William Newton, CEO at WiredScore looks at what it really means for a building to be AI-ready.
AI is rapidly transforming how organisations operate, and the buildings that support them must evolve just as quickly. While this differs from the technologies used by landlords to manage building systems, it is the growing adoption of AI by occupiers that is redefining the built environment. As companies embed AI into their workflows, the expectations placed on commercial real estate are shifting. Buildings must now deliver more than amenities; they require the infrastructure to support continuous power, resilient connectivity, and AI-driven work.
A new era in AI usage
WiredScore, the global certification standard for digital connectivity and smart technology in real estate, recently released its Global Cities Resilience Index, ranking London 11th globally for real estate resilience. The Index finds that occupier demand is rapidly advancing AI-related connectivity requirements across global real estate.
AI readiness is transforming what properties must deliver. Increasingly woven into the day-to-day operations of buildings, AI now manages everything from HVAC and indoor air quality to lighting and access control, making it a silent yet fundamental layer within commercial infrastructure.
At the same time, 40% of enterprise software applications this year will include AI tools, placing pressure on the physical workspace to support intensive digital workflows.
82% of companies are planning to integrate AI into their workflows within the next one to three years, a signal that real estate needs to be ready to accommodate this evolution in occupier needs. Tenants now expect a seamless experience with uninterrupted connectivity, and the buildings that deliver it will be best positioned to not only attract tenants, but retain them.
The three pillars of resilience
Supporting AI-driven work isn’t about implementing a single upgrade; buildings must perform across three interconnected dimensions.
Physical resilience refers to how infrastructure can continually protect its digital systems and maintain performance during periods of disruption, whether environmental, technical, or power-related. This includes protecting itself against structural damage and providing backup power when necessary. In a world increasingly at risk from extreme weather events—from flash floods to heat waves—the capacity to safeguard power is critical.
The second dimension is digital resilience. While the ubiquity of mobile coverage suggests strong connectivity, building performance frequently falls short. Around 35% of the world’s smartest buildings have in-building mobile performance that falls behind the external networks serving them. Despite rising demand, just 20% have dedicated in-building mobile solutions to address this gap.
At the same time, WiredScore data reports Wi-Fi-related scorecard credits have increased 66% in recent years—a growing signal that landlords and developers are under mounting pressure to treat wireless connectivity as a priority. With AI-powered workloads, even a brief outage is no longer an inconvenience—it's a business-critical failure.
The third facet is cyber resilience. As buildings become more connected through smart access systems, IoT sensors, HVAC, and building management platforms, their attack surfaces expand significantly. WiredScore’s data demonstrates that 75% of organisations have BMSs containing known exploited vulnerabilities, with cybercrime forecast to cost the world $23 trillion by 2027.
Relative to other global cities, London underperforms on both cyber and digital resilience, while Europe’s digital resilience as a whole averages just 59% in the index. Its 11th-place ranking is a warning that resilience across all three pillars is no longer a competitive advantage, but a core utility.
Why this matters for commercial real estate owners
The Index reveals persistent gaps across London in all three areas, with Europe ranking as the lowest-performing region across physical, digital and cyber resilience. By contrast, North America leads with a cyber resilience score of 89%, exposing a widening resilience gap. Without buildings designed for today’s cyber threat landscape, they risk becoming a critical vulnerability rather than a strategic asset.
The commercial risks for landlords are mounting. For much of the post-pandemic period, the “flight to quality” meant adding amenities to entice workers back to the office. Amenities like wellness centres, ping-pong tables, and beer taps. Today, that emphasis is shifting. Occupiers care less about how a building looks and more about how well it performs: at full capacity, day in and day out.
Buildings with WiredScore-certified connectivity already achieve an average rental premium of 4.1% in London. For these properties, investment in digital and AI-centred infrastructure is a meaningful revenue driver. In North America, tenants sign leases that are on average nine months longer in WiredScore-certified offices.
Landlords prioritising AI infrastructure—connectivity redundancy, cyber governance, and power capacity—are future-proofing their assets for an AI-enabled economy. The future of the built environment will favour those who see physical, digital and cyber resilience not as advantages, but as foundations of modern workplaces.