Why the real AI revolution will be with facilities managers
Most attention in the workplace is fixed on what agentic AI might do for workflow and experience. But behind the scenes, a radical transformation of the FM discipline could be just as influential
As the AI revolution gathers pace, all eyes in the workplace sector are currently focused on the transformative effects of agentic AI on workflows, work experiences and the leadership of work.
These are what we might broadly call front-of-house issues. But what about the likely effects on back-of-house processes that are traditionally covered by a facilities management discipline now facing radical upheaval?
When we look at the next generation of AI-powered office buildings, what goes on behind the scenes in terms of delivering seamless experiences and operational efficiencies is arguably just as important as the headline front-stage stuff. Yet the implications of creating an FM universe driven by AI have received far less attention.
It may be a less sexy subject but it’s still a puzzling oversight and one brought out into the open at WORKTECH’s recent conference on AI and Digital Technologies, held at Meta in King’s Cross, London, on 9 June 2026.
A complex cake
Host Robert Cookson, Meta’s Global VP for Real Estate and Facilities, was quick to explain that building and opening a new campus was like ‘baking a complex cake’ – the sprinkling of demographic data, employee sentiment and design ideas among its many ingredients. Cookson said that AI will compress timeframes so that teams can spend quality time on making the right judgements at each stage of the process, not just on baking the cake.
AI, declared Cookson, ‘can do it all.’ He was in conversation with Unwork CEO Philip Ross, who described a ‘huge goldrush around platforms that will change the future of FM.’ Most observers would agree that FM needs to change. Andy Targett and Ibrahim Yate of JLL depicted a tired profession with an ageing FM workforce, half of whom are set to retire, and an image problem. But they were also adamant that ‘AI can change the place of FM inside organisations.’
Drawing on a 2025 JLL study on the future of FM, they painted a picture of a more dynamic, data-driven approach in which the facilities management discipline learns from the best, moves from generalist to applied training, and ‘uproots and replants its entire skills tree.’ This is ambitious stuff, but Targett and Yate suggested that only root-and-branch reform would serve the business drive for digital transformation.
Mission critical
Elisa Ronka of Johnson Controls was even more specific in terms of where AI will impact FM. She drew on her company’s research into mission critical industries to identify two key areas – predictive maintenance and energy optimisation – where change will happen. Ronka was careful to give equal weight to the AI benefits for facilities staff (in terms of space-planning scenarios, work order creation, report generation etc) alongside the likely AI fillip to user experience.
Nobody at the conference suggested that an AI-led revolution in FM would be easy or happen overnight. In a wide-ranging opening address, author and consultant Rob Garlick argued that change driven by artificial intelligence is moving 30 times faster than in previous industrial revolutions. Much will depend on leadership choices that preserve and enhance human roles rather than drastically reducing the workforce, he explained.
Ultimately, I left the event convinced of two things. AI’s impact remains in our hands. And what happens front of house — in leadership, workflows and experience — will depend on a new back-of-house FM infrastructure that uses real-time data, services and building intelligence to quietly deliver what the future will require.
