AIM Special Report: AI Takes Center Stage

Artificial intelligence had a prime seat at the table during the opening sessions of the 2026 Apartment Innovation and Marketing Conference. From listings to operations, marketing to leasing, presenters explored advances, risks and the need to ensure seamless communication and sharing of information.

The way AI works is changing, cautioned Anurag Sakhamuri, AI deployment engineer with OpenAI. While in the past year, it moved from chat to reasoning, the next phase will be AI as coworker. A coworker that doesn’t sleep.

Always moving in the cloud, this version will be able to step in whenever necessary and will be able to interact with other agents that have different purposes, arriving together at potential solutions for human review, with a constant feedback loop from offline to online, Sakhamuri noted. Human governance will be critical to success, emphasized moderator Lance French, CIO of RealPage.

So, too, is a smooth handoff between AI and its human partners in marketing and operations, according to Esther Bonardi, vice president of RentCafe, who likened the competition for renters to a relay race. “If you lose the handoff, sometimes you lose the race,” she warned during a discussion with Pillar Properties Marketing Director Sierra Berg and Senior Vice President of Multifamily Operations Diana Norbury.

That’s evident with reputation management. AI has taken on much of that responsibility traditionally handled by the marketing department, Berg noted, managing both tone and brand voice. Meanwhile, the operational teams are in a better position to respond to reviews and benefit from reading the feedback on real-life situations in their communities.

“It’s really important that marketing owns the brand voice but operations owns the execution,” Norbury agreed. Consistent connection and communication ensure that’s transparent to the renter.

Both teams need a clear understanding of the role technology plays in connection with renter prospects, as well, Berg observed. That increases the likelihood of a smooth handoff whenever human interaction is needed—something that needs to be transparent to the prospect. Don’t forget to test the process regularly for consistency and accuracy, Bonardi added. She recommended scheduling a task to audit this at least semiannually.

AI can also help with renewals, primarily by helping maintain engagement with renters throughout their residency in the community, providing a clearer picture of whether they’re likely to remain and allowing the operations team to be proactive rather than reactive, Norbury affirmed.

Even as AI assumes these new roles, though, it remains a critical source of information to rental prospects, especially since they are now playing a more active role in moving themselves down the leasing funnel, according to Michael Sherman, senior vice president of Zillow Rentals, which in March unveiled its new AI mode, aimed at delivering greater power to consumers.

He identified three patterns that have emerged in the information renters are seeking, which will require further adjustments to how communities are positioned. They want:

• Transparency of cost
• Explicit answers to very specific, personal preferences
• Clarity as to whether they will qualify for the lease they want

At the same time, responding to these more detailed, more personally oriented queries will increase the opportunity to identify purchasing and leasing patterns, valuable data insights.

“Right now, we have an opportunity to change how we look at the data,” Sherman observed.