Even the most seasoned analysts found something surprising about the sectors they cover in 2025.

From an unexpected merger poised to usher in the first U.S. transcontinental railroad; the threat of significant government intervention in the homebuilding industry; and the unfettered capital inflows into digital infrastructure, there was plenty in their respective sectors to keep this elite trio of analysts on their toes—and catapult them into Extel’s 2025 All-America Research Hall of Fame.

After inducting no one last year, this year’s analysts join a group of only 77 other analysts who have earned a No. 1 ranking ten times or more, which remains a rarefied achievement since the survey was introduced in 1972.

But today’s analysts describe a much different world than even a few years ago. “If you’re doing the same thing today that you were doing five years ago, you’re on the path to irrelevance,” says one.

Nothing illustrates this bifurcation more than the meteoric take-up—or not—of artificial intelligence. For industries like construction, one hall of fame analyst reported that AI remains less conducive to usher in huge transformations.

While other analysts said that the impact of AI is already being realized not only on their individual sectors but also in how they work day to day. Read on to find out which analyst may have even used it to reply to Extel’s own Q&A. 

What’s the best call you ever made?

Over the past decade, some of my more successful contrarian calls have come within the datacenter space. Early in the cycle, I recognized that names such as Digital Realty (DLR) in the U.S., GDS Holdings in China, and NEXTDC (NXT) in Australia were positioned to benefit from a fundamental shift in computing demand—first from cloud adoption, and later of course from the accelerating needs of AI workloads. While sentiment at various times was often cautious on valuation or earnings pressures, my conviction in the structural growth drivers in various regions, helped us identify these trends well before consensus did. Our global coverage model has also been helpful in identifying changes in procurement activity at various hyperscalers.
 
What’s the worst call you’ve ever made?

Toward the beginning of this decade, I correctly identified a multi-year demand surge for towers and mobile data infrastructure, but I underestimated the macro overlay—specifically, the impacts of rising interest rates on trading multiples within the group. 
 
How is AI transforming your sector — and how you work?

AI has expanded broadened my coverage scope. What was once a focused datacenter and digital infrastructure sector is now at the crossroads of multiple disciplines: Internet platforms deploying AI applications, semiconductor and hardware companies building the compute layer, industrial and utility firms enabling power and cooling infrastructure, and software developers driving AI monetization. I now collaborate daily with RBC colleagues across technology, energy, industrial tech, and real estate to understand how these forces interact globally — from chip supply chains in Asia to power-grid constraints in North America and Europe, and sovereign initiatives across all regions. This multidisciplinary coordination is essential to capture the full breadth of the AI infrastructure cycle. 
 
How are geopolitical factors impacting your sector?

Geopolitical dynamics have become a defining variable for the digital infrastructure ecosystem. Cross-border trade flows, supply chain reconfiguration, and regional security considerations now influence everything from the sourcing of AI servers to the construction timelines of hyperscale facilities and power and cooling equipment, as well as the routing of subsea cable systems.