REAL ESTATE NEWS

Office needs have changed in recent years in the post-pandemic world as AI influences the shift. Property owners today, as a result, must adapt and best serve tenants' needs.

Vickey Li, founder and CEO of Veery, who has been leading companies to manage office operations for the past 15 years, took a dive into this while explaining the importance of smart, intelligent buildings at CREtech New York 2026 on the Innovation Stage.

She noted that today the companies that are returning to the office, particularly in AI, are operating at a pace "faster than ever."

"Real estate always needs to adopt changes. Be able to respond, be able to understand and be able to deliver. And that's exactly what is happening," Li added.

Not Just About Amenities

Amenities today have been a big part of luring companies back to the office amid the national flight to quality trend. However, it's not the be-all and end-all.

The services provided matter, according to Li. The key today is having smarter intelligence in buildings that can understand companies and solve problems.

"It can communicate, it reads people and also it can really build that trust that the landlord, the building, and the companies have longed for," Li said.

Some examples, according to LI, include a speaking AI agent and technology that studies and understands requests.

Another major priority is context and experience, which analyzes each company, whether that's budgeting goals, the culture and the history of service requests for that brand.

There's also scheduling of the recurring maintenance services.

And then there's execution, which relates to service delivery. "AI can configure and adapt to what's needed in order to really provide that personal life experience," Li said.

Don't Neglect Human Approach

As said earlier with amenities — the same applies to AI when creating an office experience today. For example, LI stressed that humans need to perform a check on it, whether it's for recurring maintenance or providing other services.

"Because of that, your building is always ready. You have all the right tools to help you keep your maintenance preventive," she said.

Lower Cost And Revenue Benefits on Smart Buildings

But overall, adopting smarter buildings has a two-fold positive impact on financials, according to Li. One of them is lower costs, which include maintenance compliance and vendor efficiency. Specifically, owners could experience fewer failures in buildings, avoid damage and save time in the area of coordination.

"A lot of things can be prevented," Li urged.

"[You] don't have to wait until a small issue becomes a large issue and then have to spend days and time to actually perform that maintenance check. Everything is being spotted early and we can really address issues much earlier."

The other benefit is more revenue, as these smarter buildings are more likely to attract tenant retention and a broad range of brands to buildings.

For office landlords, technology is key to providing services, from maintenance to analysis. These are areas to consider for innovation and focus in the future to improve property performance -- but the human element should not disappear in the process.

Source: GlobeSt/ALM