CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Facilities managers, cleaning professionals and vendors offering building products, services and systems are here this week to learn about the issues impacting the built environment — from changes in federal policy to proliferation of AI — at NFMT East 2026. The event’s opening keynote session focused on how facilities managers can use technology to inform their building operations decisions.
“What [do] new innovations look like for us?’” Donna Julian, executive vice president and chief venues officer for Hornets Sports & Entertainment, said in Tuesday’s opening general session.
Julian and another executive in charge of facilities management at the Spectrum Center, Charlotte’s indoor arena for the National Basketball Association’s Hornets, discussed the role of AI in the arena’s redevelopment initiative, completed last fall. The two-year, $240 million Reimagine renovation featured physical and digital improvements that included replacing seats, enhancing LEDs, adding wayfinding tools and creating parent and sensory rooms.
“The main focus was customer facing,” Julian said. “We wanted to enhance the biggest experience on every level.… But we also wanted to be competitive in [our events] market … to make sure our back-of-house and all spaces were built, aligned and touching on all the great technologies to give us a competitive edge.”
That demand for a competitive edge has driven the team to expand its use of AI at the arena, according to Ronnie Bryant, senior vice president and chief information officer for the Charlotte Hornets. The arena has started using AI to automate building management, strengthen predictive maintenance and inform operations through occupancy sensor data, he said.
Obtaining AI buy-in from stakeholders, from executives to technicians to operators, requires facilities managers to demonstrate how the technology adds value by making their jobs easier, Bryant said.
“I know people say it’s going to take jobs,” Bryant said. “It’s not going to completely replace jobs; it’s going to realign some roles. That was really the key to ... how we wanted to see it moving forward.”
Technology takes stride
The NFMT Expo opened Tuesday afternoon with more than 300 exhibitors. Many of the booths are showcasing technologies that are proliferating in the facilities management space like AI-driven maintenance and work order management systems, sensors for detecting leaks or monitoring indoor air quality and more efficient facade solutions.
Other technologies, like drones for security, inspections and window cleaning, were showcased. And automated cleaning robots were roaming the expo halls, dodging attendees walking the floor.
Some service vendors, including Limble, Carrier, Accruent, Johnson Controls and Automated Logic, took the stage at the expo’s learning lab to talk to facility managers about best practices for implementing building management systems, improving maintenance through computerized maintenance management systems and improving energy efficiency through operational shifts.
Others used the expo to inform attendees of trends they’re seeing. The Communications Cable & Connectivity Association, for example, warned facilities managers of the dangers of fraudulent manufacturers who sell products for cheap and might put their operations at risk.
Sessions over the course of the conference this week will cover ADA compliance, safety and security issues, merging maintenance and energy efficiency goals and overcoming staffing hurdles, among dozens of others.
The event concludes on Thursday.
