Facilio Inc.: Operational Intelligence

The path to a connected and sustainable built environment

Facilio Inc, a leading AI-driven property operations platform, has been selected by ICD Brookfield (ICDB), one of Dubai's premier lifestyle and business destinations, to optimise building performance and deliver real-time operational intelligence for their luxury lifestyle project in The Dubai International Financial Centre, ICD Brookfield Place. The project will push Dubai to the forefront of implementing fully integrated, sustainable, and intelligence-led real estate operations, setting global standards in commercial office space.

Prabhu Ramachandran, Founder and CEO of Facilio Inc, and Haithem Ibraheem, Property Operations Manager of ICD Brookfield Place, highlight what the next generation of built environment will look like, and why the partnership between ICD Brookfield Place and Facilio Inc is an important milestone.

Khaleej Times: We understand that an occupant-centric vision - particularly addressing wellness and end-user experience - is at the core of the project. Why do you think this evolution in approach was needed?

Haithem Ibraheem: Tenant needs have outpaced the ability of legacy commercial real estate to address them. The next generation workforce is accustomed to responsive and personalised services in every walk of life, and demands a similar standard in experiences from their workplaces. Commercial real estate has been labouring under tightening regulations. The need to deliver a productive environment, achieve peak sustainability, and ensure best occupant health is all paramount today. In this context, ICD Brookfield Place is set to demonstrate that all of these priorities can be addressed concurrently, while delivering new experiences and driving asset performance. I think this capacity to address the priorities of all stakeholders, is what sets the project apart. ICD Brookfield is focused on progressive and future-ready solutions, which harness technology in the service of exceptional end-user experiences. Not only will it create new benchmarks in sustainability and services, it will set a new standard in contemporary workplaces, with an emphasis on meeting and exceeding the current and future needs of occupants.

Khaleej Times: Being closer to the occupant, more collaboration with tenants, fewer silos, and a customer-centric approach mean an integrated and holistic perspective for the operations team. What was the key to implementing that vision in terms of workflow and solutions?

Haithem Ibraheem: Traditional real estate operations tend to deploy automation in isolated silos. Such disconnected building systems are neither agile enough to deliver the end-user experiences tenants are asking for, nor the control that contemporary building owners and managers aspire to. As emerging technologies and customer expectations reset the industry, a cloud-based centralised management software, which integrate all building systems, such as HVAC, fire response, security and more - are the most effective means to achieve these outcomes.

By leveraging the power of today's technology elements of IoT, AI, and the Cloud, commercial real estate operators can gather operational intelligence and optimise performance in real-time. What's more, this is not a locked-in solution that will soon be rendered obsolete by the next generation of technology. A platform approach allows for scalability and is agnostic to all current automation as well as future innovation.

Khaleej Times: Property owners today are transitioning from reactive and inefficient operations to a more connected, proactive model. How can technology help property operations team realise this model?

Prabhu Ramachandran: Buildings currently produce huge volumes of data, which is not being leveraged effectively. The key to a holistic operational model is to be able to aggregate all of this data, optimise performance, and control operations from a single place.

Technology makes it possible for commercial real estate businesses to gain a unified view of operations and make informed decisions, using a centralised platform. Building owners and operators can use data to automate maintenance, optimise experiences and improve sustainability, concurrently and in an integrated manner. Facilio enables real-time and granular visibility into operations, empowering all stake holders to evolve, from siloed and reactive, to unified and pro-active operations.

Data integration, unified applications, and centralised cloud based control allows commercial real estate businesses to achieve specific and metrics driven capabilities. This allows them to create exceptional occupant experiences, seamlessly anticipate inefficiencies, and address their customer's needs.

Khaleej Times: You mentioned the importance of integrated, data-driven operations. What sets the ICD Brookfield Place & Facilio project apart?