Family offices piling into AI
A profile of top family offices shows growing direct allocations to artificial intelligence, suggesting private capital is seeking long‑term exposure to the sector. That investor interest could translate into family‑office activity in AI‑adjacent real estate such as small‑bay flex, owner‑user buys and recapitalisations. (impactwealth.org)
Family offices are moving deeper into artificial intelligence, not just through stocks but through direct startup deals and long-term private-market bets. (impactwealth.org) Impact Wealth published a roster on April 11 of 10 family offices active in artificial intelligence, including Hillspire, Emerson Collective, Horizons Ventures, MSD Capital and Bezos Expeditions. TechCrunch reported on April 7 that family offices are increasingly skipping venture funds to invest directly on startup cap tables. (impactwealth.org) (techcrunch.com) The numbers around those bets have grown fast. TechCrunch cited BNY Wealth research showing 83% of family offices see artificial intelligence as a top strategic priority over the next five years, and Goldman Sachs said 86% of respondents in its 2025 family office survey already had artificial intelligence exposure, mostly through public equities. (techcrunch.com) (goldmansachs.com) That push comes as family offices keep large pools of capital available for private deals. Goldman Sachs said more than one-third of surveyed family offices planned to cut cash from a current 12% allocation and move more money into risk assets, while 39% of those planning changes expected to raise private equity exposure over the next 12 months. (goldmansachs.com) Artificial intelligence is also pulling those investors toward the physical systems that make the software run. CNBC reported on July 24, 2025 that overall family-office direct investments fell 32% in the first half of 2025 to 375 deals, but interest held up in “hard assets” tied to artificial intelligence, including data centers. (cnbc.com) That helps explain why real estate is part of the conversation even when the headline is software. William Blair said on February 17 that cloud computing and artificial intelligence are driving demand for data-center infrastructure, and that data centers are becoming a fifth core commercial real estate subsector. (williamblair.com) The spillover can reach smaller industrial buildings too. CompStak and Faropoint said in a July 10, 2025 report that small-bay industrial properties under 150,000 square feet carried average rents 22% above bulk warehouses in 2023, with double-digit premiums continuing through 2024 across nine major United States markets. (compstak.com) Those buildings tend to house the kinds of tenants that support fast-growing tech and service ecosystems: light manufacturers, heating and air contractors, last-mile distributors and regional service providers. CompStak and Faropoint said small-bay leases also run shorter than bulk leases, averaging under four years for multi-tenant space, which can make recapitalizations and owner-user transactions easier to structure. (compstak.com) There is still a gap between interest in artificial intelligence and actual infrastructure ownership. J.P. Morgan’s 2026 Global Family Office Report said “AI interest outpaces allocation,” and Bloomberg reported in February that 79% of surveyed family offices had no infrastructure allocation even as data centers and power became central to the artificial intelligence buildout. (privatebank.jpmorgan.com) (bloomberg.com) For now, the pattern is clear enough: wealthy families want artificial intelligence exposure, many are willing to invest directly, and some of that money is starting to trace the supply chain from models and chips to buildings and power. (impactwealth.org) (goldmansachs.com)
