I arrived in Austin with a packed schedule and a lot of expectations. I left with something I didn't fully anticipate: a deep sense of conviction that the future of PropTech is being built right now, by people bold enough to do it in public.

Here's my unfiltered recap of the week.

The theme of the PropTech house was from Mars to Main Street and that energy was present from the moment I walked in the location. This is the event at SXS where technology meets real estate, and every year it gets bigger and the message gets louder about actually solving things in our sector.

When I stepped onto that stage to pitch Livsee, I wasn't just talking about features and roadmaps. I was talking about what it looks like when AI actually moves the needle for multifamily owners and operators, faster leasing, better pricing decisions, and more efficient teams. The questions that came afterward made one thing clear: the industry is ready for real implementation. The conversations at PropTech House were big and unapologetically ambitious. We covered robotics, not as a future concept but as something already entering maintenance and construction workflows. We talked macroeconomics, interest rates, capital markets, cost of capital, and how all of it is accelerating the need for smarter technology at every layer of the stack. As a founder building an AI platform for multifamily, I left those sessions feeling like Livsee is in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

One of the most unexpected highlights of my week was hearing the Mayor of Austin speak as part of the mayoral alliance programming tied into SXSW at the realtor.com event. Mayors from across the country gathered to talk about cities, growth, and the future of housing policy.

Mayor Kirk Watson spoke with rare candor about zoning reform, housing supply, and the urgency of moving faster if cities want to stay livable and competitive. Listening to him, I kept thinking: this is exactly where PropTech belongs, in the same conversation as mayors and community leaders working to solve housing at scale. Early signs show Austin's reforms are starting to pay off, and that matters for every city watching.

Outside of PropTech-specific spaces, I carved out time for conversations about who gets to build in this next wave, and those ended up being some of my favorite moments of the entire trip.

At the Female Quotient Lounge, I watched Emma Grede interviewed live in what they called Broadlines: A Live Interview with Emma Grede, and she was everything. Direct, honest, and generous with the kind of wisdom that usually stays behind closed doors. She talked about ownership, equity, brand-building, and what it really means to create opportunity at scale. She also previewed her book, Start with Yourself. Exactly the fuel I needed in the middle of a full SXSW week.

Over at Inc. Founders House, I got to hear Shay Mitchell the founder of BÉIS and star of hits like Pretty Little Liars, talk about building a product company with obsessive customer focus, iterating in public, and owning your story as a founder. There is something grounding about hearing someone successful describe the messy, non-linear path behind what looks "obvious" in hindsight.

Let me say this clearly: the Midwest showed up at SXSW 2026. From Detroit to Chicago to Columbus, founders, operators, and investors came to Austin with serious solutions to serious housing problems, and people noticed. As a founder building from Michigan, seeing our region so well represented was one of the most energizing parts of the entire trip.

PropTech now has a real footprint at SXSW. The sessions, the pitch stages, the mayoral conversations, it all pointed in the same direction. The intersection of AI, macroeconomic pressure, and housing demand is creating urgency. And urgency creates opportunity.

I flew home tired and incredibly motivated. Pitching Livsee, listening to a mayor talk about housing as the destiny of his city, sitting in rooms with Emma Grede and Shay Mitchell, and connecting with builders who care about the same problems I do. That's the kind of week that changes how you see your own work.

SXSW 2026 didn't just confirm that PropTech has a seat at the table. It made it clear that we're helping build the table.

See you at the next one. 🤍.

The Livsee Blog was created by Andrea and her team of experts to help multifamily owner-operators lease smarter. For insights covering proptech, AI, and innovation in multifamily, make sure to subscribe and follow Livsee on social media.

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