Artificial intelligence is discussed everywhere today, but how much is it actually changing real estate and building management already?
The change is already happening. Modern buildings generate thousands of data points every day: energy consumption, temperatures, operating hours of technical equipment, occupancy levels, weather data and fault notifications, to name just a few. The problem is that although much of this information is collected, it is still not used systematically. AI can identify patterns that people often notice too late – or sometimes not at all – during day-to-day operations. A heating system may be working against the cooling system, there may be unusual energy consumption at night, setpoints may be incorrectly configured, or equipment performance may gradually deteriorate. AI helps us detect these issues earlier, plan maintenance more precisely, and compare actual energy consumption with weather conditions, building use and technical settings. The next step is active, AI-supported control of heating, cooling and ventilation. Instead of simply reporting afterwards what happened, the building begins to understand how it responds to outside temperatures, occupancy and peak loads, allowing its operation to be optimised proactively.
If the technology can already do all this, why do you say we are still only at the beginning?
Because technology alone is not enough. Many buildings already have sophisticated technical systems and collect large amounts of data, but those systems are often not connected to one another. The data may be incomplete, and responsibilities between the owner, operator and tenant are not always clearly defined. The real breakthrough will come when AI is no longer treated as a separate IT project but becomes part of everyday building operations. That is an important distinction. Installing another dashboard or software solution does not automatically make a building intelligent. The technology creates value only when the information it provides is translated into better operational decisions.
Which professions in the real estate industry will be most affected by AI? Should people be concerned that their jobs will disappear?
I don't think the key issue is that professions will disappear. What will change significantly are the tasks people perform. AI will increasingly take over repetitive work: consolidating data, producing reports, detecting deviations, prioritising tickets or identifying maintenance requirements. But that does not make technical expertise less important. Quite the opposite – it makes expertise more valuable. Facility managers will increasingly become performance managers. Their job will no longer be simply to determine whether a technical system is functioning, but whether it is operating economically, reliably and in a way that serves the users of the building.
Asset managers, meanwhile, will need to connect technical building data much more closely with OPEX, CapEx, lettability, financing and exit risk. External service providers will increasingly be judged not simply on whether they have carried out a contracted service, but on whether they have delivered measurable results. The responsibility, however, remains with people. AI can reveal relationships and make recommendations, but people must still define the objectives, set priorities and take responsibility for decisions.
From a tenant's point of view, what are the tangible benefits? Most occupiers are probably less interested in whether their building has AI than in what it actually does for them.
Exactly. AI becomes relevant to tenants when they feel the difference in their everyday experience. That can mean lower and more predictable service charges, more comfortable temperatures, better indoor air quality, fewer technical failures and faster responses when something goes wrong. It can also improve energy resilience and provide much greater transparency about how efficiently the building is actually being operated. This will become increasingly important for office occupiers. Energy availability, reliable IT infrastructure and predictable operating costs are becoming important location factors. If AI is used intelligently, it does not simply improve the owner's cost base. It improves the quality of the real estate product itself.
A few years ago, ESG was the unavoidable buzzword in real estate. Today we seem to hear much less about it. Has ESG lost importance, or has it simply become part of normal business?
I would say ESG has become more operational. A few years ago it was one of the industry's dominant buzzwords. Today there is less talk about it, but that does not mean the underlying issues have become less important. Quite the opposite: sustainability requirements are increasingly embedded in the normal expectations of investors, banks, tenants, insurers and regulators. The crucial shift is that ESG can no longer stop at reporting and ambitious targets. Energy consumption, carbon emissions, technical risks and climate adaptation have a direct impact on operating costs, financing conditions, lettability and ultimately the liquidity of an asset. So ESG is increasingly becoming a question of operational quality. A building cannot simply state ambitious goals; it needs to demonstrate how it actually performs and what measurable improvements have been achieved.
Could AI follow a similar path? We talk about it constantly today, but perhaps in a few years nobody will even mention it because it will simply be part of the way buildings are run.
I believe that is exactly what will happen. Today, AI is at the centre of countless discussions. In a few years, it will probably be regarded as a normal part of professional real estate management. We will no longer ask whether a building uses AI. We will ask how reliably it operates, how transparent its data is, and whether its performance is demonstrably better. That is a much more meaningful discussion. The technology itself is not the objective. The objective is better building performance: lower energy consumption, more stable operations, a better user experience and stronger economic resilience.
For that to happen, owners and tenants will have to trust the technology. How important is transparency when AI starts influencing the operation of a building?
It is essential. AI cannot become a black box. Owners, tenants, banks and investors need to understand which data decisions are based on and whether the measures taken actually deliver the expected results. Ultimately, we need to move from fragmented building data towards a reliable digital identity for the property – a framework that brings together technical performance, cost development, carbon reduction and value creation in a way that can be understood and verified. That transparency will become increasingly important not only for operators, but also for financing, investment and valuation decisions.
So who will ultimately benefit most from this transformation?
Not necessarily those who talk the loudest about AI. The real winners will be the owners and operators who can demonstrate that their buildings consume less energy, operate more reliably, provide a better experience for users and are economically more resilient. That is why I do not see AI as an end in itself. It will become the operating system of a better-performing building.
