate. PSV llms.txt
- What it builds. PSV builds the Company Brain, the institutional intelligence layer for a firm, and deploys Skills, workflows and agents on top of it inside the AI tools the team already uses. PSV Company Brain
- Founders. PSV was founded in 2023 by Zed Truong, Aidan Scudder and Gedeon Baende. Scudder is an AI and systems engineer, formerly at Kochava; Baende is a former Goldman Sachs engineer and AWS AI Scholar. PSV llms.txt
- First engagement. AI Consulting audits how the firm runs, sets the AI strategy and security posture with the client's IT team, and ends in a sequenced roadmap before anything is built. PSV AI Consulting
- Deliverables. AI Consulting has ten named deliverables, from a workflow map to a deployment recommendation, and all of them are the client's to keep. PSV AI Consulting
- No lock-in. The roadmap is written so the client's own team, or another firm, could implement from it. PSV AI Consulting
- What it leaves out. The AI strategy states what the firm is deliberately not doing yet, and the recommended architecture names what stays out of scope. PSV AI Consulting
- When it skips consulting. PSV skips the consulting stage when the problem is already well defined and goes straight to the build. PSV AI Consulting
- Ownership. Clients own what PSV builds for them; PSV's pre-existing tooling is licensed to them, per its terms. PSV terms
- After the build. PSV describes itself as a long-term technical partner, not a project vendor. PSV llms.txt
- Training. PSV's AI Training pairs PSV-led enterprise training with the self-directed CRE AI Institute. PSV llms.txt
- Institute pricing. The CRE AI Institute is $69/mo Standard, $99/mo Premium, or $499/mo Advisory with a monthly one-to-one hour with a PSV founder, after a 7-day free trial. PSV llms.txt
- Build pricing. Company Brain build pricing is not published; the consulting engagement scopes each build. PSV Company Brain
- Result. Westlake Realty Group cut per-deal underwriting from 6-8 hours of senior time to a 20-minute review, in its own model with every number traced to source. Westlake Realty Group case study
- Result. Saunders Real Estate cut senior time per broker opinion of value from 4-8 hours to about 30 minutes, drafted in its own template off its own comparables. Saunders Real Estate case study
- Result. Stride Commercial's AI inbound desk cut lead response from four hours to under five minutes, with 24/7 coverage and about a day a week of senior time back. Stride Commercial case study
- SOC 2 status. In the words of its security page: “We are pursuing SOC 2 Type II and do not claim certifications we do not hold.” PSV security
- On request. Controls documentation, a completed SIG Lite questionnaire and signed security addenda are available on request. PSV security
- As another firm on this list describes it. NextAutomation's alternatives hub lists Pacific Software Ventures as an AI consulting and build partner: a selective San Francisco AI consultancy that builds and operates custom AI systems for ops-heavy industries, with CRE as its deepest vertical. its alternatives hub
Criteria met: 5 of 7 in full, 1 in part.
2. The AI Consulting Network
A founder-led consultancy that builds AI workflows alongside a CRE firm's own staff, on general assistants.
Best for Small and mid-size CRE investors, operators and syndicators who want to build alongside a consultant.
Pick them if you want a founder-led consultant building with your staff on the assistants you already pay for, starting with a $500 call.
What we found.
- Delivery. Its home page says: “We don't build AI for you. We build it with you.” theaiconsultingnetwork.com
- People. Founded and led by Avi Hacker, J.D. Per his own bio, he worked on real estate transactions at a law firm and on CRE loan due diligence at Hirshmark Capital. its about page
More sourced facts (11)
- Pricing. Publishes two prices: a 45-minute AI Strategy Call at $500, credited toward any engagement, and advisory retainers of $2,500 to $5,000 a month. We did not find a sprint price on the pages we read. its consulting page
- What it sells. Its services page lists four offers: a paid AI Strategy Call, a CRE AI Assessment, AI Implementation (underwriting models, investor report generation, lease abstraction, property management assistants) and Ongoing AI Advisory. its services page
- Tools and training. Works on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, handles the technical configuration, trains the team and stays on to optimize. its consulting page
- Engagement. Describes a 6-Week Operator Sprint: a week of discovery, four weeks of live build sessions twice a week, then training and handoff, with three to five AI skills installed. its consulting page
- Tools. Describes itself as vendor-neutral, and also works on specialized CRE platforms. its consulting page
- Focus. Positions itself as AI consulting for commercial real estate, working with multifamily operators and syndicators, CRE brokerages, private equity real estate funds, and CRE lending and debt platforms, among others. its consulting page
- Ownership. Its consulting page says the sprint installs AI skills in the client's stack, owned by the client's team. its consulting page
- Background. His bio also lists PwC Risk Assurance, a J.D. from Cardozo School of Law, and two and a half years at the law firm. its about page
- Clients. Its home page carries client stories, including a featured one from Andrew Kuhn (CEO, Sunrise Communities) that cites 33 automated tasks, 73 custom skills and a 47,000-node knowledge graph. theaiconsultingnetwork.com
- Open source. Publishes two Apache 2.0 reference repositories: a multifamily acquisition orchestrator (31 agents across 5 deal phases) and a CRE skills library its page counts at 90 skills. its open-source page
- Its market estimate. Its buyer's guide (March 30, 2026) gives market ranges by firm type: boutique CRE AI implementers at $2,500 to $15,000 a month on retainer or $5,000 to $50,000 per project. its buyer's guide
Criteria met: 5 of 7 in full, 1 in part.
