David Sawyer, CEO & Co-Founder at TSOLife Inc., has been named a 2025 Future Leader by Senior Housing News.
To become a Future Leader, an individual is nominated by their peers. The candidate must be a high-performing employee who is 40 years of age or younger, a passionate worker who knows how to put vision into action, and an advocate for older adults and the committed professionals who ensure their well-being.
Sawyer sat down with Senior Housing News to share what drew him to the senior housing & senior living industry, the biggest leadership lessons he has learned, his thoughts on the future of senior housing & senior living, and much more. To learn more about the Future Leaders Awards program, visit https://futureleaders.wtwhmedia.com/.
SHN: What drew you to the senior housing & senior living industry?
Sawyer: What drew me in, and keeps me here, is the opportunity to make a lasting human impact. When I first stepped into this space, I was struck by how many residents had incredible life stories that were being lost to time, and how much that loss impacted the care they received. I saw a gap between the intention of person-centered care and the reality of what staff had time or tools to deliver. That’s where I knew technology could help — not by replacing the human connection, but by enabling it.
TSOLife was born from a belief that every older adult deserves to be deeply known, and that communities deserve better systems to honor, engage, and support them.
SHN: What’s your biggest leadership lesson learned since starting to serve this industry?
Sawyer: Listen first, build second.
Senior living is personal. Every operator, team, and resident has a story, and those stories are powerful. As a tech founder, I had to learn that the best solutions aren’t built in a lab; they’re built in the field, side-by-side with the people doing the work and living the experience. That shift in mindset changed everything for our platform and our culture.
SHN: If you could change one thing with an eye toward the future of the senior housing & senior living industry, what would it be?
Sawyer: I’d change how we define “care.” For too long, non-clinical aspects of the resident experience – like relationships, engagement, and emotional wellbeing – have been treated as nice-to-haves. In reality, they’re essential to outcomes.
We need to elevate engagement, personalization, and resident voice to the same level as clinical protocols. That’s where the future is heading, and that’s where true innovation will happen.
SHN: In one word, how would you describe the future of senior housing & senior living?
Sawyer: Personalized.
SHN: If you had a crystal ball, what do you think will impact the senior housing & senior living industry now and into 2026?
Sawyer: We’re going to see a massive shift in how data is used, moving from passive reporting to proactive enablement. Operators won’t just track what’s happening; they’ll be guided toward what should happen.
The communities that thrive will be the ones that use resident insights not just for programming, but for driving move-ins, improving staff satisfaction, and building trust with families. It’s not about tech for tech’s sake, it’s about meaningful, measurable change.
SHN: In your opinion, what qualities must all Future Leaders possess?
Sawyer: Curiosity, humility, and courage. The future of this industry will be shaped by leaders who ask better questions, listen without ego, and aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. This is an industry rooted in care, and future leaders must balance innovation with empathy at every step.
SHN: If you could give advice to yourself looking back to your first day in the senior housing & senior living industry, what would it be and why?
Sawyer: Don’t think small. Early on, I saw TSOLife as a tool to capture life stories, but I didn’t yet realize the scale of the transformation this industry needed.
If I could go back, I’d remind myself that we weren’t just solving a documentation problem, we were building the infrastructure for personalized, scalable, person-centered care. The industry wasn’t looking for another tool; it was waiting for a platform that could reimagine how it serves people. I would’ve moved faster toward that bolder vision from day one.
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