The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is rising among title and escrow professionals and so is the level of optimism about using the technology. At the same time, concerns surrounding the risks of AI usage persist.
That’s a sampling of some of the findings from Qualia’s “State of AI in Title & Escrow 2025” report, which explores how the title and escrow industry’s interaction with AI has evolved as use of the technology has proliferated. The 2025 report builds on Qualia’s initial “State of AI in Title & Escrow” report conducted in 2023.
A total of 631 industry professionals responded to Qualia’s 2025 survey, nearly doubling the tally from the first study. About 90 percent of respondents said they use at least one AI tool.
Qualia CEO and co-founder Nate Baker told The Title Report he was struck by the level of optimism and adoption expressed by survey respondents. He noted that 58 percent of respondents are either optimistic or very optimistic about AI’s potential benefits (a 14 percent increase from Qualia’s 2023 survey) and just 14 percent are not optimistic about the technology.
“Outsiders sometimes think the title and escrow industry is slow to adopt technology, but this survey shows just the opposite — the industry has moved past the question of if it should adopt AI and is now firmly focused on how to best leverage it,” Baker said.
Survey respondents said using AI in their business helps them with automating repetitive tasks to improve efficiency and enhancing work quality in a manner that reduces file errors that can hurt the bottom line.
“The title and escrow companies that adopt new technology to significantly reduce operational friction will have a huge advantage,” Baker said.
“Operational friction” refers to the accumulation of the manual and redundant tasks that slow the closing process and open the door to the potential for fiscally damaging errors. Examples include re-keying information from a purchase agreement into a title production system and manually scanning many pages in a search package to isolate risks. These sources of friction result in longer cycle times, higher error levels and staff burnout, all of which hurt business, Baker explained.
“AI-powered systems reduce that friction by automating the review, analysis and execution of many of these steps,” Baker said. “Instead of people chasing files and data, the technology ensures that everything flows where it needs to go automatically, so teams can focus on high-value work.”
A survey respondent echoed Baker’s sentiments: “AI can really help with burnout and speed up mundane tasks, allowing for more focus on pertinent duties.”
While optimistic feelings about AI continue to rise, the survey noted many industry professionals are still worried about the technology. Nearly two-thirds of survey participants “have some level of concern about AI’s potential risks to the market,” the report stated. An additional 26 percent of respondents were neutral about possible AI threats.
“AI seems to be exciting and scary at the same time,” a survey participant said.
The top concerns of using AI were increased or more sophisticated fraud, data security and inaccuracy. While the percentage of respondents who were concerned about fraud dropped by 7 points (from 79 percent to 72 percent) from 2023 to 2025, the share of participants who had worries about inaccuracy rose by 7 points (from 54 percent to 61 percent).
Survey results also showed title and escrow professionals are implementing a variety of AI tools, with the most popular being chatbots and predictive text. Other commonly used solutions include voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa. Title and escrow industry members said they are using AI for tasks such as data entry and automation, communication and drafting, document processing and generation, and fraud protection.
The survey also showed that 29 percent of industry professionals believe it’s “very likely” AI will compel changes in their role during the next three to five years. That’s an 8 percentage point increase from Qualia’s survey in 2023. Eighty-six percent of respondents feel neutral to very likely that AI will trigger changes in their job, which is 4 points higher than two years earlier.
While the use of AI and the optimism about implementing the technology is rising, the survey found a large majority of respondents have yet to adopt formal policies regarding AI usage. Only 17 percent of survey participants said they have an AI policy or security measures. That is, however, an 11 percentage point increase from 2023.
As more companies study the pros and cons of prospective vendors, Qualia recommended firms use these strategies when evaluating whether they want to work with a particular AI vendor:
- Search for holistic solutions;
- Ensure the AI understands transaction context;
- Confirm the AI is a system of action;
- Verify deep industry knowledge; and
- Scrutinize security and compliance.
The Qualia survey concluded by highlighting the arrival of the agentic AI era.
“Some business and technology leaders have even declared 2025 the ‘Year of the AI Agent,’” the report said. “They say the tectonic shifts agentic technology is now poised to propel in workflows will be the most significant and far-reaching yet of the AI era.”
Baker noted increasing the speed in which tasks are completed is one way he expects agentic AI to change title operations during the next two years.
“What currently takes an experienced examiner hours to complete – reviewing a search package, identifying risks and drafting preliminary requirements – can already be done in agentic systems like Qualia Clear in just minutes,” Baker said. “And the technology is improving exponentially, with AI task capabilities roughly doubling every seven months — which means the entire process will continue to become faster and more automated.”
Another benefit of agentic AI, Baker noted, is higher quality work.
“AI agents don’t get tired, distracted or overlook details on the 50th file of the day,” he said. “They’ll catch potential issues that human reviewers might miss, dramatically reducing risk. Expect to see error rates drop significantly, which will directly impact the bottom line.”
Agentic AI will also give title and escrow businesses operational leverage, he said.
“When AI agents handle routine document review and data extraction, your team can focus on complex title issues and client relationships,” Baker said.
Baker added that AI systems can give owners the ability to access metrics such as turn times and productivity, as well as identify new business opportunities.
He believes the changes he’s highlighting will happen at many companies within the next 12 months.
“The companies that adopt agentic AI will have an enormous competitive advantage and will rapidly pull ahead,” Baker said. “Those that don’t risk being left behind in a market that’s moving faster than ever before.”