3. NextAutomation
Builds acquisition systems for CRE firms, and separately sells audits, team training and executive coaching.
Best for Acquisition teams and investors who want off-market sourcing, owner outreach and underwriting built for them.
Pick them if acquisitions is the whole job: off-market sourcing, owner outreach and underwriting in your own Excel model.
What we found.
- What it sells. Two kinds of engagement: implementation (an operations audit, a custom build, then launch and ongoing partnership) and consulting (a two-week operating audit, team training and executive coaching). nextautomation.us
- Where it runs. Deployment is agreed per scope: the client's own managed environment, its existing cloud account, or an architecture designed with the client. nextautomation.us
More sourced facts (12)
- Clients. Publishes five named client stories (Greenbelt REIM, Meadowlark, InnvestFL, Gallo Capital and Alure Capital) and four system studies. Its case-study hub shows 2,941 properties scored for Meadowlark. its case studies
- Pricing. Its own comparison table describes its pricing as engagement-based: a paid audit scopes the build first, with “no standard public price list.” its comparison page
- What it builds. Its builds center on off-market deal sourcing, owner resolution, outreach, underwriting in the client's own Excel model, and investment memos. nextautomation.us
- Training. Team training runs over 3, 6 or 12 months, alongside one-to-one executive coaching. its consulting page
- People. Co-founded by Lucas Eschapasse (CEO) and Sasha Deneux (COO). Eschapasse says he previously consulted for real estate firms at an AI consulting company; Deneux was integrating AI inside a Miami real estate firm. its about page
- Focus. Positions itself as acquisition infrastructure for commercial real estate, says acquisitions are its core expertise, and says it works with 50+ real estate businesses (its own figure). its about page
- Audit. Caps audits at 4 to 5 a month, and says the audit roadmap includes build, buy, wait and do-not-build recommendations. its audit page
- Security. States that an NDA is standard, that client data stays under client control, and that access is scoped to what the agreed pilots need. its audit page
- Controls. Also states model-agnostic routing, role-based access controls and a full audit trail. nextautomation.us
- Location. Based in Miami, Florida. Its structured data gives a founding date of 2024. its about page
- Its own comparison. Its criteria-based comparison of AI consulting firms for real estate (July 9, 2026) declines to rank, and sorts providers into four categories against six criteria. its criteria article
- Its own list. Its list of AI implementation partners for CRE firms is numbered and puts NextAutomation first. its partners list
Criteria met: 3 of 7 in full, 3 in part.
4. AI for CRE Collective
A CRE practitioner community that sells team AI training in three formats.
Best for Teams that want a short, priced, role-specific AI workshop from CRE practitioners, with community access.
Pick them if you want a priced workshop for the whole team this quarter, not a build: team training starts at $3,500.
What we found.
- What it sells. Team training in three formats: a two-hour AI Kickstart Workshop, a four-week Cohort Deep Dive, and a two-day onsite Transformation Boot Camp with a month of support. its team-training page
- People. Led by Jake Heller and Quinn Edwards. Its own comparison page says Heller is a licensed broker and Edwards is a former CBRE broker. its comparison page
More sourced facts (9)
- Pricing. Team engagements start at $3,500, the Kickstart Workshop price; the other two programs are by quote. Each attendee gets a year of Standard community access. its team-training page
- Focus. Built for CRE roles: brokers, investors and acquisitions, developers, asset managers, property managers, capital markets, private equity teams and lenders. its team-training page
- What you keep. The cohort program leaves the team with reusable role playbooks and workflows it owns. its team-training page
- Clients. Named training testimonials include KW Commercial SoCal (regional president) and Schnitzer Properties (VP, chief information officer). its team-training page
- Background. The same page says Heller is also a licensed contractor involved with 6,000-plus units in Southern California. its comparison page
- Membership. Community membership has a free tier, Standard at $39 a month or $279 a year, Premium at $99 a month or $799 a year, and VIP at $499 a month. its platform page
- Scale. Says it has 800+ CRE members and a publication read by 10,000+ professionals (its own figures). aiforcrecollective.com
- Founded. Launched in August 2025, according to Jake Heller's own account in an interview. VoyageLA
- Its own list. Its page on AI platforms for commercial real estate ranks the Collective first of five options. its platform page
Criteria met: 3 of 7 in full, 3 in part.
