At Qualia’s 2026 Future of Real Estate Summit (FORES), we recognized the leaders transforming title & escrow in an all-new awards showcase.
In a room filled with forward-thinking operators, industry thought leaders, and title & escrow partners, the first-ever Qualia Innovator Awards spotlighted Qualia customers driving meaningful change across their organizations. Qualia created these awards to celebrate groundbreakers propelling the industry toward a brighter future, whether through smarter automation, stronger security, scalable growth, or standout customer experience.
Each winner was selected by a cross-functional committee based on impact, innovation, leadership, and strength of nomination. Each couldn’t be more deserving.
“These are the leaders taking bold steps to redefine what’s possible in title & escrow,” says Brian Thome, Chief Customer Officer, Qualia. “They’re raising the bar for the entire industry.”
Here are the 2026 Qualia Innovator Award winners.
Transformation Leader: Sara Nicolas
Business Administrator, Old Republic Title
Sara Nicolas has played a central role in one of the most complex platform transformations in the industry.
In under a year, she helped lead a large-scale rollout of Qualia Atlas, developing a training program that successfully onboarded an entire state on schedule. Her work has driven adoption across hundreds of users while improving alignment across teams.
Put simply, Nicolas has helped turn a complex transformation into a structured, repeatable process. All that and more is why she won the Transformation Leader Award, which celebrates a leader who drives meaningful change and adoption at scale.
Nicolas says that successful scaled transformation starts with the right human infrastructure: executive sponsors who are genuinely invested, cross-functional teams willing to collaborate and make decisions that keep the project moving, and change champions who are in the trenches with end users.
“Technology is only as successful as the humans who use it, so you have to lead with psychology before you lead with process,” Nicolas elaborates. “Not everyone is going to love the change — and that’s okay. What adoption requires, though, is trust and support. When people see someone they trust navigating the change alongside them, the ‘adapt and adopt’ mindset becomes a lot less intimidating.”
Tech Trendsetter: Kaz Arbogast
VP of Operations, Carney Title
This award recognizes a leader who sets the pace for innovation and brings new ideas to life in production. Kaz Arbogast more than deserves the recognition.
Arbogast leads by example when it comes to adopting new capabilities and putting them into practice. She moves quickly to understand new features, tests them in real workflows, and empowers her team with what’s effective.
From strengthening transaction security to refining AI prompts that help her staff work more efficiently, Arbogast consistently translates innovation into measurable impact. Impressively, her leadership extends beyond implementation: She helps build excitement, confidence, and momentum around change.
“The most successful individuals in our industry are problem solvers,” says Arbogast. “I leverage a problem solver’s strength by showing them a path to faster resolutions in real time, which they value fundamentally more than an immediate fix to a specific problem. Qualia provides the sandbox and the tools that give us the space to experiment, inspiring innovative thinking. This award is truly a testament to the collective that uses those tools every day.”
Resware Innovator Award: Adeline Gibson
SVP, Chief Operating Officer, Fidelity National Agency Solutions (FNAS)
Adeline Gibson has built one of the most efficient large-scale title operations in the industry by combining scale with powerful automation. That’s a fundamental reason that she earned the Resware Innovator Award, which recognizes a leader who is redefining what enterprise title operations can achieve with the right systems and strategy.
Gibson orchestrates an operation processing high volume at a national scale, supported by a lean staffing and highly automated model. Her team operates throughout all 50 states, powered by complex Resware-to-Resware connectivity, custom workflows, and tightly integrated systems across multiple business lines.
Beyond deft operational execution, Gibson has worked closely with Qualia’s product and engineering teams to help shape the evolution of the Resware platform. Her hands-on approach ensures that innovation is grounded in real-world use cases.
She says success at scale comes down to balancing technology, processes, and the creativity and accountability of good people. “Technology enables the work, processes bring the structure, and execution makes it happen,” Gibson says. “It’s the alignment of all three that allows you to find that sweet spot.”
Automation Aficionado Award: Hope Ottoviani
Chief Operations Officer, Alltech National Title
Hope Ottoviani has transformed operational efficiency through strategic automation. That made her the natural choice for this award, which honors a leader who uses automation not just to save time, but to fundamentally change how work gets done.
Ottoviani has designed a highly scalable system powered by more than 550 Smart Actions and Dynamic Workflows. Her approach enables a small team to support order entry across multiple states, all with complex requirements.
Ottoviani’s team has also achieved a 75% conversion rate on Qualia Connect information requests, well above industry benchmarks, while improving both speed and accuracy.
