Connecting AI to your CAFM: integration, deployment and legacy systems
Most FM teams will not replace a CAFM to try AI, and they should not have to. This guide explains how an AI back office connects to the systems already in place, what non-invasive should mean in practice, how older and heavily configured platforms are handled, and how a deployment is phased.
Published
The short answer
A non-invasive AI platform connects to the systems an FM operation already runs instead of replacing them. It reads work orders, assets and suppliers from the CAFM, supplier bills and agreed rates from the accounting system, and contractor replies from the mailboxes, then writes the results back into those same systems. TYTEN works this way across 14 live CAFM and field service platforms and 5 live accounting systems. Where a platform's API cannot do something, it works through the mailbox instead. Nothing is migrated, and contractors keep working over email and phone.
Three routes into the systems you already run
| What the AI reads | What it writes back | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The CAFM's API | Work orders, assets, sites, suppliers, statuses and due dates. | New jobs, job sheets and certificates, notes, costs, completion and asset marking. | Planon, through its REST API, after a setup check for each organisation. |
| The accounting system | Supplier bills, purchase orders, contacts and agreed rates. | Validated bills ready for approval, and sales invoices raised against the proven job. | SAP ERP 6.0, through web services the client's SAP team enables. |
| The mailboxes | Contractor replies, job sheets, invoices and compliance documents as they arrive. | Chases, acknowledgements and escalations, sent from the client's own address. | Access Maintain, whose API cannot serve documents back out, so paperwork is collected from email. |
Most deployments use all three. The CAFM stays the system of record, the accounting system stays the ledger, and email stays the way contractors work. The full list of systems is on the integrations page.
What non-invasive should mean in practice
- No migration. The data stays where it is, and the AI connects to it.
- No new logins. Contractors keep emailing job sheets, invoices and compliance documents, or answering the phone. Your team keeps working in the system it already uses.
- Results land where your team already looks. Jobs, documents, notes and costs are written into the CAFM, not exported in a report someone has to re-key.
- Access is the client's to give. Every integration depends on the client's permissions, configuration and the access methods each platform offers.
- It can be stopped. New workflows start in review mode, and any workflow can be paused at any time.
- Each client's data is kept separate. Security details are in the Trust Center.
Legacy systems: the technical challenges, and how each is handled
Older platforms and heavily configured ones raise the same handful of problems. None of them needs a replacement system; each needs a deliberate answer.
The API cannot do everything
Some platforms have no usable API, or one that cannot return documents. The mailbox covers the gap, because that is how contractors send job sheets and invoices anyway. On Access Maintain, TYTEN raises callouts and files notes and attachments through the API, and collects the paperwork from email.
Every setup is configured differently
Two companies on the same CAFM rarely share statuses, document types or workflows. On Planon, onboarding starts by checking the client's published work orders, statuses and document types against what TYTEN will use, before anything is written back.
Duplicates in a live system
An AI that writes into a live system must not create the same record twice. On SAP, the system runs its own checks first and the same bill is not posted twice. On Facilio, documents already in the CAFM are not chased again.
Accounting codes and approval rules
Finance systems carry company codes, tax codes and rules about whether a bill is parked or posted. These are confirmed at onboarding. Each bill is matched against the work order and the agreed rate before anything reaches the ledger.
Evidence for an audit
Every decision is logged with its reasoning: what was processed, what was extracted, and why anything was rejected or held. When a bill or a compliance check is questioned, the answer is one lookup.
A system that is not on the list
Integration is client-driven: new platforms get built because a client runs one. Facilio, Planon, Access Maintain and SAP ERP 6.0 are newly integrated, ahead of their first client go-live, and QFM is on the roadmap.
How a deployment is phased
- First module: four weeks is typical on an established platform.
- Review mode first: new workflows start with your team approving every action.
- Then faster: each further module is quicker, because the connection to your systems is already proven.
- Commercial terms: priced per job, by area, with a one-month break clause.
- Changing CAFM? There is no need to wait. TYTEN works with your current system and moves with you.
Questions to ask any vendor about integration
- Is the integration two-way, and which records does it write back?
- Which systems are live in production today, not on a roadmap?
- What happens when the platform's API cannot do something?
- How does it avoid creating duplicates in a live system?
- Who issues the access, and what does it need?
- Can it be paused, and can your team approve actions before they go live?
- Do your contractors or your team need a new login?
- What happens if you change CAFM?
For the wider evaluation, including results and commercial terms, see AI in facilities management, and for how this differs from the AI built into a CAFM, TYTEN vs your CAFM's built-in AI.