Smarter cleaning, better buildings

RECENTLY, SMART buildings have done a lot of telling and little actual doing. Dashboards reported what happened the previous day, week or quarter, and cleaning leaders used that data to make the best decisions they could with information that was already out of date. That world is now changing.Instead, today's cleaning teams move with the building, redeployed in real time to where the data shows they deliver the most value. According to Bidvest Noonan's FM Technology Outlook 2026, based on a survey of senior FM decision-makers across the UK and Ireland, with responsibility for estates of at least 20,000 square feet. Almost all (97%) of these FM leaders plan to increase technology investment over the next 12 to 24 months, with smart building sensors and IoT the top priority for around six in ten (59%). The cleaning function sits right at the centre of that shift.

What occupancy-led cleaning actually looks like

The future looks set to include occupancy-led cleaning where data, not the rota, decides what happens next. This means cleaning teams will attend rooms based on actual usage, not on a schedule drafted six months ago when utilisation looked different. Heating and lighting only come on when a space is occupied. A wall-mounted IoT button in the washroom lets a user flag a spill or an empty dispenser, alerting the person on-site who can quickly resolve the issue, long before a complaint reaches the helpdesk. High footfall in a particular zone can trigger an autonomous machine to deploy ahead of its scheduled round. Low occupancy in another space will trigger a pause in cleaning, freeing the team for work needed elsewhere.

The numbers stack up across all three outcomes that cleaning leaders are typically measured on. Just over half (53%) of FM leaders report improved service quality from their technology deployments, half (50%) report better space utilisation, while four in ten (41%) report improved employee wellbeing and satisfaction. This all points to efficiency, sustainability and workplace experience all moving in the right direction, because the building is now responding to the people inside it.

Why integration is now the real challenge

The cleaning sector has no shortage of sensors, machines or platforms. The hardware is available, capable and increasingly affordable. The real issue is making it all talk. Over half (57%) of FM leaders cite integration complexity with legacy systems as one of their biggest adoption challenges, and almost two thirds (65%) point to insufficient planning as the top reason technology underperforms. An occupancy sensor that cannot reach the workforce management platform, or a connected machine whose data sits in a vendor portal nobody opens, simply creates another silo. You do not end up with a smart building. You end up with a collection of expensive standalone reports.

The fix has to start before procurement. Define the data, access, format and communication requirements before specifying the kit. Ask vendors for evidence of how their systems integrate with your current platforms; don't rely on bland assurances. And involve cleaning leaders early in the conversation, because their operational view decides whether the integration actually delivers on the cleaning floor.

A view from across the FM landscape

Cleaning is not alone in wrestling with integration and capability. Across the wider FM sector, senior leaders in security, engineering and workplace services are reaching the same conclusion.

The investment intent is clear, with technology spend set to rise over the coming couple of years in pursuit of the productivity gains that almost all (95%) FM leaders now expect AI to deliver. So is the appetite for AI-led tools, particularly those that can automate complex tasks such as dynamic risk assessments and predictive maintenance.

But so are the obstacles. That includes the training paradox: the recognition that insufficient staff preparation will undermine any deployment, no matter how advanced the kit. 

The point translates directly to cleaning operations: integration and capability are not separate problems. 

Robotics: from machines to roles

Of all the technologies the survey points to, autonomous service robots are reshaping cleaning operations most visibly. Two thirds (66%) of FM decision-makers have deployed, are piloting, or are considering autonomous service robots. The IFR World Robotics report records an increase in the cleaning robotics market of one third, driven in part by persistent labour shortages. Collaborative Robots (Cobots) that take live occupancy data and dynamically adjust their cleaning schedules are no longer a future-tense conversation. Newer systems enable predictive, data-driven cleaning that they claim can significantly reduce the environmental impact of the task compared with fixed-schedule routines.

What this means for cleaning leaders is not the elimination of the human role, but its evolution. A cleaning operative supervising a fleet of cobots is a different job from the one the same person held five years before. The technology will create new roles, including cobot supervisor, data-led scheduler and exception handler, and potentially opens up a clear upskilling pathway for teams who have historically had limited career progression. That is a story worth telling internally, because it changes how technology adoption is received on the cleaning floor.

Training is not an 'extra'

This is where our study delivers its sharpest warning. Almost two thirds (64%) of FM leaders cite inadequate training as a cause of technology underperformance. Almost half (46%) identify skills and capability gaps as a current operational challenge. Yet training is rarely planned in with the same rigour as the procurement spec. The result is autonomous machines parked because nobody on shift quite trusts them, dashboards no-one opens, and pilots that don’t scale due to lack of training.

The reframing matters. What looks like staff resistance is, more often than not, a capability gap. People do not resist tools they feel confident using. They resist tools that have been imposed on them without preparation. Cleaning leaders should plan for training and change management as part of the technology investment, not as an afterthought once the hardware lands.

What cleaning leaders should expect next

Three shifts are worth watching over the next few years.

First, sensors, autonomous machines and task scheduling systems are becoming connected and managed through a single system in our Task digital operations platform using API links. 

Second, the cleaning operative role continues to evolve. Cobot supervisor, data-led scheduler and on-the-floor exception handler are already happening in smart buildings now. Cleaning leaders who plan the training pathway will recruit and retain better than those who do not.

Third, your actual cleaning teams stop being treated as an afterthought. Training and change management are the difference between a pilot that scales and one that gets quietly forgotten in Q2.

Finally, we are now seeing Generative AI merge with the Physical AI of machine-based AI tools. This means we can talk directly to smart building platforms or security systems, just as we would interact with a chat bot. Prompts here may include: "What were the busiest washrooms yesterday?" Or, "run a report showing floors with low occupancy last week", "alert me when fire exits are blocked." AI is no longer a futuristic buzzword; it's part of operational reality.

The bottom line

The cleaning function is becoming more data-driven, and the technology is finally catching up with something cleaning leaders have always known: activity, not schedule, should decide where the work goes. The buildings of 2026 can tell you what is needed in real time. What remains is the discipline to act on it, the integration to make it work, and the training to put confident operators behind every machine. Get those elements right and cleaning becomes the most visible proof point that smart buildings are finally earning their name.

Peter Smyth is director of innovation and technology at Bidvest Noonan

For more information, visit bidvestnoonan.com