RESO introduced its 2026 Board of Directors this week, assembling a leadership team at a moment of profound transformation. With AI accelerating across every corner of the real estate ecosystem and MCP servers beginning to power private data environments for MLSs and brokerages, standards are no longer a back-office detail. They are strategic infrastructure.
The new board arrives at precisely the time when the industry needs clarity and speed.
A Leadership Team Built for Collaboration and Complexity
The election results maintain RESO’s unique balance of representation across MLSs, REALTOR associations, technology vendors and brokerages. Rebecca Jensen, President and CEO of MRED, returns as Chair, offering continuity in a year when the demands on standards governance are expanding rapidly.
In announcing the board, RESO CEO Sam DeBord underscored the collaborative DNA of the organization.
“RESO’s leadership consists of members who put aside self-interest to create standards frameworks that work for all organizations,” he said.
This is the defining characteristic that allows the industry to rely on RESO as the neutral body responsible for shaping data protocols everyone can adopt.
DeBord also highlighted the strategic timing of this year’s appointments.
“The 2026 Board of Directors represents our industry’s continued commitment to creating open data standards that accelerate innovation and reduce friction in real estate technology,” he noted in the announcement.
As AI introduces new demands for structured data and predictable pipelines, this focus becomes even more consequential.
Standards Take Center Stage in the AI Era
Every major brokerage, MLS and technology provider is now moving beyond simple AI chat tools toward agentic AI systems that perform multi-step tasks, interpret documents, execute workflows and coordinate between software platforms.
These capabilities only function when the underlying data is:
- Structured
- Consistent
- Accessible through modern APIs
- Governed by shared definitions
RESO’s work — from the Data Dictionary to the Web API — has quietly laid this groundwork for years. The emergence of AI has now pushed that foundation into full view.
As DeBord emphasized, “Interoperable data isn’t just a convenience. It’s the backbone of every modern real estate system.”
MCP Servers Raise the Stakes for Standardization
The industry is now entering the early stages of adopting Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, which serve as private AI orchestration layers. These servers allow MLSs and brokerages to centralize their data, expose it securely to AI agents and automate workflows across connected applications.
MCP servers rely on standardized schemas to operate effectively. Poorly structured or inconsistent MLS and brokerage data creates friction, breaks automations and prevents AI from taking meaningful action.
This is why RESO’s leadership becomes even more critical.
The stronger the standards adoption, the faster the industry can take advantage of MCP-enabled capabilities like:
- AI-driven CMA generation
- Automated compliance checks
- Personalized market analytics
- Listing and transaction workflow automation
- Consumer-facing search enhanced by real-time intelligence
In short, RESO standards determine how well — and how quickly — AI can be deployed across the industry’s operational stack.
A Board Poised to Shape What Comes Next
The 2026 Board steps into its role at an inflection point. MLSs are modernizing their back ends. Brokerages are building their own AI ecosystems. Technology companies are rearchitecting platforms around automation and data intelligence.
The work of RESO will influence:
- How data flows into MCP servers
- How reliably AI agents interpret MLS and brokerage records
- How tools speak to one another without custom integrations
- How quickly innovations reach real estate professionals
- How consumer search evolves in an AI-native era
“Our board brings the expertise and perspective needed to guide the industry through rapid technological change,” Jensen said in the announcement.
That combination of technical knowledge and industry-wide collaboration is precisely what the next phase requires.
Looking Ahead
As AI reshapes workflows, marketing, compliance, consumer search and agent productivity, the organizations that pair innovation with disciplined standards adoption will lead the industry forward.
The new RESO Board is stepping into its role at exactly the right moment, ensuring that the industry’s data foundation is strong enough to support the AI-driven systems that are coming online.
