Beyond Automation: How AI Is Revolutionising Building and Facilities Management
Automation has always been a goal of buildings and facilities managers. There have always been barriers to this process, but has software finally caught up?
AI has become a watchword in the sector, with companies now embracing AI to monitor and manage their buildings. But in practical terms how does this work and who is the right person to manage this process and does the industry have the skills to implement this technology?
Find out at the AI Hub panel session sponsored by J2
Session Speakers
Lawrence is a co-founder of Parallax and serves as Technical Director, where he leads on innovation in IoT, performance architecture at scale, and other emerging technologies that shape the way organisations operate. With a career rooted in building systems that don’t just perform but transform, he combines deep technical expertise with a sharp commercial mindset. He is passionate about the role technology plays in driving measurable improvements to the bottom line, using it not only as a tool for efficiency but as a lever for growth and competitive advantage.
Curious by nature, Lawrence thrives on getting under the skin of businesses to understand how they function at every level. He works closely with stakeholders to identify structural pain points, uncover hidden opportunities, and design solutions that bring clarity and measurable impact. His approach focuses on improving products, services, and internal processes, then applying the right technologies to solve challenges in ways that are both pragmatic and scalable.
Over the years, Lawrence has worked with a wide range of clients across both public and private sectors, from ambitious scale-ups to large enterprises. He excels at cutting through organisational and technical complexity, aligning teams around clear outcomes, and delivering strategies that result in tangible value. By bridging the gap between business ambition and technical execution, he ensures that technology investments deliver real returns while setting organisations up for long-term success.
Richard Scannell has a long history of entrepreneurial success with technology companies. Before joining Lambent, he led the North American operations of LoginVSI as General Manager through a successful sale to a PE firm. Prior to that, he was President and CEO of RiverMeadow Software. In 2001, Scannell co-founded GlassHouse Technologies, a global consulting and managed services company. Richard emigrated from Ireland, where he graduated from University College Cork.
Dmitry Rumiantcev is Product Director at Diologi, with over 18 years’ experience in building automation and a research background in energy-optimising controls.
He leads the development of an AI operations layer for building systems that helps facilities and service teams turn live data into practical improvements, investigate issues remotely, take action safely and validate system performance.
With 30+ years in the audio-visual industry, Scott has designed, managed and consulted on experiential technology integration projects throughout the world including award winning executive briefing centres, museums, airports, stadiums and themed entertainment venues. His journey into smart building integration stemmed from his experience as an control programmer in the luxury residential market, integrating AV control with lighting, BMS, irrigation, and security systems. As a Smart Score AP certified consultant Scott has worked on many challenging multidisciplinary integration projects, including Building Magazine's Smart Building of the Year 2022, The PAE Living Building- world's largest certified Living Building.
As the Director of Business Development for AVI-SPL's Experience Technology Group Scott also understands the importance of multi-disciplinary coordination, and the importance of building great partnerships for success when delivering the most complex projects. As an AVIXA dual certified CTS-D/CTS-I , Scott brings extensive experience with AV design and takes a wholistic approach to delivering world class experiences.
Alex Badon is a Senior Software Development Engineer at J2 Innovations, a Siemens company, specialising in software solutions for building automation and intelligent buildings. With extensive experience in software development and engineering, Alex brings a practical perspective on how emerging technologies can transform building operations. His current focus includes exploring the potential of AI in building automation, from smarter control strategies to new opportunities for efficiency and intelligent building management.
B. Scott Muench is Vice President of Knowledge Excellence at J2 Innovations, a Siemens company, and a recognised expert in smart buildings, building automation and smart device management. With decades of industry experience, Scott is a passionate advocate for open, data-driven building technologies and has played an active role on the Project Haystack Board of Directors. A past president of ASHRAE, he brings a wealth of practical and technical insight into how technology, data and intelligence are transforming the way buildings are managed.
David Heron has 40 years of hands-on experience guiding software development teams through all the major technological shifts.
His career began in the mid-1980s writing early mainframe code and managing punch-card systems. He led the enterprise-wide transition from physical server rooms to secure cloud infrastructure during the 2010s and witnessed the transformation of the videoconferencing industry winning national accolades from the Society of I.T. Manager and the British Banking Association, while mentoring dozens of young engineers who now hold leadership roles across the worldwide tech sector.
He is now applying this vast experience to building automation, focusing on the business efficiencies generated by the highly configurable Loxone system and its ability to integrate with AI Back Office and robotic systems.
Horace Cyrus is the founder of GRIOTech, a London-based building performance technology company. Over a 26-year career in commercial building controls and energy management, he has been responsible for more than £7 million of verified energy savings across UK commercial property.
GRIOTech builds ABIE, the Advanced Building Intelligence Ecosystem, a continuous performance audit for commercial buildings, patent pending. ABIE is built on the Performance Chain Model, a living causal model of connected building systems that attributes recoverable value at every node, from generation through distribution and air handling to the zones it serves.
Horace writes the GRIOTech Field Guide series. His recent work sits between engineering and cognitive science, examining how building operators actually form judgements from performance data, and why the format of a finding determines whether anyone acts on it. This session draws on volume two, The Continuous Audit.
