Datacenters
The AI Infrastructure Land Grab
Time | Location | Breakout Session
Panel Directors: Carlos Valdovinos MBA ‘27, Landon Elks Harvard College ‘27
Artificial intelligence has transformed data centers from a niche real estate asset class into mission-critical infrastructure underpinning the global economy. The question is no longer whether AI will grow. It is who will control, finance, and operate the infrastructure that makes that growth possible.
At its core, this session asks a defining question for the next decade of real estate and infrastructure investing. In the age of AI, who owns and controls the physical backbone of computation, and what does that mean for capital allocation, returns, and the future built environment?
Moderator
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Title | Affiliation
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Panelists
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Chris Sumter
Chief Executive Officer | Emergent Data Centers
Chris Sumter is the Chief Executive Officer of Emergent Data Centers. Chris brings over 28 years of data center development experience working with hyperscale and enterprise customers. As former Co-Founder and Partner of two prominent data center platforms, he led early formation, strategy, and growth initiatives. Chris has developed over 3.2M square feet of data centers and 1.2 GW of leasing capacity. His expertise spans sales, business development, site selection, energy procurement, acquisitions, and underwriting.
Jeffrey Kanne
President and Chief Executive Officer | National Real Estate Advisors
Chief Executive Officer | National Real Estate Development
Jeffrey Kanne is President and Chief Executive Officer of National Real Estate Advisors and Chief Executive Officer of National Real Estate Development. He oversees firm‑wide strategy, operations, major transactions, and investor engagement, and serves on the Board of Directors, chairing both the Investment Committee and Management Team. Since 2000, he has led the evolution of the NEBF real estate platform and National’s investment and development businesses. Mr. Kanne also serves as Vice Chairman of Sabey Data Centers. He holds a BA in History and a JD with high honors from the University of Iowa and is licensed to practice law in Washington, D.C. and Maryland.
Joe Imparato
| Critical Development Group
Joe is a seasoned developer and asset manager and has acquired, developed, procured power and leased over 6.5M sf. of data centers, SCIF, lab, pharmaceutical and advanced manufacturing assets across the US.
He was the head of development for GI Partners, a private equity firm which owns and operates over 12M sf. of hyperscale, colocation and carrier hotel data centers, pharmaceutical manufacturing and lab buildings. He also lead marketing efforts, negotiated leases and supported capital formation efforts with their partners including some of the largest US pension funds, life insurance companies and endowments.
Prior to that Joe held roles in development at Blackstone’s BioMed Realty (130 life science properties totaling 17M sf) and finance for GID (26M sf. Industrial commercial + 55K multifamily units). He has extensive experience leading development and asset management platforms on behalf of some of the largest US and International institutional investors.
Gunnar Branson
Chief Executive Officer | Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE)
Mr. Branson is the CEO of the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE), an essential forum that provides high value thought leadership for real estate leaders from around the world. AFIRE’s members includes nearly 180 leading global institutional investors, investment managers, and supporting partners from 24 countries representing approximately US$4 trillion in real estate assets under management (AUM) in the US.
Mr. Branson has worked across commercial real estate, professional services, education, and association leadership. Prior to joining AFIRE in 2018, he served as CEO of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM), and before that, led strategy, innovation, and marketing for Fortune 500 and mid-market companies.
Mr. Branson serves on the board of directors for Affordable Homes & Communities (AHC), a developer, owner, and operator of affordable housing in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. He also serves as an advisory board member for NYU Stern’s Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance.
Mr Branson is a regular speaker, writer, panelist, and spokesperson for the global real estate and investing community, focused on institutional investing, urbanism, sustainability, and future trends. He spoke on a TEDx stage, on television news such as CIBC, and interviews real estate thought leaders on The AFIRE Podcast. He has authored six stage and radio plays and recently wrote Chasing Lights, based on a podcast of the same name, to be released by Manuscripts Publishing in early 2026.