The massive player in commercial real estate is embracing new business models based on "as a service, " including software, enabled by a cloud and data transformation optimized for AI. Despite a potential decrease in occupancy of city skyscrapers and office parks in the post-pandemic work era, JLL's business remains robust. The Chicago-based company, one of the world's largest in commercial real estate, has made substantial investments in developing its own facilities management and sustainability software and services specifically targeting high-growth sectors such as cloud data centers, e-commerce warehouses, and even fast-food chains like Wendy's, with the goal of sustaining its $20 billion empire. JLL offers facilities management services to numerous cloud and data center operators and has recently launched Carbon Pathfinder, an AI-powered sustainability software planning tool that can be purchased as SaaS or as part of a suite with professional services. Both AI and sustainability are key differentiators for JLL, according to its CTO Yao Morin, who emphasizes the company's technological edge over its competitors in the commercial real estate industry. Morin highlights JLL's ability to understand the required investments, regulations, and strategies for building sustainability, owing to their AI technology and data. In addition to their leasing and selling brokerage services, JLL's technology services arm has developed tools for financial reporting, energy usage, and HVAC compliance. With approximately 1, 000 IT employees dedicated to technology services, and around 2, 000 to 3, 000 total employees involved in developing, selling, or servicing JLL's software, the company maintains a highly diversified portfolio. JLL's expansion into facilities management software is part of a broader business model that has allowed the company to thrive even in challenging times. Morin employs a hybrid strategy for software development, combining in-house development with partnerships with other SaaS vendors. The foundation of JLL's transformation into a technology provider is its cloud infrastructure, built on AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure, as well as Snowflake for data storage, and Azure AI and Databricks for AI models.

Morin believes that AI's ongoing evolution presents JLL with greater opportunities to serve existing customers and attract new ones. JLL has primarily developed traditional AI models using structured, cleaned data in tabular format. However, Morin recognizes the game-changing potential of generative AI and large language models (LLMs), as they allow JLL to incorporate diverse types of data, including unstructured data from legal documents in multiple languages. Generative AI and LLMs not only save developers' time but also broaden JLL's capabilities by extracting information directly from leases and contracts. Although JLL is still in the early stages of utilizing generative AI and LLMs, the company has established guidelines to safeguard client data and define its permissible use. Despite the negative impact of remote working on JLL's business, the company continues to adapt and find new prospects. To counteract the decrease in physical occupancy, JLL has focused on commercial segments experiencing high growth, such as cloud and data center operators, and has expanded its facilities management services. Outsourcing facilities management remains popular, given the uncertain workplace environment, with JLL serving clients like Google and Facebook. Analysts observe that the commercial real estate industry is adapting its business models to meet post-pandemic demands and embrace emerging technologies. JLL, in particular, has incorporated more "as-a-service" offerings and is exploring facilities management software. The shift in the capital markets from tangible to intangible assets has prompted JLL's diversification into intangibles to meet these evolving needs.