Bridging People, Place and Technology in the Age of AI
How is AI not just transforming the way we work, but the spaces we work in? Following the Worktech Academy Q3 2025 report release, we sat down and discussed the key takeaways and focus points in the latest panel session at Mastercard.
The built environment is standing at a crossroads. Technology, especially Artificial Intelligence, is evolving faster than our physical spaces can adapt. While lease cycles, legacy systems and human behaviours anchor us to the present, the workplace is rapidly demanding new levels of flexibility, insight and intelligence.
At a recent WORKTECH Academy panel hosted at Mastercard’s Experience Centre, industry leaders explored these tensions as they launched their new Q3 report on Evolving Intelligence: Now, Near and Far Technologies of the Workplace. Representing AIS was Leeson Medhurst, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, who joined the discussion on how organisations can better balance people, place and technology.
“We’re designing spaces with data, but the most complex and fascinating dynamic is still the human being,” Leeson noted. “People are the biggest variable, and the biggest opportunity, when it comes to embracing AI.”
What were Leeson’s key takeaways from the session?
Solving for the now, designing for the next
The immediate challenge for organisations lies in managing today’s hybrid, high-demand workspace. Tuesdays through Thursdays see occupancy peaks, while teams struggle to connect consistently. The space booking apps and AI-assisted demand management are now vital to optimising space use in the moment, while still laying the groundwork for smarter, more adaptive environments in the future.
The successful implementation of data-driven scheduling tools, environmental monitoring and workplace navigation is evident in the NTT DATA Singapore story as they consolidated ten of its offices into three smart, sustainable workplaces focused on wellbeing, innovation and collaboration. Allowing for live insights into occupancy, air quality and energy use, supported making informed decisions and resulted in removing 90% of legacy on-premises equipment and cutting hosting costs by over 30%. (Worktech Academy Q3 2025 Report)
But data alone isn’t enough. Many organisations face fragmented insights from disparate systems. The real value of AI lies in joining these streams into a single source of truth, providing clarity, not just more information.
People at the core of intelligence
Technology may accelerate, but people determine its success. A billion workers worldwide will need to upskill in the next decade as AI reshapes roles and routines (The Future of Jobs Report 2025: The World Economic Forum’s 2025 report). The workplace must evolve not just physically, but behaviourally, designing with people, not just for them.
“One-size-fits-all? Not even one-size-fits-one. Why come into the office if the space doesn’t uplift or support you?” Arjun Kaicker, co-head of Zaha Hadid Analytics and Insights.
AIS believes that human-centred design must include both skill design and experience design. The goal isn’t frictionless perfection, but intentional challenge, moments that engage rather than automate. As Leeson put it, “If we remove all friction, we risk removing the human. We like a little mess and chaos, it’s what makes work creative.”
The far horizon
Looking to the future, neuroadaptive environments may become the next frontier, spaces that respond dynamically to human emotion, mood and neurodiversity. A move toward screenless, immersive workplaces could redefine interaction altogether, freeing us from constant digital distraction and bringing us back to presence, connection and creativity.
As workplace intelligence evolves, the question isn’t just how we design smarter environments, but how we design more human-oriented ones.
If you haven’t already, the report is well worth a read. It offers a fascinating look at where the future of work, and workplace intelligence might take us next.