For real estate investment managers, the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) is not simply faster analysis or greater automation. Its value depends on the data, structure and investment discipline behind it. In an exclusive interview, Chad Cooley, co-founder and managing partner at AWH Partners, shares how the firm’s long-standing focus on data organization, historical underwriting information and technology has shaped its approach to hotel investing — and why AI is now accelerating that advantage.
Founded in 2010, AWH Partners is a hotel-focused private equity firm that has acquired more than $2 billion of hospitality real estate across more than 10,000 keys and 45 investments. The firm is applying AI through AWH MIDAS, a proprietary tool designed to support investment analysis and investor reporting, built on more than a decade of hospitality data, operating history and underwriting insights.
What led you to start thinking about data organization and
