The Future of the Workplace Requires a Total RethinkThe Future of the Workplace Requires a Total Rethink

Two absolute truths about the communications technology space are: 1. Technology always evolves, and 2. AI is potentially so transformative that nobody really understands either AI or its possible transformative developments. Both are rich topics for endless discussion, but in terms of the workplace, both will have specific forms of impact. There is little doubt that the future of the workplace will be technology-driven, meaning that workplace evolution will mirror how technologies change.

For AI, we may not yet understand its impact, but barring a major course reversal, it will be substantial. In short, if you are not thinking about AI, then you’re not really thinking about the future of the workplace. So, how should business leaders – and technology leaders – be approaching workplace evolution?

Rethinking Everything About Work

Until recent times, work was a pretty static concept. Worker’s jobs were well-defined, most people worked in a physical workspace under one roof, and there was a clear delineation between work and home life. All of that sounds quaint today, and the pandemic made sure there was no going back.

The rise of remote work during the pandemic – at least for knowledge workers – would not have been possible without UCaaS, and it has become the hub of the modern workplace ever since. Similarly, the pandemic tested the viability of the cloud in every way possible, and now SaaS has replaced most forms of hardware.

These technology shifts have impacted every aspect of work – where work gets done, who does the work, how work gets done, and the very nature of work itself. All of this is embodied in the Work from Anywhere mantra (WFA), where workers increasingly drive the agenda, not management.

Again, this is technology-driven, as workers can access most of the tools needed for their jobs from the cloud, along with their smartphones that enable mobile work. Conversely, IT is no longer the gatekeeper of technology, and that gives rise to a host of new challenges around data management and security.

With WFA fully entrenched, hybrid work has become the new normal. Businesses have been trying to strike the right balance coming out of the pandemic, but few are succeeding. Not surprisingly, we have seen the pendulum swing both ways, both for bringing workers fully back to the office, and shifting entirely to being remote. Both have major implications across the board – driving productivity, maintaining culture, employee engagement, real estate needs, and creating the right kind of workspaces that will bring workers back.

Technology has made these messy conditions possible; constant evolution also means that new technologies can help set the right balance for hybrid work. The starting point for technology vendors is being ready to let go of conventional wisdom about work and workspaces. Consider home-based workers, especially those whose spaces aren’t conducive to having a dedicated office. They’ll need more than the consumer-grade tools for recreational use, especially for audio and video communications.

Hybrid workers will be using mobile phones for home and work, so they may need e-SIM cards to create separate personas and line appearances for each. They should have applications that enable meeting equity so they feel on par with their colleagues in the office – there’s one use for AI in the modern workplace. They also need smart applications to help them manage work/life balance, and to encourage breaks when spending too much time on screen.

For office workers, technology is central to creating workspaces that are better than what workers have at home: meeting rooms with top-line video tools, and smart office features like room booking systems, biometric ID and sensors to monitor temperature, air quality, etc.

The spaces themselves are a key part of the story, as they need to adapt to the way people work today. With hybrid work, employees need to come to the office with purpose beyond working they way they would at home. This generally means doing more collaborative forms of working – as well as having quiet spaces for deep work. The layout of the office and mix of furnishings needs to reflect this, meaning that office spaces need to be part of this rethink.

Overall, the key here is to have the right mix of technologies – both cloud-based and AI – to enable enterprises to support both home and office settings. Each has its attractions, and technology plays a key role in making each environment conducive to doing quality work. With technology constantly evolving, business leaders need to closely follow vendor offerings, as new features will keep coming.

Getting It Right with Technology

This may seem rhetorical to ask, but with so much of AI’s potential unknown, both IT and business leaders have important decisions to make here. Most businesses deploy AI to drive automation and lower costs, but the workplace of the future calls for more nuance.

In theory, AI can bring new forms of automation, and all businesses want that. However, they must be able to trust the outputs, and to date, the trust factor with AI is far from being 100%. Actually, we don’t need AI to be 100%, but AI requires a lot of training and testing to the point that automation can be trusted without constant human supervision.

Cost reduction is another key driver, but the results need to be realistic. Short of a major headcount reduction, cost savings will likely be modest, and perhaps not enough to fully justify the ROI. Setting expectations here is important, as enterprises are spending a lot on AI, but getting questionable value in return.

In terms of getting it right, the thinking here should be about getting cost savings from AI through operational efficiencies – driven by automation – rather than simple cutting of payroll. What savings come from that approach will be more than offset by lost goodwill, morale, etc. from workers feeling threatened by AI.

Related to that is security and privacy. AI’s impact on the future of the workplace rests largely on both the quality and quantity of data enterprises can provide it to train its models and analytical tools. Thanks to both the cloud and AI, enterprises have never been able to harness all the data that’s around them in the workplace. While this can yield powerful insights to make everything about the business better, these same tools can be used to constantly surveil workers, and possibly compromise their privacy.

In this regard, AI is still in its Wild West phase, and a comprehensive regulatory framework in the US is likely years away. Both enterprises and vendors are developing responsible AI frameworks, but the Big Tech vendors behind AI operate with few guardrails. As such, business and IT leaders need a balanced view when deploying AI for the workplace.

Jon Arnold will be a panelist at the Enterprise Connect 2025 general session, “Have We Arrived At The Future Of The Workplace Yet?” on Thursday, March 20, at 10 a.m. in the Osceola B room. You can read more about the session here, or register to attend Enterprise Connect 2025 here.