5. CRE AI Studio
CRE practitioners offering custom AI consulting, team training and memberships.
Best for Brokerage and legal teams that want hands-on training from CRE practitioners, with small custom builds available.
Pick them if a brokerage or legal team wants hands-on Claude training from practitioners, with a small custom build on the side.
What we found.
- What it sells. Custom AI consulting for CRE firms: Claude skills and agents, document intelligence, workflow automation, strategy and roadmapping, team training, and CRE-specific buildouts. its consulting page
- People. Three co-founders: Jonathan Buckelew (real estate private equity), Nadine Ezzie (a 20-year CRE attorney) and Topher Stephenson (CRE tech and brokerage). its founders page
More sourced facts (4)
- Pricing. Memberships are $50, $75 and $100 a month across three levels, with 7 days free. its pricing page
- Delivery. Consulting runs in four steps: a discovery call, a custom proposal, build and implement with the client's team involved, then train and hand off. its consulting page
- Focus. Addresses commercial real estate professionals throughout. Operated by BES.AI, LLC. creaistudio.com
- Its own totals. Its consulting page says 200+ CRE professionals trained and 6+ custom AI tools deployed (its own figures), and lists CBRE, Newmark and MetLife under the label Organizations Represented. its consulting page
Criteria met: 3 of 7 in full, 2 in part.
6. GowerCrowd
An executive AI program and advisory for real estate sponsors, from a firm rooted in capital-raising marketing.
Best for Sponsors and syndicators whose priority is capital raising and investor marketing with AI.
Pick them if your priority is raising capital with AI, or you want a four-week executive program from a long-tenured CRE principal.
What we found.
- What it sells. A four-week AI in Real Estate Accelerator, executive advisory, a weekly small-group AI Circle, and engagements as a fractional AI strategist. its about page
- People. Led by Adam Gower, Ph.D., who cites 30+ years in CRE and $1.5B+ in transactions. The site says it has trained 5,250+ professionals (its own figure). gowercrowd.com
More sourced facts (7)
- Pricing. The accelerator is $997 per person. The page says private clients pay $15,000 to have the same curriculum delivered to an internal team of up to five. its accelerator page
- Team pricing. Each additional team member from the same company is $797. its accelerator page
- Background. Describes its earlier and continuing business as investor-acquisition and digital marketing systems for sponsors raising capital. its about page
- Format. The accelerator is four live two-hour sessions on Zoom plus two one-hour bonus sessions. its accelerator page
- Builds. Its about page says it embeds with a team as a fractional AI strategist and builds systems. its about page
- Focus. Focused on CRE, weighted to sponsors and capital formation. It publishes a newsletter it says reaches 30,000+ CRE professionals a week and a podcast with 350+ episodes. gowercrowd.com
- Clients. Home page testimonials are attributed by description (a top-10 self storage fund, a Class A office owner, a $1.6bn multifamily owner-operator) and describe capital raising and investor marketing results. gowercrowd.com
Criteria met: 3 of 7 in full, 1 in part.
7. SFAI Labs
A general AI consultancy that runs workshops for small CRE teams and builds custom systems.
Best for A small CRE team that wants a live workshop on its own documents, or a general AI engineering shop with real estate work to show.
Pick them if a small team wants a live prompting workshop on its own documents, or you want a general AI engineering shop.
What we found.
- What it sells. A general AI consultancy. For CRE it says it runs LLM fluency workshops for small CRE teams on the firm's own LOIs, lease summaries and market write-ups. its training guide
- Clients. Its real estate page lists three case studies. One, for Green Peak Venture Partners, reports a 2x increase in high-value investor identification. its real estate page
More sourced facts (7)
- People. Lists a CRE adviser, John Culbertson, founder of Cardinal Real Estate Partners and a former Trammell Crow senior vice president. its team page
- Founders. Co-founded by Arthur Wandzel (CEO) and Dr. Dirk Jan Van Veen (CTO). Its team page gives Culbertson 35 years' experience. its team page
- Another case study. Another of the three is an AI strategy for Pacific Development, a CRE developer. its real estate page
- Focus. Multi-industry: real estate is one of nine industries it lists, alongside healthcare, financial services and private equity. its real estate page
- Delivery. Builds custom systems (agents, platforms, automation) and also advises and trains. sfailabs.com
- Pricing. Its cost guide gives market ranges rather than its own rates: a live workshop at about $2,000 to $7,000 virtual or $5,000 to $12,000 in person plus travel. its cost guide
- Location. Based in San Francisco, California. its team page
Criteria met: 2 of 7 in full, 3 in part.
