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When it comes to AI workplace planning, modern tools can be invaluable for predicting space needs, flagging underutilized areas, optimizing layouts, and even supporting lease decisions.
The problem is that these tools are only as useful as the data behind them, and, unfortunately, many organizations aren’t quite there yet. As a matter of fact, 65% of business leaders say they already use AI for their facility operations, and that number is likely to grow. However, “data quality and integration issues” are their biggest barriers, according to Johnson Controls.
With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at what AI can realistically do for your workplace, where the data gap shows up, and how flexible office furnishings can help your organization act on insights while remaining flexible.
Key Takeaways:
Far too often, an organization’s plan for workspace utilization and reality don’t quite add up. That’s where AI comes in. It helps you by analyzing how people actually use the workplace in real time. Occupancy, booking, and attendance data become insights that help you guide layout, capacity, and investment decisions.
Modern AI tools paint a clear picture of office space utilization by analyzing various inputs like badge swipes, room bookings, and occupancy sensors. Your teams then gain a better understanding of how your employees actually engage with your space. Facility managers can identify areas that are underused and make informed decisions about updates and reconfigurations.
AI also supports predictive maintenance, helping your organization address issues before they become disruptions. Additionally, forecast tools can help you estimate future space needs.
It even supports layout testing. Certain AI tools can run virtual scenarios against real data to simulate and recommend configurations that reduce wasted square footage.
As Brian Haines, senior director of strategy for OpenBlue at Johnson Controls puts it, “We are on the cusp of a space planning revolution.”
Natural language tools now let even non-analysts interact with complex data across millions of square feet in a more intuitive way. While AI can offer any organization predictive insights to guide space planning, resources allocation, and workplace design, it requires the right foundation.
The problem for many organizations isn’t access to AI tools. In many cases, their data is patchy, siloed, or tracked manually. Research even suggests that nearly one in four business leaders either track attendance manually, which leaves plenty of room for error, or worse, they don’t track it at all.
Around 79% of business leaders say that AI is essential to their organization’s future, but only 14% say their data is mature enough to support AI at scale, and a whopping 76% say their data management can’t keep up.
“Data readiness” simply means having a consistent way to track occupancy and at least a few months of reliable historical data on hand.
Office space is typically measured using a mix of occupancy sensors, badge data, and room booking systems to track how often spaces are used, when they’re used, and by how many people. Even starting with something simple, like monitoring meeting room reservations and attendance patterns, can provide you with a good starting point.
Typical formulas and metrics include:
Unfortunately, too many organizations are relying on out-dated, pre-pandemic norms, fixed schedules, and static layouts that no longer reflect the current world of work.
Your first goal shouldn’t be perfect data. Instead, set up the physical environment so that you can start learning and adjusting ASAP without making costly mistakes.
As soon as insights surface, you want to be able to act on them quickly without making a permanent commitment. AI tools may tell you that a specific area is always empty on Tuesdays. Your team needs to find a way to experiment with the change required to meet that need. This is where flexible office furniture plays a critical role in creating a new office utilization strategy.
Flexible setups allow your teams to pilot new configurations, observe how employees respond, and make adjustments based on real usage patterns. Rather than creating a new permanent layout, your organization can adopt a “test and learn” approach that evolves alongside your data.
Office furniture rental makes this even more practical. Rather than investing in fixed assets based on incomplete information, you can scale, swap, or reconfigure your furniture as often as your needs change, reducing risk before you have access to reliable data.
This is exactly what CORT’s Furniture-as-a-Service model is built for — providing your workplace teams with the speed to respond to what the data is telling them, even early on.
As a practical first step, consider picking one zone, tracking basic usage with booking and badge data, and letting what you learn shape your next decision. Over time, those incremental adjustments can build a clearer, more accurate picture of how your space can function.
Furniture-as-a-Service supports this approach by providing your organization with access to flexible, scalable furnishing solutions without the burden of large upfront investments for whatever length of time you need them.Your workplace doesn’t need perfect data to start moving smarter. Explore how CORT’s Furniture-as-a-Service model helps you furnish flexibly and adapt as your space picture comes into focus. Visit cort.com today.
