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ABM, a provider of facility, engineering, and infrastructure solutions, has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2026. This distinction for a facilities services company underscores ABM’s industry-leading shift toward data-driven, technology-enabled operations.

The annual list recognizes companies that are redefining industries through bold innovation and measurable impact, spanning more than 600 organizations globally.

ABM’s recognition reflects its approach to innovation, highlighted by ABM Connect, the company’s data intelligence platform that gives clients a real-time, unified view of facility performance and operations.

“This recognition reflects a fundamental shift in how our industry needs to operate, and how ABM is forging the path forward,” says Scott Salmirs, President and CEO of ABM. “For more than a century, facilities services have largely been reactive. With ABM Connect, we’re turning buildings into intelligent, data-driven environments, helping clients improve uptime, reduce costs, and deliver better experiences.”

Turning Buildings into Intelligent Ecosystems

At a time when facility leaders are managing increasingly complex environments without unified data or real-time visibility, ABM Connect provides a single, actionable view of operations, bringing together performance, service delivery, and financial insights in one place.

The platform integrates artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and operational data into a centralized dashboard, creating a “single source of truth” for building performance, enabling:

  • Predictive maintenance that identifies equipment issues before failure, improving uptime and reducing costs
  • Real-time operational visibility across facilities, services, and financial performance
  • Intelligent workforce deployment, dynamically routing frontline teams based on live demand
  • Enhanced client transparency, transforming service delivery into a collaborative, data-driven partnership


In high-demand environments like airports, ABM Connect is already reshaping operations. For example, at LaGuardia International Airport’s Terminal B, the platform uses live flight data and sensor inputs to anticipate passenger flow, deploy teams proactively, and maintain consistently high service levels across critical spaces.

Elevating an Entire Industry

ABM’s recognition by Fast Company signals a broader inflection point for one of the world’s largest yet historically labor-intensive industries.

By digitizing workflows, empowering more than 100,000 frontline team members with mobile technology, and embedding intelligence into everyday operations, facilities management moves from:

  • Reactive to Predictive
  • Manual to Automated
  • Fragmented to Integrated
  • Transactional to Strategic


“ABM Connect brings together data that has traditionally lived in silos and turns it into real-time, actionable intelligence,” says Melanie Kirkwood Ruiz, Chief Information Officer, ABM. “This shift from fragmented data to a unified platform is what enables predictive, data-driven operations at scale.”

This innovation is delivering measurable results in real-time across industries:

  • 99.9 percent equipment uptime achieved for advanced manufacturing clients through predictive maintenance
  • Significant energy reductions, including a 74 percent decrease in energy consumption in optimized facilities
  • Improved service outcomes and transparency, strengthening long-term client partnerships
  • Broad adoption across industry segments, from airports and sports stadiums to large office towers to manufacturing plants


Beyond operational performance, innovations are also helping address broader challenges—from sustainability and energy efficiency to public health and workforce empowerment—demonstrating how facilities play a critical role in building more resilient communities.