AI will design the office of the future because it can weigh hundreds of millions of details at once: parameters, colours, shapes, textures and climate considerations. In an interview with Worklife, I explain why design is still mostly human only because designers are protecting their jobs. One company that redesigned its office using usage data saw voluntary attendance rise 200%.
In a recent interview I had with Worklife, I shared how AI will design the office of the future. This AI influence has already begun but the majority of design today is still done by humans because designers are desperately holding on to their jobs. If they allow AI to take over the art of design, then what jobs will designers, painters, artisans, and other creative people have in the future? Change is coming but many people don’t want it to happen in their life time.
Here is the link to my interview. I hope you enjoy it!
Here is a short abstract to pique your interest…
Why will AI design the office of the future?
Thomas F. Anglero, former CTO and innovation officer at IT services and consulting firm Cognizant and an authority on AI, stresses that the true power of AI-enabled design tech, as with AI’s benefit in general, lies in its ability to simultaneously process hundreds of millions of different details, including parameters, colors, shapes, textures and climate considerations, far beyond human capabilities.
The shift toward data-informed office design comes at a critical moment, as HR departments contend with hybrid work arrangements and the wider adoption of RTO mandates. How to get employees to fall in love with the office again is a persistent problem to which AI could hold the answer. Deng reports that when his company redesigned its own office based on usage data, it notched a 200% increase in voluntary office attendance.
Frequently asked questions
Why will AI design the office of the future?
Because it can weigh hundreds of millions of details at once, parameters, colours, shapes, textures and climate considerations, far beyond what a human designer can hold in mind. That capacity to optimise across every variable simultaneously is what makes AI suited to designing space.
If AI can design offices, why is most design still done by humans?
Largely because designers are protecting their profession. The technology is already capable, but widespread adoption threatens the work of designers, artists and artisans, so the shift is being slowed by people who do not want it to arrive in their working lifetime.
Does data-driven office design actually change employee behaviour?
Yes. When one company redesigned its office based on usage data rather than assumption, voluntary office attendance rose by 200%. In an era of hybrid work and return-to-office mandates, designing space around how people actually use it is a real answer to a persistent problem.
What can AI-driven design consider that human design cannot?
It can process parameters, colour, shape, texture and climate together, in combinations too numerous for a person to weigh at once. Human designers work from experience and intuition; AI works from the full space of possibilities measured against real usage data.
Thomas Anglero is a Strategic AI Advisor, keynote speaker and author of Intro to Artificial Intelligence. He has delivered over 450 keynotes across 30 countries for organisations including IBM, the WHO, the World Government Summit and the European Commission. He founded the IBM Watson AI Lab for Cancer at the Oslo Cancer Cluster and closed over $500 million in enterprise transformation deals as CTO and Chief Innovation Officer at Cognizant.