"AI helps technicians to be technicians again"

In its tenth year of operation, Apleona is set to reach a new turnover milestone. CEO Jochen Keysberg anticipates additional contracts through outsourcing, but is also planning acquisitions. Internally, the service provider aims to boost its efficiency through a user interface based on artificial intelligence (AI).

Apleona’s total turnover this year is expected to be around 5 billion euros. This is driven not only by organic growth but also by strong inorganic growth, as CEO Jochen Keysberg reported during a visit to the editorial office of the Immobilien Zeitung. Since 2022, the facility manager has acquired 20 companies across Europe. These included, for example, the German service provider Gegenbauer, as well as the recently acquired Danish company Andersen & Heegaard. Keysberg announced that further acquisitions are set to follow soon. “The pipeline is well-stocked.”

“Organic growth will continue to be the ‘key driver’ in future; the M&A pipeline is also well-stocked”

In 2025, Apleona’s total turnover stood at 4.3 billion euros, with turnover in Germany at 3.2 billion euros, according to the latest Lünendonk list. The company has thus experienced remarkable growth in the decade since it emerged from Bilfinger’s facility services division. The 2017 Lünendonk list still puts total turnover for 2016 at €2.2 billion. Turnover in Germany stood at €1.4 billion in the same year. However, this figure still includes the turnover of Bilfinger Hochbau. This division was sold to Implenia in spring 2017. The total turnover also includes the contribution from the consultancy firm GVA, which was sold to Avison Young in 2018.

Strong growth set to continue

According to Keysberg, the fact that turnover has risen so rapidly is largely down to strong organic growth. And this is set to remain the “key driver” in future, the CEO emphasises. He sees great potential for this in the industrial sector. “I have no doubt that there will be further outsourcing.” Family-run businesses in particular have often refrained from this in the past. However, many clients have not retained in-house services and staff based on strategic criteria.

“I have no doubt that there will be further outsourcing in the industrial sector”

Rather, the current distribution of responsibilities is, in many cases, historically rooted. For example, companies have in some instances outsourced the management of newly built facilities because they did not wish to take on additional staff for this purpose. Alongside these, however, there are often older buildings that are still managed by the client’s own staff. Sometimes tasks are outsourced simply because the employees previously responsible for them are retiring, explains Keysberg. However, when Apleona takes over services, staff often move from the client to the service provider. At the same time, due to the difficult situation facing many industrial companies, the days when employees left Apleona to work for a client for a higher salary are over.

The economic climate does not worry the CEO

Apleona’s business is fairly “resilient” in the face of the weak economic climate, emphasises Keysberg. The service provider does, however, also manage individual plants belonging to manufacturing companies that have announced plans to make staff redundancies. “If a plant were to close, that would affect us. But that hasn’t happened yet.” As a rule, at most there is a change of use. And: “Any kind of change of use leads to additional tasks for us.” This is because, for example, smaller facilities need to be converted. “Change isn’t a bad thing.”

“Apleona’s business is fairly resilient in the face of the weak economy; change isn’t a bad thing, because any kind of repurposing leads to additional tasks for us”

The crucial point is that Apleona does not cross a certain line. “We do not provide industrial services.” The service provider therefore does not deal directly with production facilities, but only with the buildings and their surroundings. Keysberg explains that the “scope of work” is independent of the number of shifts worked in a production hall. “The building envelope has the same maintenance requirements.” The situation in the office sector was similar during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The offices were empty, but routine maintenance was still carried out. That’s why it didn’t lead to any substantial slumps.”

However, many clients are now considering what savings they can achieve through the use of technology. This relates to their core business, but also to corporate real estate management. And those in charge there, in turn, are turning to service providers. With regard to artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalisation, however, Keysberg believes Apleona is well positioned. By 2027, the service provider aims to introduce a standardised AI interface across the group. Among other things, this interface is intended to enable the operation of programmes for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM). This solution is designed particularly for staff who rarely work with the relevant software solutions, and is intended to make them easier to use.

Unified AI interface simplifies day-to-day work

The AI will have access to a large proportion of the knowledge gathered at Apleona. This includes, for example, statistics on equipment failures, technical manuals and prices for specific services. The aim is to simplify and, at the same time, improve the process of creating reports. To this end, the AI checks details, makes suggestions and highlights potential errors. In addition, the aim is to make it easier for technicians to draw up quotations. The idea is that this will allow staff to focus more on their core areas of responsibility. “At our company, AI isn’t replacing technicians; rather, it’s helping them to be technicians again,” emphasises Keysberg.

“In-house expertise plays a central role, because quality and efficiency can only be improved if as many tasks as possible within digitised processes are carried out by our own staff”

There are two main prerequisites for the use of the AI workspace. The first is ‘high system integration’. The long-term aim is therefore for the same systems to be used across the entire group, on a cross-border basis, for tasks in areas such as ERP and CAFM. Partly due to corporate acquisitions, Apleona still uses a range of very different programmes in some areas.

According to Keysberg, the second key prerequisite for the comprehensive deployment of the work interface is a robust and reliable database that the AI can access. Once again, acquisitions and the issue of in-house delivery play a central role. This is because when as many tasks as possible are carried out by in-house staff using digitalised processes, this enhances quality and efficiency. Only in this way can it be reliably traced where data originates from and how it has been handled. “If you have a subcontractor who still uses paper forms, you don’t have that efficiency,” says the CEO.

Clients too passive on decarbonisation

Apleona has, for example, compiled extensive information on the CO₂ emissions of the properties it manages. These include more than 100 office buildings. Based on the benchmarks of the Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM) and the associated climate pathway, more than 30 per cent will be classified as stranded assets by 2025. Unless countermeasures are taken – which, according to Keysberg, is happening only to a limited extent – more than 50 per cent of properties are likely to be classified as stranded assets by 2028.

“By 2028, more than 50 per cent of properties are likely to be classified as stranded assets”

According to the CEO, many clients have also done little so far with regard to another issue. Whilst the Kritis Framework Act and the requirements it imposes on certain critical infrastructure companies offer potential for the FM sector in principle, Keysberg expects changes to take place only slowly. “Additional tasks will be added to the contracts. However, we won’t see a jump in turnover next year.”

The article appeared as published in August 2026 in the Immobilienzeitung (issue IZ 34/2026), edited by Florian Hartmüller