AI, Data Centers and Acquisitions Shape the Smart Building Market
The development of artificial intelligence, investments in data centers, and major acquisitions have dominated recent developments in the smart building market, according to the 43rd edition of the weekly briefing published by research firm Memoori. Among the most significant technology announcements is Honeywell’s launch of Forge Cognition, a platform combining agentic artificial intelligence and digital twins for facility management, developed in collaboration with NVIDIA and Dell Technologies.
Meanwhile, Siemens has made a strategic investment in Skeleton Technologies, adding supercapacitor technology to its portfolio of data center solutions. Significant activity has also been recorded in the mergers and acquisitions market, with CBRE agreeing to acquire data center infrastructure services provider Onnec for £460 million in cash, with potential additional payments of up to £300 million.
In the digital security segment, ASSA ABLOY has sold HID’s public key infrastructure (PKI) business to private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, with the unit having generated $58 million in sales in 2025.
Energy efficiency also remains one of the market’s key drivers, as demonstrated by Germany’s 1KOMMA5°, which plans to invest €100 million in artificial intelligence in 2027, while its Heartbeat AI platform already manages more than one gigawatt of capacity. Finnish company Smartvatten has reached €21 million in revenue, while its remote monitoring solutions have helped save 2.4 million cubic meters of water. In France, Siemens and Voltalis are developing a model that uses HVAC system flexibility to finance up to 20 percent of building management system (BMS) project costs.
Another example of digital twin and AI agent deployment comes from France’s Côte-d’Or department, where Akila and ThinkDeep are participating in the next phase of a program covering more than 200 public sites. Memoori’s briefing highlights the growing convergence of building automation, digital infrastructure, energy efficiency, and artificial intelligence, alongside increasing investment activity across these sectors.
More information: Memoori