“Automation can be scary to think of because you don’t want to lose personal touch with the client, but the technology enables the exact opposite,” says Ottoviani. “AI and automation take care of all the backend tasks, workflows, and administrative duties so that your team can focus more on personal touch with clients. That’s exactly what we want to focus on, and it will never get lost or taken away.”
Trust and Security Leader: Mary Koehler
Processing Manager, Cardinal Title Group
Fraud is a constant threat to title & escrow. As such, a recognition that spotlights a leader who makes security an integrated and scalable part of operations was a must for Qualia’s Innovator Awards.
Mary Koehler was a clear pick for the honor.
Koehler has embedded security into every stage of the transaction lifecycle. Consider: Her team processed nearly $1 billion in insured wires in just four months while maintaining strong adoption of security tools, including a 96% usage rate for ID verification through Qualia Shield. By combining automation, AI, and structured processes, Koehler has reduced manual audit time and strengthened protection across every transaction.
“The key to maintaining a strong security position is having a mix of strict internal controls, secure technology, and client and staff education,” says Koehler. “We love that Qualia has created products that help us limit our risks.”
Growth Excellence Award: Chris Mantica
President, Sterling Land Title Agency, Inc.
Since implementing Qualia, Chris Mantica and his team at Sterling Land Title Agency, Inc. have made growth a sustained, organization-wide commitment. That’s led to tangible results.
The firm has increased order volume, expanded partnerships, and grown market share in Ohio. Key to the acceleration? The fact that Mantica has made it a priority to fully embrace Qualia, continuously adopting new products and capabilities that help accelerate Sterling’s success.
Such an approach made Mantica an ideal selection for the Growth Excellence Award, which recognizes a customer achieving exceptional year-over-year growth powered by strong operational foundations.
“What drives growth for us isn’t just marketing; it’s doing the work so well that our clients come back and bring their network with them,” says Mantica. “Qualia gives my team the tools to do exactly that. Real-time collaboration, automated updates, and a seamless closing experience mean our clients always know where things stand. When people trust your process, they refer their clients. That’s the growth engine that Qualia has helped us build.”
Superior Customer Service Award: Jim Moody
Owner, Encore Title Services
Jim Moody and the team at Encore Title Services have set the benchmark for customer experience across the Qualia network.
They earned the number one ranking in customer satisfaction, with a 94.6% customer satisfaction score. The metric measures how likely people are to recommend a company to others. The high percentage is a powerful indicator of why Moody and his team deserve this award, which recognizes a customer who delivers exceptional service across every transaction.
With a strong operational foundation and sharp focus on client experience, Encore Title Services provides that consistent, high-quality service at scale. And Moody, as company leader, is the captain at the wheel of it all.
“The key to creating a great customer experience is transparency,” Moody shares. “At all points during the transaction information must be truthful, complete, and repeated. Providing insight into what is for most buyers and sellers a pretty hidden, behind-the-scenes process allows the customer to feel as though they are part of the team.”
Heart of Gold Award: Grace Chakos
Senior Vice President of Operations, Landtrust Title Services
Grace Chakos leads an operation where every closing contributes to a broader mission.
Through Landtrust Title Service’s Good Will Works program, $10 from every transaction has helped generate more than $5.2 million in charitable giving. By improving operational efficiency in Resware, her team has increased closing volume and expanded their ability to give back.
For this dedicated do-gooding, Chakos takes home the Heart of Gold Award, which celebrates a leader who uses operational excellence to create meaningful impact beyond transactions.
“Giving back has always been at the core of our business,” says Chakos. “We spend a lot of effort giving back to the communities we serve. I am honored to receive the Heard of Gold Award on behalf of the entire company.”
Setting the Pace for What’s Next
The 2026 Qualia Innovator Award winners represent what’s possible across the Qualia ecosystem. When it comes to automation, security, growth, and customer experience, the leaders spotlighted here are enhancing their own operations and broadly demonstrating how thoughtful use of technology can improve business outcomes.
At Qualia, we’re energized by the opportunity to recognize this kind of excellence. Sure, the awards are about what’s been accomplished. But they’re also about the momentum these leaders are creating and the example they’re setting for the years to come, elevating title & escrow standards.
“As the industry continues to evolve, it’s evident that the future of title & escrow is being built by operators like these,” says Thome. “We are proud to celebrate them.”
To learn more about how you can leverage Qualia to build a better business, contact one of our experts today.
