Digital twin technology, which enables the creation of virtual replicas of physical structures and systems for uses such as automated building management and city-wide modeling, has seen growing adoption in recent years. One example of this trend is Willow Technology, which began working with Microsoft in 2022 to explore sustainability applications – a collaboration that deepened when Bert Van Hoof, a 20-year Microsoft veteran, joined Willow and was named chief executive officer in January 2025.
The company uses artificial intelligence in its software to get more out of what has already been built. However, their use of the technology is broader and more complex than using the large language models that have caught so much attention.
“The AI topic is broad; it’s not new,” Van Hoof told GlobeSt.com. Developments date back to the late 1950s and include expert systems, rule-based controls, machine learning, deep machine learning, neural networks, and more.
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Van Hoof sees the approach Willow has taken to focus on “generational challenges,” like sustainability, digitalization, a growing number of Internet of Things, and operational technology solutions that need integration. Building owners and managers need to address vastly different issues like cybersecurity and hybrid work. “It requires flexibility, not just crude demand,” he said.
Willow includes what Van Hoof calls spatial, static and live data. Static data can be anything from entire building layouts, single line diagrams for electrical, plumbing, HVAC and even warranty records. “You model all of this out, but you have all of these artifacts associated,” he said. Models are useful, but having all the associated data available is also important.
All the information is important to be able to connect data, correlations among different systems and understand dependencies. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is one of their customers. It started with the HVAC system in one part of the airport and then expanded from there. Even the passenger boarding bridges have become part of the project, because they effectively act like buildings.
“The planes basically go to the apron and connect to the bridge, then plug in when that’s available,” Van Hoof said. “That has a big impact on energy consumption.” When there isn’t an electrical connection, the planes have to burn fuel to run their auxiliary power, which increases flight costs. When the bridges do have the proper electrical connections, then there’s a sudden increase in the airport’s power utilization.
Sustainability also means improving worker efficiency and satisfaction. “We did a lot of work with air quality monitoring as well,” Van Hoof said. “People go home with a headache, and they think they had a bad day, but it could be the building doing it to you.” There might be something wrong in a building, or it might be just not enough air is being pushed through part of the building by the HVAC system.
Such complex considerations are where AI can be helpful. “You’re bringing the data through all these systems, you put it in the knowledge graph, and overlay AI,” he says. “It turns out you can reason over all that stuff and put numbers on it.”
Automation will also be necessary for the sustainability of an aging and retiring workforce. He quoted numbers from a study that 68% of all technicians are older than 45 and 25% are above retirement age. If that knowledge of and insight into a particular building’s systems disappears, it will be hard and expensive to recreate it.
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