Looking Back, Looking Forward: A Conversation With Go Icon CEO Ryan Galea
Not only is the dawn of a new year a time to take stock of the last 12 months, it’s also a great opportunity to look toward what lies ahead.
For CEO Ryan Galea, that means reflecting on how Go Icon navigated 2024 and looking forward to the senior living trends that are set to unfold in 2025. Here are his thoughts on how senior living technology can help communities overcome the challenges they’re facing and capitalize on the opportunities they see in the year to come.
Looking Back: 2024 at Go Icon
Ryan says 2024 was a year of tremendous growth and evolution for Go Icon. In particular, he singles out five focus areas where he believes the company took significant steps forward:
1. A Re-established Brand
The most obvious aspect of the rebranding initiative – the name change to “Go Icon” – was just one piece of a multifaceted effort to build a more distinct presence in the senior living space. And Ryan says he’s had conversations with leaders throughout the industry that prove all of the company’s hard work has paid off.
“I was at a major conference in September of 2023 and nobody knew who we were or what we did,” he recalls. “This year at the same event, everyone knew us and wanted to talk to us. It’s really been a night-and-day contrast between one year and the next.”
2. Enterprise-focused Growth
In 2024, Go Icon really honed in on providing an enterprise offering that specifically targets larger, multi-site operators. The result, Ryan says, has been a radical transformation at the top of the company’s customer base, which boasts several new names that have just come on board this year.
3. A Renewed Focus on Customer Success
The senior living space is built on strong relationships, which is something Ryan says has always been at the heart of Go Icon. But the company doubled down on the notion of investing in relationships beyond the product this past year. Focusing on the customer journey in 2024 meant even more on-site visits and other personalized touchpoints.
The goal, Ryan says, is to go well beyond selling senior living technology solutions. This year (and going forward), it’s all about curating experiences and nurturing those customer relationships in a very deliberate way.
4. More New Products
Of course, senior living communities have come to expect innovation from Go Icon, and 2024 was a banner year on that front. Ryan says the company probably rolled out more new products over the past 12 months – including new platforms for visitor management and community feedback – than it had in the previous three years.
“By understanding our customers and their needs so much better, we’re able to move much more quickly to deliver solutions for them,” he says.
5. A Smart AgingTM Expansion
Go Icon’s transformative, AI-enabled senior living technology took a huge leap forward in 2024, with several exciting new tools and capabilities, including…
- A Smart AgingTM dashboard that serves as a personalized hub for residents to access community information, set custom shortcuts, complete wellness check-ins, view AI-recommended events, and stay updated with the latest announcements.
- Life story interviews that are transformed with the help of AI into detailed resident profiles to help save time and enable a deeply personalized experience.
- Resident insights that deliver real-time insights and recommendations to help tailor programs, boost well-being, and engage those in the community who need it most.
- Friend matching functionality that uses AI to help new residents feel at home by connecting them with like-minded peers based on shared interests.
As 2025 unfolds, Ryan says Go Icon plans to roll out two or three more Smart AgingTM initiatives.
Looking Ahead: Senior Living Trends in 2025
As for his outlook for the senior living space in 2025, Ryan believes the industry is in a pretty good spot compared to this time last year. While staffing concerns remain (and Go Icon continues to help with solutions like staff recognition software and pulse surveys), he says most leaders have come to accept this as a long-term challenge.
Right now, they’re mostly focused on growth. As 2023 came to a close, after all, senior living communities were grappling with high interest rates, consolidation, and a general focus on cutting costs. Fast-forward 12 months and rates are down, occupancy rates continue to climb, and construction is once again set to ramp up.
But bringing new properties online takes time and demand is already high – and getting higher. What can senior living communities do in the meantime to capitalize on this opportunity? Raising prices is certainly one option, but Ryan says seeking out alternative revenue streams should be another focus area. And if a price increase is all but inevitable, communities should at least make an effort to show that they’re trying to deliver a better value.
“Nobody wants to hear that their rates are going up, so communities should start thinking now of what services or amenities they can add to justify those increases,” he notes.
Be Ready For 2025 With The Right Senior Living Technology Partner
Ryan is confident that the moves Go Icon made in 2024 will help communities seize on next year’s senior living trends. After all, they’re all centered on using senior living technology to enrich the lives of residents, attract and retain staff, and make communities stand out amid both growing demand and increased competition.
The key to accomplishing these goals is to work with a partner that understands your community’s unique needs and is focused on the relationship with you beyond just the sale. Go Icon can be that partner – get in touch to find out how we can help you in 2025!