Dive Brief:
- Compass Group on Monday launched an AI-powered managed services platform that the company said will give facilities managers a simpler way to run operations.
- The platform, AirisOne, unifies data from work orders, asset management, inspections and other critical operations, according to the company. It also connects facilities with Compass support and third-party vendors providing a range of services, like HVAC maintenance, through a marketplace feature.
- AirisOne is intended to create value for facilities managers across education, manufacturing, data centers and other sectors, the company said. “For operators, it provides a more connected view of their operations, helping identify what needs attention,” Saima Khan, senior vice president of Compass Digital, said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
U.K.-headquartered Compass Group is one of the largest contract food service providers in the United States and elsewhere, but AirisOne is a platform that integrates all aspects of facility operations, not just food service, according to the company.
“AirisOne is … a new way to connect Compass Group’s scale, operating expertise and purchasing power with the people managing facilities every day,” Payman Khania, CEO of Compass Support Services, said in a statement. “By creating a complete facilities technology stack and a broad marketplace within a single hub, we can help operators and clients see more, solve problems faster, and continuously improve performance.”
AI analyzes the data that flows through the platform, according to the company. “By leveraging data from across the facilities technology stack with AI-driven intelligence, AirisOne helps teams … prevent disruptions and deliver more consistent outcomes,” it says.
The marketplace will also provide support for mobile maintenance, commercial kitchen maintenance, energy management, audiovisual operations and design, food service, a national call center and access to a catalog of services, equipment, supplies and vendors, per the release.
By leveraging Compass Group’s purchasing power, AirisOne can provide clients and self-operated facilities teams with greater choice, value and ease of access, the group said.
Compass has been investing heavily in AI, CFO Petros Parras said on the company’s earnings call in July. “We have invested a lot in data and AI in this phase,” Parras said. “We have to deliver exceptional service, exceptional revenue in a very short period of time, and technology is really helping us and demonstrating to our clients the value we can add to the operations.”
The company operates in many types of facilities, including the business and industry sectors, which include financial institutions and banks, and sports and leisure.
Sports and leisure is a key spot where Compass has been implementing technology to boost its services, Parras said on the call. For example, it is using AI to drive sales at kiosks, he said.
The company has also been expanding into data centers, CEO Dominic Blakemore said on the call. “In some instances, we’ll be partnering directly with major tech players,” he said. “In others, it’s with the data center owners and operators, where they typically franchise their capacity to a number of different customers.”
The platform integrates the company’s experience across sectors to provide a foundation that can support increasingly complex facilities, according to the company.
Blakemore noted that because of the company’s maintenance capabilities, it will be able to provide more than food for data centers, but also “the operational delivery thereafter.”
