Rentana’s CEO on OPTECH 2025: "Multifamily Is Finally Ready for AI"

The Rentana team had a blast buzzing around OPTECH last year. In between prepping for and delivering Rentana’s fast pitch and manning the Rentana booth, I loved meeting and chatting with people about what’s next in the industry and what is inspiring us.

Because Rentana is an AI company, I got to have a lot of conversations about AI with conference attendees. What I heard is that multifamily has begun moving en masse from AI exploration to AI implementation. Accordingly, the industry has shifted focus from predicting the future to standardizing it. Operators are moving past pilots and trial runs and into structured, portfolio-level implementation of technology and data practices, including AI.

OPTECH 2025 showed the industry is at a tipping point with AI, signaling a new era of operational maturity.  

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Taking Multifamily AI from Concept to Process

Until recently, operators have been fixated on the theory and potential of AI. When AI came into the industry as a new, novel concept, the industry was equal parts excited and hesitant.

Major suppliers began shifting focus to AI-related products. AI thought leadership was everywhere. Multifamily executives wanted to soak up every piece of available information about AI and how it could change their business for the better.

Eventually, everyone grew tired of theoreticals. All the conversations swirling around AI eventually distilled down to one key question: How?    

Owners and operators want to know which tools are available to them and what solutions they offer. They want to understand the risk, the guardrails, and how compliance is being addressed.

It’s no longer just about what AI could do. It’s about how operators are deploying it today.

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Related: How to Use AI for Multifamily Investing & Reporting

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AI Is Only as Good as Its Data

The “how” of AI is rooted in data, not use cases. When systems don’t talk to each other, data can get inaccurate. When data is inaccurate, decision-making becomes slower and less accurate. To be useful, data needs to be accurate, actionable, and accessible. To optimize their data for AI, operators are starting to realize that they need to design their tech stacks for seamless integration.

Every piece of PropTech you use should be measured on its ability to deliver the following three things:

• Clean, standardized datasets
• Access to actionable data insights 
• Integrations that minimize manual auditing

This is how operators get site-level and portfolio data that is accurate, actionable, and accessible. Without it, operators are left spinning their wheels, incapable of effectively using AI.

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From AI to NOI

When you’ve solved for the data, AI has nearly limitless potential. Every data point in an owner or operator’s portfolio (and in most cases there are millions) can create insight and point towards a better business decision.

Operators who have found a solution for clean, accessible, integrable data are already using AI to increase NOI by:

• Analyzing vacancy and occupancy trends against pricing structure and demand
• Predicting and mitigating maintenance expenses
• Auditing marketing efficacy

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Related: How to Grow NOI Through a Data-Driven Retention Strategy

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Whereas OPTECH 2024 showed us AI’s potential, OPTECH 2025 showed us the need for an AI roadmap. I predict (and hope) OPTECH 2026 will be about scaling AI.

In the meantime, on January 22, 2026, Rentana will be hosting a webinar all about how multifamily leaders are planning to implement (and have already implemented) AI. Our expert panelists will explore:

• The distinctions between generative AI, conversational AI, and agentic intelligence
• The frameworks multifamily executives use to evaluate AI solutions
• Practical ways decision intelligence is shaping leasing performance, day-to-day property operations, and portfolio-level outcomes

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Register here

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