Realising the value of smart buildings with enterprise agility

The proliferation of smart buildings, driven by advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and big data analytics, promises numerous benefits for a business. Despite significant investment in these technologies, many organisations have struggled to leverage the data generated, failing to transition from data acquisition to actionable insights. This challenge underscores the need for enterprise agility — a concept encompassing technological flexibility and the cultural and structural readiness to embrace change. This paper examines the evolution of smart buildings over the past decade, highlighting shifts in focus from sustainability and space management to human-centric outcomes and compliance in response to the global pandemic. It underscores organisations’ need to adopt a holistic digital transformation strategy that integrates datadriven insights into core business processes. The discussion delves into the fundamentals of enterprise agility, emphasising its importance in the smart building context. Enterprise agility involves iterative delivery, continuous improvement, and empowered teams working within clearly defined value streams aligned to business goals. The key components of enterprise agility are explored, including integrating feedback loops, establishing cross-functional teams and shifting from project to product thinking. The authors argue for the necessity of modular and scalable enterprise architecture, which aligns with business capabilities and value streams, enabling faster and more efficient delivery of value. In conclusion, this paper posits that the full value of smart building technologies can be realised by embedding them within an agile enterprise framework.