Nonprofit senior living operators are spending more on technology and shifting their priorities in how those dollars are allocated as they push for greater sophistication of their operational models in 2025.

That’s according to the 2025 edition of the annual CFO Hotline Technology Spending survey conducted by Chicago-based investment bank Ziegler. More than 170 organizations participated in the 2025 survey, roughly 63% were single-site operators and 36% were multi-site operators.

Respondents to the survey noted benefits of integrating AI into their operating models, with 41% of respondents saying AI-assisted technology has improved staff efficiency, workflows and reduced the number of full-time employees resulting in an hourly labor cost savings. Indeed, senior living companies have said that data and business intelligence are now “cornerstones” of operations in 2025.

“We are currently putting together an IT strategic plan as we know AI will be part of our future in the coming years,” one CFO wrote to Ziegler in the 2025 survey.

Sixty-five percent of respondents in 2025 said they would spend more on high speed internet connectivity infrastructure, an increase of 7% compared to 2024, when 58% of respondents said the same.

This year, senior living providers plan to spend 9.78% on average of their capital budget allocation on technology. That’s up from 8.8% reported in the 2024 survey, showing that operators are spending more on tech compared to the past.

The average spent out of operating budgets by respondent companies on tech also increased this year, from 3.5% in 2024, rising to 3.8% this year, the report states.

Just what operators are spending their capital budgets on tech is also changing, with a little more than one-third of respondents saying they intend to spend tech budgets on data analytics and decision-making support. Another one-third said they are investing in IT infrastructure, and 28% said they are spending on electronic health record systems, the report states.

“We aim to leverage secure, scalable, and sustainable technology that enables the business to better-serve our mission statement,” another CFO said in response to the 2025 survey.

In the private-pay senior living sector, some of the industry’s largest operators including Des Moines, Iowa-based LCS and Bonita Springs, Florida-based Discovery Senior Living have taken steps to bulk up their data capabilities in the last 12 months. Other operators including Trustwell Living, New Perspective Senior Living, Jaybird Senior Living and Juniper Communities are all taking steps to infuse new technology into their models to improve care delivery and general operations by making tough decisions on choosing tech partners in the future.

In 2025, 67% of respondents said they currently use robotics in their operations while one-third do not, according to the report. Slightly more than two-thirds of the respondents, 70%, said they use robotics to assist dining staff, while 39% reported using robotics in cleaning and housekeeping support.

Senior living operators in 2025 are spending less on robotics and fall management systems compared to last year, with fall- and wander-management technology accounting for 26% of anticipated tech spending this year, compared to 44% polled last year.