Innovation at SBM: Looking to the Future

Last month, SBM launched a series of articles about technology and the future of the workplace. Today, in our second article, we’re talking again to Chris White, SBM’s Chief Information Officer, about how SBM is already using AI to improve the employee experience and deliver next-level service, and how we plan to pursue game-changing innovations as part of our future growth trajectory.

As a preferred provider at the world’s most complex and dynamic workplaces, SBM is uniquely positioned to drive innovative technology advances for our clients. We’ve already designed and developed a powerful mobile platform that improves the employee experience, empowering them to perform the best job while also delivering transparency to our clients. We’ve been recognized as the innovative provider in our industry, and we’re willing to invest in technology that disrupts facilities management going forward.

According to Chris White, SBM’s digital innovation allows clients full transparency, which provides peace of mind. “Through the combination of deep industry experience, fact-based data, and these incredibly innovative new technologies, SBM is enabling our customers to make the digitally powered leap from ‘we think’ to ‘we know.’”

How is SBM currently harnessing AI?

SBM has been investing in advanced technologies for many years, most notably advanced analytics and predictive capabilities, to help inform actionable insights for our customers through the 4insite platform. These industry-defining analytics coupled with SBM’s 40-plus years of experience create the perfect set of data and KPIs to train machine learning (ML)-based logic. The outcome for SBM is the ability to enable frontline teams with the information they need to deliver a world-class experience without wasted cycle time or inefficient supply use. 

What is your strategy for integrating new technologies into our current infrastructure?

Like many well-established market leaders across any industry, SBM has been embarking on our own digital transformation strategy. SBM’s enterprise technology team continuously works with our internal business partners to strike a holistic balance between focusing on world-class execution and having a keen eye for high-quality innovation underwritten by a strong business case. The benefits of this approach are multi-faceted, which results in a more clearly articulated technology roadmap that allows technology teams to collaborate with business partners and customers alike to help address unique challenges facing our industry. Additionally, through bold but disciplined investments in innovation, we are helping SBM’s stakeholders become more productive, which ultimately creates a win/win for both our customers and SBM alike.

How does SBM plan to keep up with the rapid pace of technological change into the future?

We have created a culture of innovation at SBM that is best exemplified by 4insite and helps guide our teams to think toward continuous improvement and sustainability. To help ensure that our innovation pipeline and thought leadership is holistic and well rounded, we routinely speak with technology partners, our customers, and our internal teams to help constructively examine if there is a better way to deliver a world-class end-user experience in a cost-effective manner. This central thesis helps ensure that potential new digital capabilities, including the rapidly unfolding advances in AI, are centered on enabling and delivering key outcomes to SBM and our customers, such that “AI” ultimately means “Actionable Insights” for our business cases.