After years of promise, 2025 is poised to be the year artificial intelligence (AI) finally delivers real, measurable impact in facilities management. Now that AI is becoming more common, building supervisors can utilize it as a practical and essential tool to manage buildings more efficiently, sustainably, and intelligently.
Facilities leaders today face intensifying pressure: rising energy costs, regulatory scrutiny, aging infrastructure, and the urgent need to meet sustainability goals. In this environment, traditional methods of running buildings, such as manual inspections and static maintenance schedules, as well as siloed data, no longer suffice. AI can now fill this gap by providing predictive insights, automating processes, and enabling dynamic, data-driven decisions across entire portfolios.
From Reactive to Predictive: The New Standard for Building Operations
Historically, many building systems managers operated reactively. They would perform maintenance only after something broke. Energy efficiency was reduced to an afterthought. However, advances in AI can help facilities shift to more proactive and predictive strategies.
Take HVAC systems for example. By analyzing historical energy consumption, occupancy trends, and external conditions like weather, AI-driven models can forecast heating and cooling needs in real time, adjusting settings automatically to ensure comfort while minimizing waste.
For instance, one pharmaceutical customer of Schneider Electric implemented AI-powered HVAC optimization across multiple sites, leading to significantly lower energy use and maintenance costs. In some zones, the system even detected abnormal airflow patterns that signaled clogged vents, triggering maintenance alerts before breakdowns occurred.
This kind of predictive capability transforms facilities management from a cost center into a strategic enabler of value creation.
No Data? No Problem: AI in Low-Data Environments
A common misconception is that AI only works with years of historical data, but recent innovations have challenged this assumption. Our data scientists at Schneider Electric have developed “cold start” methodologies, for example, that allow AI models to begin delivering insights with minimal initial data. This approach is beneficial in settings where comprehensive datasets are unavailable, such as in older buildings or newly constructed ones. By leveraging small amounts of sensor data and pre-trained models, it’s possible to predict energy consumption patterns and optimize building performance early on. This enables facilities teams to make informed decisions without waiting for long-term data accumulation.
AI can help buildings be more sustainable and reduce energy costs. When a building operates more efficiently, it uses less energy, which directly reduces operational spend and emissions.
Smart buildings powered by AI don’t just react; they learn. AI systems continuously analyze building performance and adjust in real time. For instance, lights will dim automatically in unoccupied rooms, HVAC systems can change based on predicted weather shifts, and maintenance teams are dispatched before failures occur. The result yields a lower carbon footprint, increased uptime, and enhanced resource utilization.
Getting from Buzzword to Business Value
However, for AI to transition from hype to results, facility leaders need to view it as a strategic enabler, not as a one-time project or a magic fix. It requires a commitment to data integration, change management, and a willingness to reimagine how buildings operate.
The next five years will define the next 25. Companies that begin embedding AI into their building operations now will be the ones setting new benchmarks for energy performance, tenant satisfaction, and bottom-line impact. This means investing not just in tools, but in people who need AI literacy. In the future, IT, operations, and energy management teams will have more cross-functional collaboration.
Ultimately, AI is not replacing human intelligence; it’s increasing it. AI is constantly learning and able to provide additional insights. For facilities management, this means greater control, improved foresight, and the ability to achieve more with less.
Final Takeaway
AI is no longer experimental. It’s actionable, accessible, and essential. Whether an organization oversees a single building or an entire global portfolio, now is the time to operationalize AI to create a smarter, greener, and more resilient future for facilities everywhere.
Ilda Metani is the head of industry AI consulting at Schneider Electric, where she leads a team of experts dedicated to scaling AI-driven solutions across industry and energy sectors. Before returning to Schneider Electric in June 2023, Metani held a leadership role at Danaher Corp. Her earlier tenure at Schneider included co-founding the Energy Action Program, a pivotal sustainability initiative that has since become a cornerstone of the company’s environmental strategy. Metani earned an executive MBA from HEC Paris in 2023 with a specialization in data and AI strategy (in partnership with Stanford University).