TAMPA, FL — Artificial intelligence will affect organizations in one way or another, and senior living operators need to decide whether they are going to be the transformation or if they will respond to what their competitors are doing, according to speakers at the Argentum 2025 Senior Living Executive Conference.

AI was the focus of several sessions during the conference, as presenters encouraged industry leaders to position themselves at the forefront of an AI-powered future without losing their human-centered core.

”AI is no longer a technological curiosity; it is a business imperative,” said Jordache Johnson, founder of Never Tech Behind and Tomorrow Today Consulting and a keynote speaker on how AI is empowering people to be more human. “It’s redesigning how your business operates, how it competes and how it creates value.”

But the sobering fact, he said, is that few organizations are very far along on their AI journey. Citing a Boston Consulting Group survey of 1,000 organizations across multiple industries, Johnson said that only 26% of organizations were scaling AI or had built it into their organizational DNA, and 74% were just starting to experiment with AI or had reached minimal adoption. 

The organizations that have figured out AI, he added, are unlocking 62% of the value of AI from their core business processes, which has a direct impact on their market competitive advantage. 

Several “invisible forces” are holding organizations back from AI: fears around job security, domain experts who cannot reimagine their work with AI, misaligned incentives and the fallacy that AI implementation must be perfect, Johnson said.

”The goal post is continuously moving,” Johnson said. “Innovation is messy, but it will pay off in the long run.”

In another session, experts talked about the challenges facing organizations in integrating AI, as well as tools for organizations to consider as they implement AI.

Jenni Bost, Radiant Senior Living vice president of marketing, said that members of older generations, including those who are residents or workers in senior living, lived in a world before AI and generally are still there, while the rest of the world and the tools they are using are the new reality. Senior living, she said, must adapt fast.

“We have to adapt now, and quickly, or you are not going to be found,” Bost said. “You have to be everywhere, often, and you have to have a lot of content.”

Most senior living operators are using AI for communication writing, which digital marketing thought leader Kent Lewis, the chief evangelist at Gravitate Design and founder of pdxMindShare, said covers only 1% to 5% of AI’s uses. More effective uses of AI, he said, include research and inspiration, content creation, website optimization, data analysis and reporting, content personalization, process automation and customer service enhancement.

Channels of influence have increased, Bost said, and speed in information and response is expected. AI, she said, is going to be the tool to use in this changing landscape.

But one thing that hasn’t changed is the need for human connection and senior living, speakers said. AI is a tool, a catalyst for productivity, not a replacement for humans, said Benjamin Exstrom, senior vice president of information technology at Sincerity Senior Living. 

Bost and Exstrom said that best practices include using AI to augment production and processes rather than replace them, seeking innovative partners for incorporating AI into systems, creating policies for AI use and privacy, and investing in training. 

Another conference session focused on the use of AI in employment processes. 

The use of AI in corporate America has exploded over the last few years, according to Laurel Cornell, regional managing partner in Fisher Phillips’ Louisville office. 

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 80% of employers use some form of AI or people analytics in recruiting, hiring, performance management, compensation or other practices. But the laws regulating the use of such platforms for employment-related purposes are murky and rapidly changing, along with the technology, Cornell said. 

AI can be efficient and digest large chunks of data to help employers make decisions, Cornell said. It also can increase the job application pool and free up resources to publish  job descriptions and postings. It also can help remove implicit bias.

AI tools that automatically screen resumes or applications typically are looking for key words used by candidates, as well as mention of certain types of degrees from particular schools and institutions. Video interviewing software is evaluating candidates based on facial expressions and speech patterns. Chatbots are kicking out candidates who don’t meet predefined requirements. Testing software is providing “job fit” scores for applicants or employees based on personalities and aptitudes. 

But nothing is bias-free or risk-free, the experts said. Despite the fact that everyone thinks computers and programs can make a process more objective, Cornell said, AI may unintentionally perpetuate discriminatory status quo by injecting bias into the hiring algorithm and failing to accommodate an applicant or employee’s disability.

Jason Geller, regional manager partner in Fisher Phillips’ San Francisco office, said the legal landscape surrounding AI is a “rocky” one these days, with the Trump administration creating uncertainty around the future of discrimination law and the use of AI tools in humsn resource processes. Executive orders and legislative efforts have clouded the waters on what companies can and cannot do, and even what’s to come, he said.

For now, Fisher Phillips recommends that employers pay attention to the legal landscape and keep their attorneys informed of any changes or updates to employment and human resources processes.