Overview
- The second annual Owner Trends Report draws on a Wakefield Research survey of 325 owners and developers across the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean conducted November 24–December 4, 2025.
- AI use is nearly universal at 98 percent, yet only 32 percent report it is embedded across most operations and 73 percent want to do more but feel overwhelmed.
- Current AI applications most commonly target operational efficiency (64 percent), energy management (54 percent), and revenue optimization (53 percent).
- Owners view brands as critical partners for AI adoption, with 89 percent calling brand collaboration beneficial and 34 percent calling it essential, while key hurdles include data privacy and security (46 percent), costs (42 percent), and legacy-system integration (40 percent).
- Governance caution persists with 40 percent comfortable letting AI make operating decisions without human oversight and 57 percent requiring it, even as 90 percent are optimistic about 2026, 95 percent about five years, and 79 percent plan portfolio expansion.