April 2026 Webinar: Emerging Trends – AI, Productivity, and Texas Land
Is AI productivity real or a myth? Is Texas land then ew gold rush, or just fool’s gold? We address this and more in this month’s webinar.
Each month since the start of 2026, we’ve been building on previous topics in this newsletter and in our webinars. Our core topics have been focused on the state of the market, answering questions for nervous investors, emerging technologies, and where we see opportunities in uncertain times.
With this newsletter, we want to share a few articles with you that expand on what we’ve covered recently. When we think about the growing season, the early months are for planting seeds, and now we’re starting to share what’s sprouting. We hope these resources sprout new ideas and questions for you as well!
Texas Land as the New Gold Rush: Watch Our Webinar For More
In February’s newsletter, we talked a bit about Texas land. This month, we expanded on those ideas with a webinar, where we talked about how we believe Texas land is the new gold rush and the ultimate value-add for investors. If you weren’t able to catch us live (by the way, thank you for the lively Q&A at the end), you can watch or refresh your memory with the link below.
Is AI Really Improving Productivity?
AI & productivity – peanut butter and jelly or oil and water?
Just a few weeks after our webinar on AI, Fortune published a new article with this meaty title: “Thousands of CEOs admit AI had no impact on employment or productivity—and it has economists resurrecting a paradox from 40 years ago.”
This is called Solow’s productivity paradox, coined by Robert Solow after observing that during the early years of the computer age, productivity growth actually dropped. The same thing seems to be happening now. While most S&P 500 companies talk about AI on earnings calls and are positive about its implementation, a National Bureau of Economic Research study published in February says differently.
Of the 6,000 CEOs they surveyed in the U.S., Australia, U.K., and Germany, “the vast majority see little impact from AI on their operations.” Most AI usage has equated to 1.5 hours per week on average, and 90% reported that “AI has had no impact on employment or productivity over the past three years.” This reality is not meeting up with executive expectations around AI, and other studies that have come out have shown contradicting data about the productivity benefits of AI. Couple this with increased regular use of AI coinciding with decreased trust in the technology, and it’s clear that AI is in, at the very least, a “growing pains” phase. Will we see increased productivity down the line? That will be tied directly to the value AI brings us. Implementation needs to come with a strong business case to truly be useful, improve productivity, and generate a good return on investment.
Ray Croc Knew that Land Was the Ultimate Value-Add
In this month’s webinar, we talked about how Ray Croc didn’t approach McDonald’s as a food business, but as a land business. The only way Kroc was able to turn a profit and McDonald’s into a massive commercial success was by talking with someone who reframed the way he thought about his business.
If it were about the food, he’d see modest returns and take longer to expand to the next location. Kroc leased the land to franchisees, which allowed him to acquire more land and add new locations more quickly.
Land development offers a lot of potential, which is why we call it the ultimate value-add. Whether you lease land to others or you invest in a land fund, the investment comes with many opportunities. Learn more about Ray Croc’s story in an Inc. article reflecting on his approach.
Have any thoughts on our topics of AI, productivity, land trends, or anything else? Let us know in the comments! As always, if you have any questions, would like to learn more about real estate investing, or want to be notified about future investment opportunities, schedule a call with us! See you for the next one.
