Workplace Futures 2025 will tackle one of the most talked about issues in the technology arena – artificial intelligence. Specifically, AI and FM. What is AI? What does it mean for the future of FM? How is it being used now? What are the pros and cons, the opportunities and challenges? Are we ready for this change?
Building on the very successful Workplace Futures ’23, where we looked at technology beyond the information age, and ’24, which sharpened the focus to people and technology, ’25 turns the spotlight on AI – how it differs from other ‘smart’ technologies and why we need to be working now to prepare ourselves and adapt our businesses to the ever-changing FM marketplace.
Artificial intelligence leapt to prominence with last year’s arrival of the easy-access Chat-type generative platforms. It has become a highly competitive area of the technology world, developing rapidly even as academics, governments and others worry about how to control its potential power and use. The term spans a range of capabilities, including image recognition, speech recognition, process automation, predictive modelling and text generation. Within the FM arena, we see it in use already in ‘smart building’ applications, as well as in the tendering process – and in the property management sector, it is becoming an expected tool in client servicing.
There is no doubt that AI is ‘the next big thing’ for FM. The potential benefits seem clear: greater efficiency and effectiveness, rapid reaction to emerging issues, increased data processing power, accumulated knowledge and experience. But we also know that there are dangers – in the form of unexpected system bias, absence of specific FM knowledge leading to incorrect decisions, and over-reliance on data without a real human perspective.
So, how do we navigate the next few years as AI’s reach grows, yet it still remains a ‘work in progress’? Service providers need to keep pace with changes and opportunities but also need to make sound, informed decisions. How do we ensure we have the people we need with the right skills? Increasingly, the ideal candidate for FM seems to be one with a solid mix of operational experience and tech-savvy knowledge. Are we doing enough to reach a broad candidate base?
Are we providing enough of the right training? It has been said that you may not be replaced by AI; but you may well be replaced by someone who knows what it is and what it can do. Are we ready for the challenges implied here?
Artificial intelligence is already finding its way into FM. We see it – or very soon will - in the monitoring and management of assets, assessing performance and diagnosing problems; customer service-type systems including reception, access control and helpdesks; service applications around the delivery of experience and wellbeing; the preparation of tender documents and specifications, as well as the subsequent review of tender submissions.
