As December comes to a close, it’s time to look back and reflect. 2023 was another remarkable year for Yardi offices and employees around the world. Here were a few of the highlights. Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award In January, Yardi started off the year strong as we were honored with a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award for the third time as one of the Best Places to Work in 2023. The Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award is based solely on the input of employees, who voluntarily provide anonymous feedback by completing a review about their job, work environment and employer on Glassdoor, the worldwide leader on insights about jobs and companies. “Taking care of our employees and offering opportunities to contribute to our clients’ success are guiding principles at Yardi,” said Anant Yardi, the company’s CEO and founder. “We are honored to receive this prestigious award again from Glassdoor, and we are grateful for the supportive culture that has been fostered at all levels within our organization.” Voyager 8 Unveiled The latest edition of Yardi’s flagship property management and accounting software has much anticipated user-friendly upgrades and features. Voyager 8 will be widely available to clients beginning in January 2024. “The biggest thing with Voyager 8 to get excited about is the user experience. The user interface is completely different. It’s a big leap from Voyager 7S. It’s not a leap in terms of the upgrade process, though,” said Rob Teel, president of global solutions, in September at YASC in San Diego. In addition to the new user experience and simple upgrade process, Voyager 8 is built for compatibility with artificial intelligence (AI), promising a continual opportunity for real estate companies to use the new technology for efficiency and smoother operations. Want to learn more? Reach out to our sales team. Yardi Virtuoso brings AI to real estate This fall, Yardi released Yardi Virtuoso, a multifaceted platform built to shape the future of AI in real estate. Virtuoso delivers automation technology across various applications to expedite workflows, increase efficiency and augment teams for improved performance and better net operating income. “The AI platform automates repetitive workflows and routine tasks to help our clients reach new levels of efficiency. We look forward to seeing its positive impact through 2024 and beyond,” said Akshai Rao, president of residential at Yardi. Learn more about this human-centered approach to AI. Forbes Cloud 100 In August, Yardi was named again to the prestigious Forbes Cloud 100 list, the definitive ranking of the top 100 private cloud companies in the world, published by Forbes in partnership with Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures. Yardi was a member of the inaugural Cloud 100 in 2016 and is the only company focused on the real estate vertical this year. “We’re honored that Forbes continues to recognize Yardi for our cloud technology and services,” said Jay Shobe, senior vice president of cloud services at Yardi. “Since the inaugural list, this inclusion has reflected our employees’ continual efforts and our clients’ unfailing support worldwide.” Another major EPA honor In March, Yardi received the 2023 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy after being named Partner of the Year for five consecutive years. The award celebrates companies that offer energy services and products in the commercial, institutional or industrial markets for successfully assisting clients with strategic energy management and building design. Partner of the Year award winners have committed long-term to fighting climate change and promoting public health through energy efficiency messaging.  Cloud VO acquired In June, Yardi announced the acquisition of CloudVO, the San Francisco-based online reseller of virtual offices, meeting rooms and other workplace services. Laurent Dhollande, CEO of CloudVO, commented: “We are thrilled that CloudVO is now part of Yardi. Our partners will benefit from the Yardi listing service with infinitely more reach and strength than CloudVO could provide...

“I don’t get excited about change, per se, but I’m very comfortable with change. I fundamentally believe that change is an important part of the formula for business success.” That quote comes from Doug Dollenberg, Jr. — the final honoree in the 2023 Changemakers series by Senior Housing News (SHN)! It’s been a pleasure to sponsor the series for the fifth consecutive year, we’ve loved celebrating each senior living visionary recognized.   Keep reading for a snapshot of Doug Dollenberg, Jr.’s interview, which is packed with insightful stories and advice. Yardi client Doug Dollenberg, Jr. named 2023 Changemaker For Doug Dollenberg, Jr., president and CEO at Brightview Senior Living — a dedicated Yardi client — change isn’t just inevitable, it’s necessary. Since joining Brightview in 2017, he’s led changes that have positively shaped the organization to be what it is today — and he’s learned valuable lessons through it all.   In his interview with SHN, Dollenberg shares why he thinks change is essential in the senior living industry, and explains the importance of driving collaborative change. He also shares how his experience at Brightview has reinforced his passion for people and culture — and speaks to the organization’s plans for the future.   SHN: What are some ways that you think the senior living industry needs to change in the next five years? Dollenberg: Staffing is one. Two, resident experience. Three, embracing technology and innovation. And four, rebounding margin. On the staffing front, turnover is a huge challenge in the senior living industry. It is in plenty of others, but especially in senior living. And we need to attract more people to the industry and help people realize that senior living is a great industry and a great place to build a career. There are tremendous career opportunities in our industry, and we’re only going to need more and more people over the next decade. There’s already something like a million people who know it’s a great industry, but we have to attract more people to it. I think it’s going to require creativity and innovation and change to get more people to enter our great industry. We also have to figure out ways for Brightview and for the industry as a whole to figure out how to increase retention. Another is resident experience. Our resident needs and desires are evolving, and we need to be focused on addressing that for the residents of today — and also the residents of the future. The baby boomers, they’re not really entering our communities in the next handful of years, but as you go out 5, 10, 15 years, we really have to be thinking about them. As we’re looking at today’s residents and future, we have to be looking at what are the changes that impact our operations and the communities we develop for the future. The third area that I mentioned is embracing technology, innovation and process improvement with the goal of driving efficiencies. I think that’s increasingly important in our industry, as we’re focused on margin. We have to search for and create efficiencies in our business, and so much of that is going to come back to those things that I mentioned: Technology, innovative and creative ideas, and process improvement. The fourth big change in my eyes is margin rebound. Ultimately, our industry needs to get back to the operating margins that we had pre-pandemic, whether that’s getting back to or near those pre-pandemic margins. That’s something that needs to happen, and that is the function of building occupancy, driving revenue, and managing costs. I feel the industry is working on that, which is a good thing. And personally, I feel really good about the progress that our Brightview team is making on that front. SHN: How do you think about timing so that Brightview can innovate without getting so far ahead of the market that...