Jim Hurless

Jim Hurless Managing Director, Data Center Solutions CBRE

Jim Hurless has spent more than two decades building and running the infrastructure that the digital economy depends on. His career traces a direct line through the companies that shaped modern data-intensive real estate: from IAC's global corporate real estate portfolio, to Amazon Web Services' hyperscale expansion into emerging markets, to CBRE's fastest-growing business unit. He knows data centers not as an asset class to advise on, but as infrastructure he has personally planned, sited, and scaled.

At Amazon Web Services, Mr. Hurless served as Principal of New Region Business Development on the Infrastructure and Data Center Strategy for Emerging Markets, leading AWS's infrastructure buildout across Latin America and Australia at a time when the company was defining what hyperscale deployment looked like globally. Before that, he spent nearly a decade at IAC and Hotels.com directing global real estate and corporate services across a portfolio of digital-native brands, developing an early fluency in what high-growth technology companies need from their real estate.

That foundation carried directly into CBRE, where Hurless has spent 12 years in progressively senior roles across three distinct business lines. As Director, he was part of a team leading one of CBRE's most complex enterprise accounts, the AT&T portfolio, building the client management discipline that defines his approach to data center solutions. As Managing Director of Advisory and Transaction Services, he drove growth and operational excellence across a national advisory platform. And as Global Real Estate Leader for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, he built CBRE's EV business from the ground up, constructing a client advisory model, a proprietary site-scoring platform, and a national partner network that positioned CBRE as the leading real estate firm in the electrification space. The business he built targeted $1 billion in annual revenue.

Mr. Hurless joined CBRE's Data Center Solutions (DCS) business in March 2025 serving as Business Unit Director, bringing the full weight of that background to a business CBRE is heavily focused in, growing at roughly 20% annually. His focus is on growing the DCS client base through new logo development, deepening wallet share with existing accounts, and delivering the integrated platform that sets CBRE apart in a market where fragmented, multi-vendor approaches are the norm.

He holds an executive education credential from Harvard University and studied philosophy at Arkansas State University. He is based in Dallas.

Outside of work, Jim is most proud of the family he and his wife Jennifer have built together. Their daughter Aubrey is a junior at Texas State University. Their son Preston competes as a Division I place kicker at Tennessee State University. Their youngest, Joshua, is a junior at Shelton School in Dallas. On weekends, Jim and Jennifer can usually be found somewhere between a football stadium and spending time with family.

Education

• Executive Education Program, Harvard University
• BA, Philosophy, Arkansas State University

Global Sector Specialization

• EV Infrastructure
• Energy Oil & Gas
• Healthcare
• Tech/Media/Telco

Clients Represented

• BP Pulse
• Tenet
• HCA
• CHRISTUS
• BAYLOR
• ATT
• Ford