How Office Designers Are Preparing for an AI-Driven Future

When AI started dominating workplace conversations a few years ago, the prevailing fear was that it would accelerate the decline of office demand. If AI could automate knowledge work and make employees more productive working from anywhere, the logic went, companies would need less space and fewer reasons to bring people together. The office seemed destined to become even more optional than the pandemic had already made it.

That narrative is proving wrong. Recent research from Gensler found that employees who qualify as AI Power Users actually spend less time working alone and report having stronger team relationships than their peers. Thirty percent of employees now fall into this category, and they’re the ones most embedded in collaborative workflows. AI isn’t eliminating the need for offices. It’s changing what offices need to provide.