Your 2026 Playbook: The AI-for-Building-Operations Trends Every CRE Leader Must Be Ready For

As 2026 approaches, AI in building operations is moving from experimentation to execution, with unified data and proactive workflows becoming standard across CRE portfolios.

The TL;DR

• CRE teams are feeling the strain of fragmented, reactive operations, making it harder to keep buildings running smoothly as portfolios scale.
• As 2026 approaches, AI in building operations is moving from experimentation to execution, with unified data and proactive workflows becoming standard across CRE portfolios.
• Visitt brings these trends together in one AI-native platform, unifying operations so teams can work with clearer context, fewer handoffs, and better control.

Commercial real estate is clearly moving toward AI adoption, but most teams haven’t felt the impact in their daily work yet, with only about 5% of CRE organizations saying they’ve actually achieved their AI goals. That reality shows up in the conversations Visitt has every day  with the people responsible for keeping buildings running: on-site technicians, property managers, investors, and vendors like you.

As PropTech AI leaders, we remain committed to understanding the field and our customers’ needs as they evolve. Our product team stops aiming to “keep things stable” and instead keeps pushing forward, making sure day-to-day building operations don’t get left behind as portfolios grow.

What does that mean for the future of facility management in 2026?

The AI property management trends below reflect what Visitt is seeing across assets and portfolios; what CRE leaders should be ready for next.

Move from AI experimentation to execution

Most CRE teams know they need to use AI as part of their routine operations. But few have operationalized it. 2026 will be all about AI embedded in day-to-day building operations.  

Over the last few years, AI has shown up all over commercial real estate property management. According to JLL, more than 90% of CRE organizations plan to test AI tools. But for most teams, those tests never make it into daily building operations.

That said, AI in building management adoption isn’t even across all use cases. In facilities management specifically, only about 28% of organizations have actively embedded AI into day-to-day operations. Where it is being adopted, investment is clustering around: 

• Predictive maintenance 
• Automated work order management and resource management software
• Energy optimization
• Asset insights tied directly to property operations

In 2026, it’ll be adapt or fall behind. The teams seeing real results will be the ones pulling AI into the same systems where building operations data already lives, where AI delivers real value. Into the workflows teams rely on to keep properties running each day:

• Work orders
• Commercial property inspections
• Compliance
• Tenant communication tools
• Reporting 

These workflows will need to be accessible from the field, so real work feeds directly into future facility management planning.

 Apply unified data across AI in building operations initiatives

• One tool for commercial property maintenance
• Another for amenities management
• A third for tenant experience
• Separate platforms for COIs, billing, and reporting
  
  

Each system captures a moment. None captures the full operational picture. But AI can’t operate in isolation. It needs context. In building operations, that context comes from how work moves across systems, teams, and time. 

The shift heading into 2026 is toward unified, end-to-end building operations data. When workflows live in one platform, AI can follow and learn from work as it actually unfolds:

• Repeated work orders start to reveal recurring operational issues
• Those issues can be traced back to specific tenants, spaces, or assets
• Patterns across buildings point to systemic problems
• Operational activity feeds reporting automatically, without manual reconciliation

CRE teams already operating this way will tell you the difference is immediate. Related Ross saw it firsthand, reaching full adoption in under 2 months and driving a 3x increase in tenant engagement after unifying operations with Visitt.

Shift from reactive to proactive operations

Reactive property operations force teams to work after the damage is done. Teams respond fast, but always late. Over time, that pattern leads to avoidable downtime, repeat repairs, and irrelevant maintenance.

AI predictive maintenance sits inside day-to-day property operations, analyzing live building data as work happens instead of after something breaks. That means:

• Maintenance is triggered by real asset behavior, not fixed schedules or gut instinct.
• Early signs of wear or imbalance are caught before failure reaches tenants or disrupts operations.
• Teams get time to plan, coordinate, and act early, instead of scrambling after issues escalate.

