In this episode, we highlight insights from Tim Vi Tran, SIOR, CCIM, Founder and President of The Ivy Group, who contributed his perspective to the SIOR Report Summer 2026 article, “AI-Enhanced Site Selection,” published by the Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS®.

Tim explains how The Ivy Group is applying AI in practical ways to help retail, office, and corporate clients evaluate potential locations more efficiently. By combining AI-enabled tools with CoStar, proprietary data, and decades of market experience, the Ivy Team can assess factors such as workforce distribution, commute patterns, available talent, market trends, occupancy costs, freeway and transportation access, and long-term corporate growth objectives.

For corporate users, AI can also support broader real estate strategy, including multi-market comparisons, site selection, portfolio planning, and decisions about where and how a company should expand its physical footprint.

But AI has limits.

Tim discusses the risk of AI hallucinations and why reliable data, market knowledge, professional judgment, and careful verification remain essential in commercial real estate. The technology can accelerate research and analysis, but it cannot replace trust, empathy, accountability, or the experience required to interpret what the data actually means for a client.

The Ivy Group is also exploring the use of a private large language model trained on its own case studies, closed transactions, articles, videos, podcasts, and proprietary knowledge to produce faster, more customized insights. This continues a long history of technology adoption at the firm: more than a decade ago, Tim developed his own software data management platform to monitor transactions in real time, generate pro forma reports, and manage pipelines, projects, and contacts.

Today, AI is also helping The Ivy Group refine Offering Memoranda, prepare market summaries and property descriptions, develop video scripts and timelines, and create more targeted property marketing and client presentations.

The takeaway is straightforward: AI can make commercial real estate professionals more efficient and better informed, but the most important parts of the advisory relationship remain fundamentally human.

The Ivy Group: Commercial properties, above and beyond.

Read the full SIOR Report article: https://flipbooks.bigredm.com/SIOR-2026-Summer/32/

👉 To learn more, you can access, for a small fee, case studies: https://theivygroup.com/courses 👉 Subscribe to The Ivy Group newsletter: https://theivygroup.substack.com/ 📩 Contact The Ivy Group: https://theivygroup.com/contact-us/

The Ivy Group specializes in commercial sales, leasing, and investment advisory across Fremont, Silicon Valley, and the Greater Bay Area. With over 100 years of combined experience and designations including SIOR and CCIM, The Ivy Group provides strategic guidance for complex transactions in commercial real estate.

When you need to sell, buy, or lease, The Ivy Group is ready to help you reach your goals with more than 100 years of combined experience and expertise. Contact us with your next real estate needs.

All information shared here, and in all blogs, case studies, courses, videos, and podcasts offered by The Ivy Group, is for general education only and is not tax, legal, accounting, or investment advice. Please seek professional advice from qualified tax, accounting, legal, and other professionals.

Copyright © 2026 by Tim Vi Tran, SIOR, CCIM. All rights reserved.