MIDDLE EAST an employer of choice ,” explains Manzoor . “ The company ’ s reputation greatly helps to attract and retain the very best talent and expertise in the region .
“ The company ’ s work culture has also been key ,” he continues . “ We ’ ve created a progressive , forwardthinking environment where there ’ s no such thing as a bad idea , because even if someone has an idea which isn ’ t that great , you can challenge each other , and have discussions which could inspire someone else .”
Heading up the Building Technologies Division ’ s operations in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain , Manzoor believes that the Middle East is a particularly promising region for innovation and technology .
“ I wouldn ’ t say the market is changing fast , I would say it ’ s disrupting fast ,” he observes . “ If you look at the demographics , the region is unique because of its young , tech-savvy population and high social media penetration . Therefore , it complements our digital offering and smart city business .”
As more and more technologies enter the fray , Siemens Building Technologies has kept pace , if not led the way , when it comes to digital disruption .
“ I like to think that buildings can talk , we just need to listen ,” explains Manzoor .
“ Just like human beings or robots , buildings can talk . We just need to open our ears and listen to them . This is what we do in Building Technologies . We see the data they generate , run analytics on this , and can better predict what ’ s going to happen in the future .
“ So , for instance , we ’ ve been tapping into artificial intelligence to see how buildings can learn from the occupancy patterns of rooms ,” he notes . “ By using sensors , you can see which rooms are being occupied every day and which are not . Then , using artificial intelligence we can predict when it will be occupied in the future and you can adapt the air conditioning , for instance , to suit this . You can also make the building owners more aware which rooms and spaces they can free up and reuse across their portfolio .
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