The 2026 Institutional Real Estate Europe editorial board gathered in Madrid from 16 to 18 September in the wake of an Anthropic “whistleblower” sounding the alarm on AI and the very future of humanity, potentially seismic political shifts in Germany, the European Central Bank raising interest rates once more, and continued skirmishes in the US-Iran conflict.
Despite the chaotic geopolitical backdrop, the 22 board members managed to calmly cover a sweeping array of topics, from the use of AI all the way through to the midsize investor dichotomy of desiring exposure to alternatives and fresh strategies, but being reluctant to channel capital to untested emerging managers who provide avenues to niche real estate.
Testing AI
AI took up a larger share of the agenda than ever before, although scepticism about what can be achieved with AI, and large language models in particular, was still very much present. As at previous board meetings,
