See how AI and thermal sensors are transforming office design by providing anonymous, data-driven insights that improve productivity, culture, and energy efficiency.
With about 51% of employees back in the office three to five days per week per JLL, hybrid schedules are embraced by many companies while other employers expect employees to be in the office full-time. Before locking into a set attendance model, it is important to understand how the workforce uses the office when they are in it, especially given shifting occupancy rates during the week. Having actual data based on human actions and interactions in the office can have a significant impact on layout, design and energy efficiency while optimizing employee collaboration and productivity.
Sure, employee surveys offer some of this insight, but they are inherently faulty based on fear of retribution regardless of verbal and written reinforcements of anonymity. Other ways of getting this insight include visually watching employees or tracking keystrokes and which websites are visited. These methods erode trust, productivity and retention of high performing employees. And once again, the data on how the workforce actually uses the office is skewed.
As a result, a lot of office layout and design decisions are still based on assumptions, trends and anecdotes. The wrong decisions can be expensive. According to JLL’s Global Office Fit-Out Cost Guide 2025, fit-out costs are on the rise with the average global office fit-out cost at $1,950/sqm, with regional costs ranging from $850/sqm to $3,200/sqm.
The key drivers behind rising fit-out costs are the focus on high quality workspaces due to increased attention on in-office attendance, the employee’s experience in the office, and building sustainability.
The Role of AI in Interpreting the Office
AI can offer a better understanding of the workforce in the office without compromising privacy.
AI sensors combined with body heat sensing technology can be used to build a foundational model for thermal signals. Essentially, the use of thermal technology depicts humans as a colored blob on the screen. This makes it possible to understand how humans are moving around the office without being able to identify individuals. Along with ensuring anonymity, aggregated data is better for decision making more so than one-off individual employee behaviors.
The types of data that the sensors can interpret tells you far more about the workforce’s sentiments about being in the office than a survey could ever reveal. At the most basic level, you can gain insight into usage, occupancy, foot traffic, frequency and location of impromptu meetings. Going a level deeper, you can also understand how colleagues collaborate and brainstorm as well as perform focused work on their own.
For example, one employer discovered employees were reserving conference rooms for individual focused work. This put unnecessary demands on the heating/cooling systems because they are designed to accommodate a larger group of people using the space as opposed to an individual. This obviously makes it harder for teams to find space to meet when they are in the office. What it can also reveal is that the current layout and design is not conducive to productivity for a certain percentage of the workforce.
Another Fortune 500 company was able to use AI thermal sensors to uncover a trend that occurred on anchor days. The SalesOps team, frequently in virtual meetings, found the office’s dense workstations were ill-suited for prospect conversations and lacked privacy. This became particularly challenging toward the end of the month as they were working toward meeting their sales quotas. To address this, the company tested out private, modular phone booths that could be moved around the office. The booths provide flow, flexibility and privacy while helping the team close more sales.
Aligning the Office with Corporate Culture
Once you understand how the workforce uses the office, you can make cost-effective design decisions that meet their needs and reflect the corporate culture. For example, noticing a trend about Wednesday morning huddles or the popularity of the café for brainstorming influences decisions about soft seating and design as well as extended hours for amenities.
Further, think about the implication of foot traffic patterns showing employees arriving on time, walking around the office, attending meetings, going to lunch in the breakroom, and then leaving for the day. All these insights impact office layout, lease negotiations, maintenance contracts, and a building’s CO2 emissions.
Or consider how vastly different the needs are for a remote-first workforce that holds monthly in-person meetings versus a higher ed campus. Arguably, today’s employer can learn a lot of about office space and design based on the occupancy fluctuations of a large campus with staff, administrators, classrooms, dorms, sports facilities, and more.
When offices align with the needs of the people that use them, they become destinations that employees look forward to entering on a regular basis. The same is true for any building we occupy.
The office of the future will be shaped by a better understanding of the needs of the workforce. Going beyond employee surveys and candid feedback, the ability to use AI to interpret human behavior without compromising privacy will lead to more productive and engaged employees and energy efficient buildings.
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