The use of AI to fuel business creativity, insight and productivity will be transformative in the next few years. But the way we harness its power is increasingly a human problem we need to solve.
Many companies are still in planning mode when it comes to Artificial Intelligence. According to McKinsey, 62% of businesses remain stuck in the experimentation and piloting cycles of their AI journey. They’re still figuring out how to integrate new software platforms into their daily routines, workflows, and business models.
Investing in software and digital infrastructure is one thing. But there’s a dawning realisation that workplaces will need to change physically, too, as AI reshapes not just what we do - but how we do it.
So, why the need to redesign? Is it because real estate will be scaled back as fewer humans are involved?
Actually, no.
The data suggests the opposite. AI is more likely to create new jobs in the knowledge economy, rather than eliminating existing ones.
What's emerging from the data and research, is that the knowledge workers of the future will need to collaborate much more closely with AI to realise its potential.
“In the next stage of AI development, people and machines will come together in a state of superagency to increase personal productivity and creativity.”
But a working world dominated by co-operative AI tools will bring a number of practical and psychological challenges to the workforce.
While AI promises to expand our capabilities, the way we integrate these tools into our work routines must ultimately be shaped by considerations around human needs, behaviour and wellbeing.
Here are four ways we need to mould the office to support humans in an AI dominated world.
Perceptive AI systems equipped with cameras, microphones, and other sensors will become central to how we arrange our working lives.
These tools will record our interactions and manage our environments in real time in different ways - and many already are.
But our offices are typically not set up to help these tools manage our working days as effectively as they might.
Never mind occupancy sensors that can control our environments - right now, research says that fewer than 15% of our meeting rooms are video-enabled.
We need still need cameras that track participants movements. We need meetings rooms where lighting, acoustics and furniture can all work together to make our 'phygital collaboration' more effective.
Ocular™ digital hybrid solutions from Steelcase
The Ocular Coupe 5 table supports evaluative collaboration, suggesting where people can sit so everyone is eye-to-eye, whether in person or remote.
To support the continued advance of perceptive AI, organisations will need a variety of environments where people can interact with AI co-pilots, both individually and collectively.
The speed at which new AI capabilities emerge demands constant learning.
Businesses and employees are already struggling to keep pace:
The challenge is no longer just adopting AI - it’s turning our workplaces into places ripe for active learning that will keep companies competitive in a changing digital landscape.
We need to build workspaces where different generations at different levels of AI maturity can learn together.
This requires flexible spaces that can shift easily between structured training and more informal exploration. Furniture that adapts to different modes of analogue and digital learning will help make this possible.
For example, these portable, height-adjustable tables with foldable tops — (the Talent 500 Training Table from ACTIU) allows a room to move quickly from workshop setup to small-group work or individual focus time.
When folded up, they can even function as writable surfaces for sharing ideas.
Talent lifting tables by ACTIU
Meanwhile, mobile easels and wall mountings for screens like those in the Steelcase Roam Collection make it easy to bring digital content into any space, helping teams access shared visuals and remote voices wherever learning takes place.
Steelcase's roam collection works in tandem with the Microsoft Surface Hub
Although AI is intended to ease workloads, data shows that frequent AI use can increase strain:
The HBR reports that heavy AI users experience increased isolation and loneliness, while those switching between AI and non-AI tasks face greater boredom and demotivation.
The psychological toll is clear: AI doesn’t just change tasks; it can also change how people feel at work.
In a future of intensive AI interaction, lounges and rejuvenating enclaves will become as important as the connected spaces that drive AI innovation and execution.
Ensure your people have access to wellness rooms and privacy hubs where they can find moments of peace and reflection throughout the day.
As AI produces more answers, the real advantage lies in the ability to pause and question them - bringing together people with different skills, perspectives, and instincts to weigh in on different projects.
Office layouts shaped through a community-based design approach can help teams build their workspaces more like an urban environment, where individuals and groups naturally mix, cross paths, retreat, and re-engage as needed.
Orangebox’s Campers and Dens system enables this kind of flexible districting. Teams can open up or enclose spaces at will, creating the right environment to observe, discuss, and collaborate in different formations throughout the day.
“If we don’t give people time and space to challenge AI outputs, we risk trading intelligence for automation.”
Steelcase Research
As AI becomes a regular part of daily working life, the office can no longer be just a place to ‘plug in’ to tech. and get on with our day. It needs to become an environment that enables human flourishing and collaboration alongside digital intelligence.
AI is more and more touted as an answer to the challenges and limitations of human productivity - but it's increasingly a human problem we need to solve.
If you're exploring how to reshape your workspace and support your team through digital transformation, we're here to help. Get in touch with us today and help make AI work for your people — not just your processes.