Artificial intelligence has become the loudest storyline in facilities management. Every vendor now claims an AI-powered solution. Every platform promises predictive insight. And many conversations in the built environment eventually circle back to the same question: Where should facility managers begin?
The noise is so constant that many facility managers aren’t just curious—they are overwhelmed.
That dynamic was unmistakable at IFMA’s World Workplace this year, where AI dominated the agenda. Our own David Auton and Ali Mohammed were part of those discussions. The themes they heard echoed their insight in a recent interview with FacilitiesNet, one of the leading publications for facilities and building operations leaders. The message was consistent: Interest is high, expectations are soaring, but the starting point remains unclear.
David (Vice President, Engineering & Maintenance Service Excellence) and Ali (Sr. Director of Engineering & Maintenance Service Excellence) offered grounded perspectives to help cut through uncertainty. They revealed what it actually takes to prepare for an AI-supported facility.
As David explained: “AI is a digital tool. If you can’t digitize the data so it’s interpretable, an analog world can’t talk to a digital world.” It’s a straightforward insight with significant implications: before AI can deliver anything meaningful—predictive insights, automation, efficiency—it needs clean, usable, interpretable data.
Data Before Dashboards
This foundational step is where many organizations hesitate despite their belief in AI’s promise because they’re not quite ready. Ali emphasized to FacilitiesNet that while AI interest is high and integration options are multiplying, the industry “really hasn’t figured out what it should or could be doing.” He cautioned against implementing AI prematurely. Raw information needs to be processed: first into reliable data, then into knowledge, and finally into action. Only then can AI make a meaningful contribution and justify the hoopla.
At IFMA’s World Workplace and through FacilitiesNet’s reporting, leaders described the same starting point: data readiness. As OfficeSpace’s Andres Avalos noted, facility managers repeatedly ask him the same question: Where do I begin? His answer is consistent: “Their data is their No. 1 source of truth.”
Whether it comes from sensors, BAS systems, equipment logs, digitized handwritten notes, or the occupancy insights captured through modern workplace platforms, this information is the raw material AI depends on.
Underlying all of this is a simple truth: facility managers are stretched thin. Packed schedules, labor constraints, aging assets, rising expectations. There’s little room to gamble on tools that fail to deliver. AI earns trust through small, repeatable wins instead of grand promises. That’s where real progress starts.
Where AI Is Actually Taking Root
And those small wins are beginning to surface. Ali pointed to one early use case: natural-language ticketing, where an occupant describes a comfort issue. The system automatically generates and routes a work order. Over time, these systems learn patterns: areas that run warm, fluctuations tied to occupancy, recurring issues that can signal underlying faults.
Predictive and scheduled maintenance are other emerging applications. By analyzing equipment behavior, AI can help teams anticipate issues before they disrupt operations, strengthening reliability and reducing avoidable downtime.
In the workplace environment, the industry is also beginning to use data to understand how people interact with space: where they gather, which areas are underutilized, and where demand is shifting. These insights help facility teams align physical space with organizational goals in a more informed, adaptive way.
None of these advancements requires dramatic reinvention. They evolve naturally from the data organizations already collect, once that data is organized and interpreted effectively.
A Practical Path Forward
David offered a clear-eyed perspective, describing AI as “a shiny new object.” He added, “Everyone knows it’s going to be important, but they haven’t really found the application of it yet.”
He also cautioned against overengineering—facility managers prematurely building a massive, proprietary repository: “Don’t get wrapped around the axle of ‘I need to create a data lake for the AI to swim through to give answers to me.’ There’s already a huge data lake out there of information that’s readily available.”
So, the real opportunity isn’t collecting everything. It’s organizing what exists and applying it thoughtfully. This practical lens shapes our own approach. Ali and David don’t view AI as a sweeping reinvention of facilities management. They see it as a tool that strengthens the fundamentals. At its best, AI clarifies decisions, accelerates technician workflows, improves occupant responsiveness, and reduces friction across daily operations.
AI doesn’t need to transform buildings overnight to be valuable. It needs to make the work easier for the people keeping them running.
To explore how AI can support your facilities operations, contact C&W Services.