As 2026 approaches, this shift from reactive to proactive operations is becoming one of the most practical CRE trends to prepare for. AI in facilities management is moving earlier into the lifecycle of building issues, focused on earlier visibility, smarter planning, and steadier day-to-day property operations.

The result: A change in what teams can expect from their buildings:

• Less downtime, as issues are addressed before systems fail or tenants are impacted.
• Lower maintenance costs, with work scheduled based on asset condition rather than fixed intervals.
• Longer asset lifespans, with condition-based servicing extending equipment life by up to 40%. 
• More accurate planning, as operational data informs future budgets and activities.

Let compliance and risk guide where AI belongs in operations

Exposure is becoming one of the strongest drivers of AI adoption. Teams know risk, compliance, and control matter, but as CRE firms look into using AI more broadly, many are realizing the foundations aren’t there yet. According to ProSight, 26% say their AI risk frameworks are still too immature to support wider use. 

Looking ahead to 2026, the future of facility management depends on compliance and risk management processes living inside AI, leading to:

• AI that’s safe to deploy because the data is governed, current, and accurate. 
• Risk that’s surfaced by analyzing live compliance data from COIs, inspections, and vendor records as they’re updated.
• Compliance that functions as an embedded part of workflows that run maintenance, inspections, and vendor activity.

Visitt brings that control into the same workflows teams already use:

1. Our COI Agent: Insurance requirements are pulled directly from leases and vendor agreements, new certificates are checked automatically as they’re uploaded, and missing coverage or expired endorsements are flagged before work starts, so teams aren’t chasing documents or stopping jobs mid-stream.
2. Live Translate (inside Visitt): Multilingual teams often rely on third-party translation tools to understand access notes, safety updates, or tenant messages, quietly pushing sensitive building data into external LLMs. Live Translate keeps every update inside the same secure, in-workflow environment where work orders already live, so communication stays clear without exposing operational data.

Make portfolio-level visibility your standard

Leaders expect real-time insights across buildings, teams, and performance, not static reports. But CRE portfolios are dynamic by nature. Buildings get acquired, sold, repositioned, and re-tenanted, and each change brings new service demands, vendor activity, and operating priorities. 

Portfolio-level visibility pulls day-to-day operations into one view so leaders can compare, spot trends, and make decisions with real context.

For on-site teams and property managers:

• Issues don’t stay isolated to one property
• Repeating problems surface faster across similar assets
• Daily decisions are based on what’s actually happening

For regional leaders and investors:

• Performance is visible side by side across buildings and teams
• Weak links are easier to spot and address
• Decisions reflect real operational behavior, not assumptions

Teams operating with this level of visibility are already seeing the difference. Epic Investment Services used Visitt to unify operations across more than 170 buildings and a 12 million square-foot portfolio, gaining real-time insight into service levels, tenant activity, and response times in under 60 days. As 2026 approaches, portfolio-level visibility is what will give more CRE firms the operational clarity needed to better manage large, dynamic portfolios.

Win in 2026 by investing in workflow, not just tools

Success comes from changing how work gets done, not adding more software.

AI works best when it supports the people already running building operations. The teams getting ahead aren’t using it to replace staff or strip roles down. They’re using it to bring order to fragmented systems, reduce manual coordination, and give teams back time for the parts of the job that still need judgment, experience, and local knowledge. 

With Visitt, CRE firms can adopt every trend in this playbook and enjoy:

• AI-native design embedded into daily building operations
• One unified platform for work orders, preventive maintenance, inspections, tenant operations, and compliance
• Fast deployment across full portfolios, live in under 60 days
• Portfolio-level intelligence with real-time comparisons across buildings, teams, and vendors
• Field-ready UX that technicians, managers, and tenants adopt naturally
• Lower operational overhead by consolidating multiple disconnected systems
• Scalable architecture proven from single assets to 100M+ sq ft portfolios
• Mobile-first workflows that work on site, even offline

Ready to run the 2026 AI-for-building-operations trends playbook?
Talk to our team and explore how we can work together