Disrupting Property Management: How DAISY Uses AI and Technology to Revolutionize HOAs

Highlights

• Daisy is revolutionizing HOA property management with a full-stack tech platform integrating AI.
• Started in NYC’s challenging market, Daisy is the fastest growing management company in the region.
• AI agents automate routine tasks, enabling Daisy to scale rapidly without proportional staff increases.
• Core company values emphasize continuous evolution, innovation, care, and positivity.
• Daisy’s technology-driven approach contrasts sharply with incumbent property managers reliant on outdated analog systems.
• Board members are becoming tech-savvy change agents driving modernization in their communities.
• Daisy envisions future community collaboration to bundle services and cut costs for residents.

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Summary

In this episode of The Innovators and Investors Podcast, Kristian Marquez interviews Yotam Cohen, co-founder and CEO of Daisy, a technology-driven property management company specializing in residential buildings and homeowners associations (HOAs). Daisy aims to modernize an outdated and fragmented industry by integrating advanced technology and AI to improve building management, resident satisfaction, and board transparency. Yotam shares his entrepreneurial journey, lessons learned from his first company, and how those experiences shaped Daisy’s disciplined, market-focused approach. The company started in New York City, intentionally targeting the toughest market, and has rapidly expanded to New Jersey with plans to enter Florida. Daisy’s unique value proposition includes a full-stack operating system that consolidates data, automates workflows with AI agents, and enhances communication among residents, boards, vendors, and staff. Yotam emphasizes the importance of company culture, core values (evolve, change the game, care, positivity), and a deliberate approach to hiring and talent management. He discusses how AI is integrated deeply within Daisy’s operations to scale service delivery efficiently, positioning the company ahead of traditional incumbents whose analog systems and resistance to change hinder innovation. Yotam also highlights the evolving profile of HOA board members as proactive volunteers seeking modernization. Daisy’s onboarding process uses a dedicated team supported by technology to ensure smooth transitions. Looking forward, Daisy envisions healthier communities not only financially and operationally, but also through collaborative initiatives such as group purchasing to improve services and reduce costs. Despite some technical difficulties during the interview, Yotam’s insights provide a comprehensive outlook on the future of proptech and the transformative potential of AI in property management.

Key Insights

• Market-Driven Product Development Yields Longevity: Yotam’s pivot from a product-first approach in his first company to a market-focused strategy in Daisy demonstrates the critical importance of deep market research and understanding customer personas before product development. This disciplined approach resulted in a seed deck and product vision that remained consistent over five years, underscoring the value of foundational market insights in building sustainable businesses.
• AI as a Strategic Scalability Lever: Daisy’s use of AI agents—bots that function as junior to senior team members—illustrates how AI can transform service businesses by automating repetitive tasks such as document analysis, vendor bidding, onboarding, and customer support. This model allows Daisy to multiply its business volume several-fold without increasing headcount, highlighting AI’s potential to revolutionize operational efficiency in traditionally manual industries.
• Starting in the Toughest Market Builds Competitive Advantage: By launching in New York City, a notoriously complex and large real estate market, Daisy intentionally challenged itself to solve the hardest problems first. This strategic choice not only validated their technology under demanding conditions but also positioned them favorably for expansion to adjacent markets, demonstrating the benefits of mastering complexity early on.
• Culture and Values Are Core to Innovation: The deliberate creation of core values—always evolve, change the game, care, and positivity—reflects how culture drives Daisy’s ability to continuously adapt and embrace technology like AI. By fostering positivity and humility, Daisy ensures its team remains resilient through constant change, which is critical given the rapid evolution of proptech and AI tools.
• Technology Native Companies vs. Incumbents: Yotam stresses that incumbents, often operating with analog processes and legacy infrastructures, face significant challenges adopting AI and modern technology. Daisy’s technology-first DNA gives it a structural advantage, allowing faster iteration and deeper AI integration—a decisive competitive edge in an industry ripe for disruption.
• Transparency and Data Integration Enhance Community Trust: Daisy’s holistic operating system consolidates all relevant building data, financials, compliance documents, and communication channels into a unified dashboard accessible to boards and residents. This transparency addresses long-standing frustrations with opaque HOA management and empowers stakeholders with real-time insights, improving decision-making and trust.
• The Emerging Role of Volunteer Board Members as Change Agents: The profile of HOA board members is evolving from passive or reluctant participants to proactive volunteers eager to modernize their communities. Daisy’s marketing and sales efforts target these innovators, who act as champions for change, facilitating smoother onboarding and advocacy within their associations.
• Future Vision: Community Collaboration for Better Services: Beyond operational improvements, Daisy foresees communities leveraging their collective purchasing power and coordination to secure better deals on services like internet and cleaning. This vision reflects a shift toward cooperative community management enabled by integrated technology platforms, promising cost savings and enhanced resident satisfaction.
• Focus and Discipline Drive Startup Success: Yotam highlights the perils of lack of focus, a common startup pitfall, contrasting it with Daisy’s sharp prioritization of core features and market needs. This disciplined execution, coupled with readiness to pivot when necessary, exemplifies best practices in startup management and product development.
• Hybrid Work Model Supports Culture and Productivity: Daisy maintains physical offices in Manhattan and Tel Aviv, valuing the energy and collaboration of in-person work while allowing remote flexibility. Innovative practices like virtual “windows” between offices and company-wide competitions promote team cohesion across geographies, illustrating thoughtful approaches to hybrid work culture.
• Talent Management Through Candid Feedback and Hiring Metrics: Daisy’s practice of having leaders rate employees on whether they would rehire them forms a simple yet powerful tool for talent assessment and development. This approach fosters accountability and ensures the organization maintains high talent density, aligning team capabilities with company growth objectives.
• AI’s Cultural Shift Requires Education and Buy-In: Recognizing that AI will inevitably take over certain responsibilities, Daisy invests heavily in educating its team to embrace AI as an enabler rather than a threat. This proactive approach mitigates resistance, encourages upskilling, and positions employees to focus on higher-value, customer-facing roles.
• Customer Success is Technology-Enabled but Human-Driven: Daisy combines a dedicated onboarding team with technology-enabled workflows to ensure smooth client transitions. The ongoing relationship with boards is maintained by account managers who facilitate communication and meetings, blending automation with personalized service for optimal client satisfaction.
• HOA Market’s Fragmentation Presents Opportunity for Disruption: With over 370,000 HOAs in the U.S. and only a small percentage managed by large firms, the industry remains highly fragmented and underserved by technology. This fragmentation creates a fertile environment for tech-native companies like Daisy to capture market share by offering superior, integrated solutions.

Daisy exemplifies how combining deep market understanding, disciplined focus, strong culture, and cutting-edge AI can disrupt a traditional industry, improve resident and board experiences, and unlock new community-centric opportunities in property management.

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