CTO Hotline

The inaugural 2025 Ziegler Link•age Funds/LeadingAge CAST survey was designed to understand how not-for-profit senior living and care organizations are approaching technology strategy, adoption, and innovation. The survey aimed to identify current trends, challenges, and opportunities related to IT governance, infrastructure, workforce enablement, and resident experience, while also capturing perspectives on emerging tools such as artificial intelligence, automation, and data analytics.

The findings reveal several consistent themes, explored throughout this report:

• Technology is clearly a strategic priority for operators
• With exceptions such as EHR and scheduling, most technology segments are highly fragmented
• Select technologies have become virtually ubiquitous
• Boosting operational efficiency and improving resident care and experience
• Cybersecurity preparedness is strong
• Operators view advancements in AI as meaningful for their organizations but are still early in the adoption cycle
• Data science and analytics capabilities are still limited
• While progress has been made in establishing metrics for success in new technology adoption, opportunities remain for providers to quantify the outcomes that drive a return on investment (ROI)
• Operators rely on a variety of industry experts and partners for information on technology
• While residents’ tech expectations are changing and accelerating rapidly, they are not consistently engaged in decision-making