Mats is responsible for leading Service Works Global’s (SWG) growth and positioning in the UK and internationally. With more than 20 years of experience in IT and facilities management (FM) related operations, he has held several board-level positions. Mats is passionate about developing technology-related products and services in the FM sector and in recent years has been driving the implementation of BIM-related services within FM companies.
How did you become involved in the Smart Buildings industry?
Service Works Global is a software provider to the property industry, where parts of our offering include solutions within the framework of Smart Buildings. I joined the company in 2019 and became CEO of the global business in May this year.
Our core offering, QFM computer-aided facilities management (CAFM) software, has been empowering facility managers to plan, execute, and monitor various activities, including maintenance, space optimisation, and customer services for 30 years. CAFM is now widely known as an essential building block on the way to a smart building.
We also have extensive experience in digitisation services such as laser scanning and BIM modelling, and QFM BIMi manages this digitised data and 2D / 3D models to provide secure, easily accessed, actionable information. The integration of BIM and CAFM is where the true potential of smart buildings comes to life. With a digitised building and rich data points from IoT enabled sensors, organisations can achieve smart information management. We recently developed an IoT platform called Senslinc, which takes live data feeds from sensors and building data with generative AI to facilitate real-time monitoring and insight into the building's condition.
What excites you about the Smart Buildings industry?
It's incredibly exciting to be a part of empowering people to work smarter with digital experiences to achieve a sustainable future. This is one of our core values, and it’s incredibly satisfying seeing our clients reaping the benefits. Enabling clients to move to a predictive maintenance model, for example being able to service a lift after 1,000 journeys rather than every two months, or factor in additional maintenance informed by adverse weather forecasts, makes a facility sustainable in terms of reliability, cost effectiveness and environmental impact.
Are there any particular technologies that we should be aware of?
The combination of connecting AI (Computing and generative AI) with the built environment is a game changer for the industry. In SWG we call it a ‘Connected Digital Twin’ which means that we have information about both the built environment and how the building is used with the help of real-time data. When this is then linked to Facility Management's various processes, great opportunities are created to work smarter.
What services does your organisation offer?
We have an offering that we call Connected Digital Twin where we can read built information from a construction project and connect it to our AI platform. It is then integrated into our FM system, QFM, where the information from the Connected Digital Twin helps to make the right decisions in the various processes.
We also have a range of digitisation services where we can create 3D architectural models from existing paper drawings or PDFs using our AI digitisation service.
We partner with external companies who help us with field work on laser scanning, which we then use our expertise and technology to convert into 3D models. We also use the results of the scanned data in the form of point clouds integrated into our FM solution.
Are people aware of the regulations that they will need to comply with in the near future?
Yes and no! Within the EU and also nationally, there are currently several regulations that affect property owners. Sustainability is a major area where energy efficiency and traceability of built-in materials are examples of requirements that property owners need to ensure they can achieve. In some countries, the possibility of obtaining green loans at favourable interest rates is also a crucial factor in being competitive. These are big changes that owners have to deal with and we think the challenge for them is to understand which part of the "big elephant" to start with.
What are the benefits of a smart building?
Being able to see how a building and its assets are being used instead of relying on theoretical models is a way of working that will be taken for granted in 5 years' time. As an example, money can be saved by switching from preventative maintenance to predictive maintenance. In addition to cost savings, it also creates the conditions for fewer disruptions to the core business conducted in the building.
Who has been the biggest influence in your career?
When I worked as a property manager for hospital properties, I had a property director who taught me a lot about understanding the different roles of the property owner as a developer and as a property manager of the already built environment. He always emphasised how important it is to have access to the right information before making decisions. I have since carried this with me and tried to translate it into how we as software developers can support the property owner in the role of both developer and property manager.
What is the question you are most often asked in your business life?
Many of our customers have started different types of digitalisation initiatives, often based on a problem they want to solve in a better way. I am often asked by our customers' management how SWG with its product and service portfolio can support them in their digitalisation journey. Often there is no digitisation strategy in place that clearly sets measurable goals of what you want to achieve with your digitisation initiative – that’s where we come in.
What are the best/worst things about your job?
I like the interaction between people and digital solutions and the best part of my job is when I can see the results of a customer who, with the support of our connected technology and expertise, has managed to implement a smarter way of working.
The worst part of my job is that there is not always enough time. Sometimes you feel inadequate when you can't support customers and colleagues to do their job in the best way possible.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry?
Have the courage to empower our customers to use technology and related expertise to transform ways of working to create an even more sustainable future with smart ways of working.
What living person do you admire and why?
Stagnation is our worst enemy, so constantly believing that change and innovation will lead to something better is important to me. A charismatic leader who often spoke about this in an engaging way was Barack Obama so I choose him.
Where would you most like to live?
I'll probably stick to Sweden, but I could imagine living in Spain or Portugal for parts of the year.
What is your favourite book?
It is a series of books about a detective named Joona Linna written by Lars Kepler.
How do you relax?
Spending time with family and friends
What sports team do you support?
I support several teams in different sports and countries but in football and premier league Manchester United is my team and has been since childhood.
What is your desert island disk?
A sky full of stars by Coldplay.
What is your ideal holiday?
I like both active and relaxing holidays so downhill skiing in winter and golf combined with beach in the summer.