From Reactive to Proactive: How AI is Powering Smarter, Future-Ready Building Operations

Wong Ho Yin (Deacon) is a Director of IFMA Hong Kong Chapter and a PhD researcher in Fire Safety, with a strong focus on smart building technologies, AIoT applications and future-ready facility management. His work bridges academic research, building operations and technology adoption, particularly in how data, sensors, artificial intelligence and connected systems can help property and facility management teams move from reactive maintenance to more predictive, proactive and resilient operations.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

1. Smarter buildings: Use AI, IoT and data-driven facility management to improve efficiency, safety and resilience. SDG 9, 11

2. Resource efficiency: Reduce energy waste and unnecessary consumption through predictive maintenance and smarter operations. SDG 12, 13

3. Collaboration: Connect facility managers, property owners, technology providers and researchers to scale practical sustainability solutions. SDG 17

Kylie Davis is a globally recognised expert and commentator on the Australian proptech industry and entrepreneur. She is the founder and president of Proptech Australia, host of the Proptech Podcast and runs a successful consulting business specialising in helping proptechs to accelerate their growth.

Kylie has an MBA from the University of NSW, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a founding member of the Rise Initiative, a charity that focuses on mental wellness across the property professions, in addition to holding multiple directorships and advisory board roles.

Her research into consumer experiences of real estate set the benchmark for behavioural performance in Australia. She is the author of more than a dozen landmark reports including analyses of property management, the future of real estate and delivering better buyer and seller experiences. She is currently co-authoring a book on AI in commercial real estate due for publication in 2027.

Barry is the President (2026-2027) at ASHRAE Hong Kong Chapter. He is the Head of Building Services at Swire Properties Limited. His works involve formulating the corporate decarbonization and energy saving strategies within Swire Properties to pave way for the company in advancing towards a net zero future, implementation of digitalization, artificial intelligence & innovative solution for building applications.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

1) Adopt Artificial Intelligence to achieve system optimization to drive decarbonization for Building Sector instead still under piecemeal consideration
2) With more open-minded collaborations between different stakeholders within Building Sector to work towards carbon neutrality

Mr Jonathan Lee is a seasoned IT professional with over 25 years of experience across financial services, manufacturing and retail, government, education and healthcare, telecommunications, and commercial industries, having held key roles in leading global technology companies spanning system integrator services, solution engineering, industry go-to-market programs, professional services delivery, and team leadership. His deep expertise spans agentic AI, SaaS, PaaS, cloud-native solutions, integration platforms, CRM, ERP, HCM, and big data technologies, complemented by growing specialisation in facilities management, digital twin technology, and Lenovo’s smart building and energy-saving solutions, where he applies IoT-enabled monitoring and intelligent building management to help organisations reduce energy consumption and advance their ESG and sustainability goals. This combination of enterprise technology depth and green building expertise enables him to partner effectively with customers and stakeholders to design, deliver, and scale digital transformation initiatives that are both business-driven and sustainability-focused.

Mr. Steven So is responsible for the business development, facility planning, and performance management of data centers operated by NTT in Hong Kong. He is also in charge of business planning, infrastructure design, and project management of the award-winning Hong Kong Financial Data Center (FDCTM) in Tseung Kwan O.

Prior to joining the company in 2008, he was the Facility Manager of EC Harris responsible for operation and transition management at the HSBC Data Center. He was also the Senior Administration Manager of APT Satellite Co. Ltd. in charge of the construction and management of APT Telepark in the early 2000s.

Mr. So holds a Master of Science degree in Facility Management from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New South Wales.