The startup developed Adaptive Building Intelligence (ABI) as an advisory platform, integrating directly with existing Building Management Systems (BMS), heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, and energy meters to analyse operational performance.
Khan explained that analysing months or years of historical operational records helps building managers spot recurring forms of waste that remain invisible during day-to-day operations.
“What interests me is that these things usually don’t look significant when you see them once. They become significant when you see the same behaviour happening again and again. I started wondering whether the operational history of a building could reveal forms of waste that are almost invisible in the moment.
“If you can recognise those patterns, you can potentially improve how the building operates without necessarily adding more infrastructure. I’ve started to think that sustainability isn’t only about using less. It’s about understanding what we’re already using well enough to know where we’re wasting it,” Khan noted.
Khan highlighted Qatar’s Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) as a vital regulatory framework driving market demand for operational efficiency technologies.
“The clearest example I can point to is GSAS. Qatar built its own green building standard rather than simply adopting someone else’s, and for new commercial developments, certification is a requirement rather than a preference. There’s a big difference between a problem people say is important and a problem someone is actually measured against.
“The second one creates real demand. And what’s interesting is that GSAS has since been adopted across the Gulf. So, something that started as a national priority in Qatar has the potential to influence how buildings are assessed beyond Qatar as well,” Khan stated.
To safeguard data privacy, he noted that ARVIS processes all operational data locally on-premises.
“The building has a memory. We just haven’t had a good way of making use of it. The question for me is: what if a building’s past could actually help it make better decisions about its future?” Khan added.
