“AI, Acceleration, and the New Reality for Multifamily Operators"

As I sit here this weekend finally starting to recover from the whirlwind that was RETTC’s OPTECH, I thought I would share my take on the MFH industry’s largest and most focused gathering of owners, operators and vendors who care about the ResTech ecosystem.

My first reaction is to give kudos to the entire RETTC team. This is the first year that RETTC has been fully responsible for OPTECH, and it’s quite an endeavor. OPTECH has always been our “Super Bowl” at REBA, and they not only maintained but advanced the quality and breadth of content. The trade show was vibrant, and operators were there to learn and do business.

As I turn to the content itself, I’m struck by three specific quotes I heard from key executives

• The main takeaway for me is that there wasn’t a single main takeaway
• I never thought I’d say it, but as CEO of an operating company, I feel like I’m running a technology company
• At least we’re not just talking about smart home tech all the time

While coming from different vantage points, these all sound to me like versions of the same theme that we would all be wise to understand. Technology has advanced to the point that we can’t make operational decisions without making technology decisions; and technology is broad enough that there’s no single thing we can (or should) focus on.

In fact, the sooner executives start thinking about ecosystems rather than just products, the sooner they’ll get more from there tech stack. Perhaps the single biggest complaint I hear is about how complex tech stacks can get and how challenging it is to manage so many different vendors. Yet as I’ve written about before, the industry continues to “scratch itches” with point solutions rather than focus on defining and building out their platform.

If there was one overriding topic, it was not surprisingly AI. Everyone is trying to figure out where AI really works and where it is just hype. I commend RETTC on the effort put in to share real-world scenarios and actual implementations. Their session on pilot best practices is one that was useful for anyone trying to navigate decisions on software.

The good news is that, compared to two years ago, AI is no longer just hype. Particularly in the conversational AI world, there are many success stories; and as with our launch of AI capabilities within our analytics platform, I predict that next year’s OPTECH will have many more case studies beyond conversational AI and into the even more powerful world of analytics and agentic AI.

The only thing holding us back is ourselves. I often heard some version of “You can’t put too much on site teams.” It made me yearn for the days of Covid when, faced with the need to change quickly, we dropped such concerns and successfully navigated massive change (e.g. virtual tours and virtual leasing) in a fraction of the time we typically took. While it’s not surprising that we don’t keep that pace (nor advisable to do so), I hope executives remember that their teams can often handle more than they think they can.

Here's a few other tidbits to keep in mind as you plan for 2026

• A Slido poll taken during the Leadership Council ranked BI and data integration as the #1 challenge in ResTech of the five main areas offered
• Look for the “standard tech questionnaire” being developed by the Innovation and Emerging Technology committee. Like the standard application for college, such a tool (if adopted by the industry) would be a major accomplishment for RETTC. This would reduce the friction and improve the quality of source selection processes for all vendors and operators
• The “pilot playbook” is another project worthy of attention
• Several presentations focused on the challenges of change management, not just the technology itself. After 40 years of tech implementations, I say, “Amen” to that!
• Lastly, the Gartner Hype Cycle is alive and well. Innovation Committees and tech execs would be wise to think about which “innovations” really drive business value versus those that look shiny but don’t really solve a business problem

As I close this event review, I’m reminded of the old saw, “The only constant is change.” However, change in technology isn’t constant. It’s constantly accelerating. So buckle up…here’s to a great 2026! See you all back at the MGM next November!!