The widespread adoption of AI is leading to greater growth and profitability for companies, but the difference between those enjoying massive gains and those that are not is shocking, and comes down to one factor: full buy-in. A 2026 study by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that nearly three-quarters of AI’s economic value is captured by just one-fifth of organizations.
This divide is also evident in property management, where some operators are still stuck in pilot mode, using legacy platforms for task execution, but not to deliver real performance. The difference is not academic, according to data from the 2026 AppFolio Property Management Benchmark Report, which shows that property managers who are broadly adopting AI are projecting 31% portfolio growth in 2026, compared to just 12% for the rest of the industry.
Shifting Mindset
The difference between the mavericks and those left behind comes down to a fundamental shift in mindset about the nature and goals of a company’s software. Cat Allday, Vice President of Product at AppFolio, notes that the platform has to actively drive results, not just record them. This is the difference between property management and performance management.
The AppFolio Performance Platform doesn’t just document what’s happening at a company’s properties, but dictates what happens next, helping drive outcomes for the entire portfolio. It addresses items such as whether residents are being retained, and if portfolios are being managed in a way that enhances their value and increases NOI.
Measuring Success
Operators on AppFolio can act on performance signals before they become problems, protecting NOI, improving resident value, and fundamentally changing the economics of what a portfolio can achieve. It’s not about looking at software utilization or task completion rates anymore, but measuring things like how fast vacant units are being filled, or renewal rate trends over time.
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AppFolio helps operators determine appropriate goals and regularly track progress on achieving them, while suggesting actionable items to help when progress lags. Over time, as the platform learns more about the operator’s business, AI agents can begin to take these actions to keep progress toward performance goals continually on track.
One AppFolio client, Advanced Management Company, owns and operates over 12,000 multifamily units in California. They turned to AppFolio to consolidate their disjointed communications systems, and the results have been concrete: consolidated operations, stronger resident retention, and performance visibility that leadership now tracks in real time.
Driving Real Performance
The success AppFolio users are experiencing says less about emerging technology than it does about a fundamental shift in the importance of focusing on desired outcomes. The operators seeing this advantage are the ones who’ve shifted what they’re measuring, and are building infrastructure to drive those metrics instead of just reporting on them.
AppFolio gives operators the operational foundation to focus less on day-to-day task execution and more on the decisions that drive portfolio growth, from identifying properties ripe for acquisition to steering investments in the most profitable direction. The operators who are winning have stopped asking how to do more with less, and are asking how to build an operation where every signal leads to action, and every action moves the portfolio forward.
As real estate market opportunity continues to transform the property management industry, it’s clear that those who are able to harness its power will be the ones who come out ahead. By shifting their mindset and focusing on performance management, operators can drive real growth and profitability for their portfolios.