8. Ascendix Technologies
A real estate software company offering AI consulting and custom development.
Best for Brokerages and proptech companies that need custom software or CRM-grounded AI from a large, long-established firm.
Pick them if you need custom software engineered by a real estate software firm that says it has a team of over 200.
What we found.
- What it sells. Real estate AI consulting and development: a readiness assessment, adoption roadmaps, integration with existing tools, AI engineering and ongoing support. its AI consulting page
- Scale. Says it has a team of over 200 technology professionals and AI specialists and has authored 17 software products (its own figures). its AI consulting page
More sourced facts (8)
- Clients. Names JLL, Savills, Transwestern and Hanna CRE as clients. The JLL work described on its about page is a CRM integration. its about page
- Case studies. Its sister site publishes case studies, including one for Slatt Capital, a commercial mortgage banker, covering 1,200 loan operations. its case studies
- Delivery. Builds systems: it describes full-cycle AI development from data collection to model training, plus its own frameworks for property search, document processing and valuation. its AI consulting page
- Founded. Founded in 1996 in Dallas, Texas, by Wes Snow and Todd Terry. its about page
- Focus. Describes itself as a real estate software development company serving companies that build, sell, lease, invest in and manage real estate. ascendixtech.com
- Product prices. Its sister site lists product prices, such as Ascendix Search at $15 a month and AscendixRE at $79 to $99 a month. its product pricing
- Engagement pricing. Its own list article describes its pricing as scoped per engagement. its own list
- Its own list. Its sister site publishes a list of nine AI consulting companies for real estate (September 30, 2026) that puts Ascendix first. its own list
Criteria met: 1 of 7 in full, 1 in part.
9. Innovation Vista
Fractional IT and AI leadership and assessments, with CRE as one of its sectors.
Best for CRE firms that want senior, vendor-neutral IT and AI leadership, such as a fractional CIO, and an assessment.
Pick them if you want a fractional CIO or AI officer at published monthly bands, from a firm that states it has no implementation practice.
What we found.
- What it sells. IT and AI strategy and leadership for CRE firms: IT and AI assessments, an embedded fractional CIO, weekly advisory, and virtual chief AI officer services. its CRE page
- Delivery. States that it is vendor-neutral, with no implementation practice or reseller relationships behind its recommendations. its pricing guide
More sourced facts (8)
- Pricing. Publishes typical price bands of $4,000 to $50,000 a month, month-to-month, from weekly advisory to an interim CIO. its pricing guide
- Products. Its CRE page says: “we have no products to push.” its CRE page
- The bands. Weekly advisory is typically $4,000 to $8,000 a month, a fractional or virtual CIO $8,000 to $25,000, and an interim CIO $25,000 to $50,000. its pricing guide
- People. Led by CEO Jeff Roberts. its pricing guide
- Network. Engagements draw on a network it puts at 450+ former CIOs, CTOs and CISOs. Its CRE page lists consultants' prior roles and achievements by initials and company type, for example a former CIO of a large US office tower developer. its CRE page
- Focus. Multi-industry: commercial real estate is one of about 25 sector pages in its navigation. its CRE page
- Assessment. Its IT and AI assessment is promoted as three weeks and produces a report of typically 30 to 50 pages for the board and C-suite. its assessments page
- Location. Based in Houston, Texas. Its structured data gives a founding date of 2019 and 35 employees. its CRE page
Two names you will meet that are not consultancies
AI.Edge (A.CRE)Not ranked
A membership rather than a consultancy, so it is compared with the CRE AI Institute instead.
- What it is. A membership with a free tier and a Pro tier that includes a 9-week course, monthly skill drops and intelligence briefs. Teams are told to contact the company about team pricing and onboarding. aiedge.ac
- Pricing. Free, or Pro at $97 a month or $924 a year. aiedge.ac llms.txt
AIxCRENot ranked
A free community with nothing to sell, and worth knowing about for that reason.
- What it is. An open community for CRE professionals that runs conferences, roundtables, workshops and private in-firm sessions at no cost, and publishes Claude skills, CRE MCP connectors and guides. aixcre.com
- For firms. Offers a free 90-minute hands-on session tailored to a firm, and says such sessions are typically priced at $2,000 to $5,000 elsewhere. aixcre.com