How AI Will Change Tech-Enabled Building Operations—Replace People or Make Them More Effective?

This NexusCon 2025 debate brings together presenters from the prior technology-enabled operations recordings to tackle a question everyone is quietly asking: will AI replace people in building operations, or simply change how the work gets done?

Reed Powell (Operations Manager, McDonnell-Miller) takes the “replacement” side, while Saruf Alam (Director of Mission Control, KODE Labs) argues for AI as an enhancement. Drawing on real service-delivery workflows—not theory—they debate how AI is already reshaping dispatch, analysis, coordination, and client engagement in live portfolios. The discussion stays grounded in what’s happening today inside service providers and owner programs, not five-years-from-now hype.

Inside the recording, you’ll hear how AI tools are already changing hiring plans, where labor demand is slowing, and which roles are being reshaped first. The speakers dig into uncomfortable realities: accountability when AI recommendations go wrong, cost tradeoffs between human labor and AI agents, and why some work simply can’t be automated yet.

They also unpack why “replacement” may not mean fewer outcomes—just fewer people doing low-value coordination—and how this is already affecting budgets, staffing models, and service pricing. If you’re an FM, EM, or OT leader wondering how AI will actually hit your operating model—not just your vendor slide decks—this debate will sharpen your thinking fast.

Watch the full recording inside Nexus Pro →