The future of workplace technology is becoming invisible

The corporate workplace is undergoing a significant transformation. Not simply in how offices are designed, but in how organisations understand, manage and continually improve them.

On 22 October 2026, Nura Space joined an industry panel hosted by Schiavello to explore the role of technology in today's corporate workplace.

Moderated by Geoff Sloan, Head of Property at Sonic Healthcare, the discussion brought together senior property and technology specialists with experience across some of Australia's largest corporate organisations.

The conversation explored workplace utilisation, employee experience, technology integration, artificial intelligence and the increasingly important relationship between the physical and digital workplace.

One theme emerged particularly clearly: the future of workplace technology isn't about introducing more applications or complexity. It's about making technology increasingly invisible to the people using it.

From assumptions to evidence

For decades, major workplace decisions have been influenced by assumptions about how people use offices.

How many desks does an organisation need? How much space should be allocated to collaboration? Which floors are underutilised? And how can organisations reduce their property footprint without compromising employee experience?

Historically, answering these questions has depended heavily on observation, surveys and conventional planning ratios.

During the discussion, Geoff Sloan shared his experience of implementing data-led workplace strategies within a major Australian bank employing approximately 20,000 people.

When planning its Sydney headquarters, which would accommodate a population of approximately 10,000 employees, the organisation used workplace utilisation data to support a significant property decision: providing approximately 6,500 workpoints rather than a dedicated desk for every employee.

This was not simply a cost-reduction exercise.

The organisation had developed sufficient confidence in its workplace data to understand actual attendance patterns, peak utilisation and the capacity required to support its people.

The result was a more informed approach to property investment, without relying on assumptions about how frequently employees might attend the office.

The broader lesson is significant. Reliable workplace intelligence allows organisations to make decisions that would otherwise carry considerable financial and operational uncertainty.

Technology should remove friction, not introduce it

A senior digital property and real estate technology specialist from one of Australia's largest banks, an organisation employing approximately 35,000 people, discussed the organisation's approach to creating a more connected workplace experience.

The ambition is straightforward: employees should be able to arrive at the workplace and focus on their work, rather than navigating multiple systems to access the resources they need.

That means moving beyond standalone applications towards technology that integrates with existing enterprise environments, including Microsoft Teams and Outlook.

It also means recognising that employees have different preferences.

Some may prefer to reserve a particular desk in advance. Others may simply want to arrive and have an appropriate workspace available without taking any additional action.

The technology should accommodate both.

The bank is progressing a workplace technology transformation incorporating Nura Space capabilities across desk booking, meeting room booking, event management and space management.

Importantly, the objective extends beyond any individual application. It is about creating a more connected digital workplace in which systems operate together and employees retain choice over how they interact with them.

Commercial performance and employee experience are not competing objectives

Another important theme was the relationship between workplace efficiency and employee experience.

John Berkis, Head of Property and Security Services at AGL, discussed the challenges of improving workplace functionality within an existing property footprint.

Through deliberate planning, design and technology integration, the organisation sought to accommodate additional workstations and meeting spaces while maintaining the quality of the workplace environment.

This reflects an important shift in workplace strategy.

Property efficiency and employee experience are sometimes treated as competing priorities. In practice, when supported by appropriate technology and thoughtful design, they can reinforce one another.

Lilli Jagger, Head of Growth AU/NZ at Nura Space, discussed how workplace strategies increasingly need to deliver against two objectives: commercial performance and the experience of the people using the space.

An organisation may discover that it can accommodate hundreds of additional employees without leasing another floor. Equally, it may identify that certain environments are consistently under pressure and require redesign or additional capacity.

Neither conclusion should be predetermined.

The value lies in having sufficient information to make the right decision.

Integration is as important as innovation

Enterprise workplaces rarely operate through a single technology system.

Identity management, human resources platforms, access control, building management systems, collaboration tools and workplace applications must often exchange information reliably.

When these integrations work, the experience can feel effortless.

When they fail, employees experience the consequences, regardless of which underlying system caused the problem.

The panel emphasised the importance of involving technology, security, human resources and property stakeholders early in implementation.

Data governance was another important consideration.

Organisations need to be clear about why workplace information is collected, how it is managed and what decisions it is intended to support.

Understanding how space is used is fundamentally different from monitoring individual employees.

Successful workplace technology depends on building trust as much as building functionality.

AI will change how people interact with workplaces

The discussion also explored how artificial intelligence may fundamentally change the relationship between employees and workplace systems.

Today, an employee might open an application to book a desk or meeting room.

In the future, they may simply ask their preferred AI assistant to organise their day in the office.

A property executive could potentially ask questions about portfolio utilisation, identify emerging capacity constraints or evaluate alternative space-planning scenarios through a conversational interface.

For Nura Space, this reinforces the importance of flexibility and integration.

Rather than requiring organisations to adopt a separate AI experience, workplace platforms need to be capable of connecting with the AI tools that organisations choose to use.

This allows workplace functionality and intelligence to become accessible through existing enterprise technology environments, while the underlying platform continues to manage the operational complexity.

As AI evolves, the objective should remain consistent: make workplace information more accessible, workplace services easier to use and decisions better informed.

The workplace remains fundamentally human

Perhaps the most interesting conclusion from the evening was that increasingly sophisticated technology does not necessarily mean a less human workplace.

As automation and AI reduce the administrative burden associated with work, the value of physical workplaces may increasingly centre on collaboration, relationships, creativity and shared experiences.

Technology should support those outcomes rather than become the centre of attention.

The future workplace will not be defined by how many digital systems it contains.

It will be defined by how effectively those systems work together to make the workplace more useful, efficient and enjoyable.

And increasingly, the best workplace technology may be the technology employees barely notice.

Nura Space is an Australian workplace technology platform helping organisations understand, manage and optimise their workplaces through connected workplace services, utilisation intelligence and data-led space planning.