Property managers are dealing with rising expenses, labor market shifts, and the pressure to manage operations more efficiently to meet owner or investor demands. Many have turned to technology, including artificial intelligence tools, to handle these challenges. However, according to Cat Allday, VP of Product for Platform at AppFolio, while these tools offer value, they often fall short of unlocking AI’s full potential for the industry.
“There is currently an excess of technology providers in the property tech space,” says Allday. “And they are all talking about the same thing–AI-powered tools that improve workflows.”
Allday explains that the real challenge is determining which technologies solve the actual problems property managers and owners face rather than simply layering on more tools.
Why Bolt-on AI Is Missing the Mark
Allday notes that traditional AI tools often create a disconnect between the outcomes property managers want and the data access required to achieve them. Because these “bolt-on” consumer products lack access to business documents, operational processes, and historical data, they often operate in a vacuum.
Allday illustrates the limitation with a common scenario: managing work orders. Without historical context, duplicate work orders could be created, and two vendors might be dispatched to fix the same problem. Allday explains that this is just one example of why deep integration is so critical.
“AI without context just accelerates inefficiency,” she says.
However, the dynamic changes when the technology is native to the platform.
“With an AI-native system, you gain broader context,” says Allday. “Agentic systems can use all of that information to make better decisions.”
She notes that with an agentic tool, property managers can see all the previous work orders a tenant has submitted. It might recognize, ‘You had a work order last week. Is this the same issue?’
Avoiding the ‘Efficiency Trap’
Many property managers adopting AI technologies are falling into what Allday calls the “efficiency trap.”
“We’re hearing from teams that they are using new technologies to get their staff to do more work in the same amount of time,” she says. “But the problem with that mindset is we end up focusing on throughput instead of the outcomes we’re trying to achieve.”
This is why she recommends taking a step back and asking, “What exactly do we want to accomplish here?” Allday explains that as more teams use similar technology, competitive differentiation will come from how organizations reinvest the time AI gives back—not just how quickly tasks get done.
“When you have the opportunity to invest more time in building communities and finding ways to help them truly thrive, that’s where the real value is,” says Allday. “It might mean creating a dog park, planning more community events, or designing shared workspaces.”
She adds that these types of investments will help properties attract new residents and retain the ones they already have, supporting future growth. “AI should create space for more human-centered work, not just faster task completion,” Allday emphasizes.
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