The control systems we use in commercial buildings today have evolved over the last 30 years to provide systems that are cost effective, and provide good performance. Beginning in the 1980s, building control technology transitioned from pneumatics to direct digital control. The transition was motivated by the low cost of digital control technology, better comfort control, ease of programming, increased accuracy and reliability, reduced energy costs, reduced maintenance requirements, and actionable building data. This has resulted in innovation, including a major shift to the use of open standard protocols, such as BACnet, web pages for user interface, and more network-based controllers. Today, we have a well-understood controls architecture that is supported by a small group of established, high-quality suppliers. But, at the same time in which we have seen steady progress in building controls, the world of computing and information technology has made quantum leaps. Think of some of the tools we rely on every day, such as Google Search (1998), smartphones (2007), smart thermostats and the Internet of Things (IoT) (2011), and digital assistants (2014). Today, this innovation continues at record speed with major innovations occurring in areas including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and machine learning. As these new technologies continue to evolve and become easier and more economical to implement, it’s becoming clear that it’s time for the industry to move to the “next generation” of building controls. This article will cover the basics of why this change is needed and examine some of the key technologies anticipated to appear in the next few years.