Relli CEO: AI Can Write the Email, But It Can’t Close the Investor

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how real estate firms work, but according to Mor Milo, co-founder and CEO of the commission-free marketplace Relli, the industry is drawing the wrong lessons about where it helps. Milo is enthusiastic about AI in specific domains. It has transformed how his team ships code, produces design work, and processes information, letting a lean company operate at a scale that once required a large agency. “In the skill work associated with coding, design, and ideation, I think people should be scared for their jobs,” he said.

Yet the limits appear the moment the work becomes human-facing. Milo is skeptical of handing underwriting judgment to a model, and openly unconvinced by AI voice and chat tools meant to engage investors. “In terms of interpersonal skills and physical interactions, we have a long way to go,” he said. He expects a first wave of AI companies to overpromise and contract before a second wave learns to make the technology genuinely useful in personal interactions.

The problem Milo is most focused on solving is not technological at all. It is the gap between the moment an investor expresses interest in a deal and the moment a sponsor actually engages and begins building rapport. On one side, operators treat a newcomer the same way they treat a longtime investor. On the other, an investor deploying a significant sum feels ignored. His comparison is a relationship. You do not go from zero to a hundred on a first meeting. The firms that succeed, he says, will build a genuine discovery process, learning about the investor before asking for a check, rather than pitching the deal and going straight for the close.

Beneath all of it is a simple truth Milo says surprised him most. “They want to feel good,” he said. Investors want to know their money is respected, even when their contribution is a small fraction of a larger raise. “To that person, it’s their life savings.” His advice to investors reflects the same grounded view. Rather than fixating on how AI might transform the industry, he says, focus on fundamentals. “Underwrite the deal and the operator, as opposed to only focusing on the macro.”

For Texas, the stakes are significant. The state has become a magnet for real estate syndications, with sponsors raising capital for multifamily, industrial and mixed-use projects across markets such as Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. If operators automate investor engagement and lose the personal touch, they risk alienating the very backers funding that growth. Milo’s warning suggests the winners will be firms that use AI to streamline internal operations while preserving human relationships on the front end. Relli, co-founded by Milo and Ross Iannarelli, positions itself as “The Stock Market of Real Estate,” connecting accredited investors with vetted commercial real estate syndication opportunities on a commission-free, direct-to-sponsor basis. As AI tools proliferate, the Texas firms that pair efficiency with genuine investor care may be best positioned to close deals and sustain long-term capital relationships.