Tapping into AI

First off, for all our American readers, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that you, your family, and your team have lots to be thankful for this year.

Welcome to our first deep dive into one of the topics we heard over and over again during our Fall conference run. Today we are talking about AI. (A novel idea, I know. Nobody is talking about AI, right?!?)

Let me start with three important caveats:

1. First, I am not an AI expert. What I’m sharing here comes from my own experience and what I’ve heard in conversations with industry professionals across North America.
2. Second, things in the AI space are moving so fast that this post may be out of date before the next one in this series even goes live.
3. Finally, I’ve also been wondering whether part of the reason we aren’t hearing more real-word examples is that organizations working on AI feel the need to keep things under wraps – either to avoid being copied or because they aren’t sure the ideas will pan out. If that’s true, time will tell whether and “skunkworks” projects eventually make their way into the spotlight.

What is clear is that AI is the “it” topic in almost every sector. Facilities and asset management are no different. Many of the keynote speakers at the conferences we attended were either AI specialists or made AI a core part of their message.  

And yet, while a handful of institutions are genuinely experimenting with AI, most people we talk to are still trying to figure out what it means for their operations—and what is realistic in the near term.

Automation Isn’t New… But It’s What Most People Mean When They Say “AI”

One of the things I find most interesting is that much of what people are calling “AI” today is really just automation. We’ve had If/Then logic for decades. You could build those decision rules in Excel long before AI became a buzzword.

A lot of what we’re hearing is simply applying that familiar logic inside Building Automation Systems and other technologies: 

• IF a flow rate drops below a certain threshold,
• THEN generate a work order because a failure may be coming.

Is this useful? Absolutely.

Is it predictive maintenance? Yes.

Is it really AI? Personally, I wouldn’t say so.

It’s automation—and that’s perfectly fine.

Where the Real Power of AI Will Come From

In my view, the true potential of AI in our sector will come from integrating specialized Large Language Models (LLMs) and purpose-trained AI agents. These tools can analyze vast amounts of data, spot patterns no human would see, and support decision-making in ways that go well beyond rules-based automation. 

But in practice?

Very few institutions we interact with are experimenting with LLMs or agentic AI today. Almost all are still focused on automation, and that makes sense—it’s the lowest hanging fruit and the easiest to implement.

My guess is that it will take most organizations a few years to fully “juice” what automation can offer before there’s a widespread push into more advanced AI tools. I could be wrong, but as a sector, facilities and asset management teams have historically been slower adopters of new technology. 

And Honestly? Automation Alone Will Have Huge Benefits

Even if an institution never touches agentic AI, the gains from automation alone are meaningful. More proactive work orders. Better visibility. More consistent processes. Less reactive firefighting. 

If the result is better operations, safer buildings, and more efficient use of resources, I feel a bit silly nitpicking over whether we label it “AI” or not. 

There are many more angles of AI we could explore—and we probably will in future posts—but as of Fall 2025, most of the industry chatter is centered around automation rather than what I would call true AI. 

Next time, we’ll shift from technology to people and talk about another major theme we heard everywhere this fall: the challenge of recruiting and retaining strong talent.