Foundations, Not Fireworks: Where the Cleaning Industry Really Is with AI

At this year’s Manchester Cleaning Show, one thing became clear: the cleaning industry is no longer just curious about AI. It’s ready to move.

When the industry panel Ceris spoke on, discussing ‘AI in the Cleaning Sector’, filled to standing-room only, it said everything about how far the conversation has come. The energy in the room wasn’t about robots, autonomous machines, or futuristic tech. It was about something far more immediate – how to use the basic AI tools already available to create real, measurable value.

And yet, when we looked closer, the reality was sobering.

The Industry Is Interested – But Underprepared

At the show, senior leaders completed our AI Readiness Scorecard. It was a small sample, but the patterns were consistent:

* Nearly two-thirds have no formal AI policy.
* The same proportion have no proper AI training.
* 70% say their data isn’t organised in a way that allows AI to work effectively.
* 70% are not tracking time savings or ROI from the AI tools they’re already using.

Only around 12% are confidently building and implementing AI across their business. About a quarter are experimenting – but inconsistently. The majority, roughly 60%, are still at the awareness stage: engaged, interested, but without foundations in place.

Perhaps the most telling insight? When multiple people from the same company completed the scorecard, they often scored their own organisation very differently. Same company. Completely different perceptions. That’s not confusion, that’s siloed adoption.

AI is happening in pockets – one enthusiastic manager here, one curious department there – rather than as a coordinated, company-wide shift. Leadership often assumes more is happening than actually is. Or sometimes less. Either way, it highlights the same issue: AI cannot be a department project. It has to be a company conversation.

Most Companies Are Using 30% of what AI Can Do

Many cleaning businesses already have access to powerful AI tools. But most are only getting a fraction of their potential value.

Why? Because they’ve never been properly taught how to prompt. They have the tool. They just don’t know how to talk to it. Without structured training, teams default to surface-level use: quick rewrites, basic emails, occasional social media posts. Useful, yes – but nowhere near transformational.

Switching between AI platforms can feel overwhelming –  even disloyal – because once you invest time in learning how one tool “thinks,” you build a working rhythm with it. But tool choice is not the core issue. Capability is.

The real value lies in practical, repeatable, operational use cases.

The Fastest Win: Transforming Tender Responses

This isn’t about autonomous AI agents or complex automation. In fact, most advanced “autonomous” systems are not yet safe or stable enough for mainstream business use in this sector. The opportunity right now is far more grounded:

* Accelerating tender responses
* Turning site visit notes into professional client-ready reports in minutes
* Reducing repetitive admin that consumes hours every week

None of this requires expensive platforms – it requires clear policies, organised data, strong prompting skills, and genuine leadership buy-in – put simply, the solid foundations.

The Three Non-Negotiables

Before investing in new platforms or chasing the next big AI headline, cleaning businesses should focus on three core steps:

1. Put an AI Policy in Place
This is non-negotiable. Define how AI can and cannot be used. Address data protection, confidentiality, and accountability. Remove ambiguity.

2. Train Properly – Not Superficially
A one-hour webinar isn’t training. Teams need hands-on, role-specific prompting education. They need to know how to structure prompts, refine outputs and assess results critically.

3. Think Company-Wide
Do not silo AI to marketing, HR, or one tech-savvy manager. AI adoption must be visible, discussed, and supported across the organisation.

Then – and only then –  pick one recurring task that consumes time. Master it with AI. Prove the time savings. Measure the impact. Build the case internally. Expand from there.

The Shift from Curiosity to Capability

The cleaning industry’s success with AI won’t be defined by robots on sites or flashy innovation headlines. It will be shaped by companies that embedded AI into their operational DNA and leaders who treated it as a strategic shift, not a side project. The appetite is there. The questions are sharper than ever. The industry is ready.

But the winners won’t be the ones chasing fireworks.