Survey in SAFM Guide 2025
Text by Denisa Kureková / Róbert Ruňanin, Sales Director of ENGIE Services a.s.
Artificial intelligence is also becoming more and more vocal in facility management. It’s no longer just a topic for IT departments or innovative startups – today it’s entering directly into building management, energy optimization, and even improving user comfort. Do you see it as a tool to achieve greater efficiency or also as a means to improve user comfort?
I see artificial intelligence as a tool that has the potential to fundamentally change the way we manage real estate. First and foremost, it brings significant efficiency gains – it can automate routine processes, predict failures and optimise building operations. At the same time, I also see a great benefit in terms of user experience.
Thanks to AI, we can better respond to tenants’ needs, adapt the environment to their preferences and improve the overall impression of the space. Ultimately, it’s about combining both aspects – efficiency and comfort complement each other. AI allows us to make decisions based on data, not feelings, and that’s key in today’s FM. Moreover, AI makes
Which recent innovation in FM have you been most excited about and why?
The technologies that have appealed to me most recently are those that can collect various operational data from buildings and then use it to create predictive models. Thanks to this, we can predict with high accuracy the behaviour of a building in different conditions – whether it is energy consumption, operation and load of technical equipment, or the comfort of users. This predictive capability allows us to better plan maintenance, optimise energy consumption and prepare for fluctuations in operation. Ultimately, this leads to reduced costs, greater efficiency and sustainability. It is also a tool that helps us make informed decisions based on data, not guesswork. Such technology gives us a competitive advantage – we can respond faster, more accurately and with greater transparency to clients. Predictive models allow us to better plan investments and building development, which is a huge benefit in today’s dynamic environment. Innovations of this type take FM to a whole new dimension – technical support becomes an intelligent service.
How do you think the role of the facility manager will change in the future – will he or she be more of a technologist, a people coordinator or a strategic advisor?
The role of the facility manager is changing faster than we could have imagined a few years ago. It’s no longer just a technician who deals with breakdowns and revisions. Today, it’s a coordinator, strategist, communicator and often a technology advisor. He needs to understand data, building operations, energy, ESG principles, but also people. In the future, the FM manager will be the one who can connect technical solutions with the business goals of the managed building. And it is this complexity that makes the role so interesting. FM is no longer just about a specific building – it’s about people, data and vision.
If you had to name one key area worth investing in within FM over the next five years, what would it be and why?
If I had to pick one area worth investing in, it would definitely be the digitisation of technical processes. Thanks to it, we can get data that helps us make better decisions – whether it’s about maintenance, energy or capacity planning. Digitisation allows us to be accurate, fast and transparent. At the same time, it’s an investment that pays for itself quickly – by reducing costs, increasing efficiency and improving client satisfaction. I see it as a foundation on which we can build further innovations – from AI to smart building solutions. Without digitalisation, FM will not move forward. But just as important is the investment in people – because FM is all about people. You can’t deliver a quality service, no matter how advanced the technology is, without a well-motivated and skilled workforce.