AWA Institute · Breakfast Roundtable · 17 September 2026
Managing the office
in the age of AI
The work is changing. The building isn’t. Join senior workplace, real estate and facilities leaders for a candid morning working through what AI actually changes about the office, and what to do about it.
Seats are allocated personally, not first come, first served.
The office is about to change twice.
Once in what people do in it, as AI absorbs more of the work. And once in how it is run, as AI reaches the systems and services that operate the building. Over the next few years, many organisations will sign leases, plan moves and commit budgets before either shift settles.
Dimension one
The building itself
What the office needs to be, and for whom, when AI takes on more of the work. Purpose, space, location: the container.
Dimension two
Running it
Where AI fits in workplace and facilities management, and the evidence for where it earns its keep. The operations.
Four questions every workplace leader is carrying
A facilitated conversation built around four questions that are live in every organisation right now. No slide deck, no sales pitches.
What is the office for, when AI does more of the work?
The purpose of the building, and the population it serves. If hours move out of the office, what earns the hours that remain in it?
What space will you need, and where?
The property decisions of the next two to three years, made while the work is still moving.
How will AI be used to run the workplace?
Real use cases in workplace and facilities management: space and occupancy, energy, maintenance, workplace experience.
How should the office support people working with AI?
What changes in the environment when every role has AI in it: the settings, the services and the support around the person.
One table, no stage.
A discussion around one table, over breakfast. Andrew and Brad hold the structure; the value is what appears in the room.
We keep the table intimate so everyone speaks and the conversation stays honest. You will hear how your peers are answering the questions on your desk, and test your own thinking against theirs.
Andrew will share early thinking from applying AWA’s workplace management framework to the age of AI. It is work in progress, shared for the table to challenge.
Meet your panel
Andrew Mawson
Founder & Managing Director, AWA
Andrew started with a degree in applied statistics (data science, before it had the name), trained as a computer programmer, and worked on early AI in the defence industry. He founded AWA in 1992 and has spent more than 30 years helping organisations change how they work, leading its research on the future of work and the workplace. At this table he brings the workplace management framework he created, applied to what AI changes about running the office.
Brad Taylor
Director of Consulting, AWA
Brad Taylor is Director of Consulting at AWA and head of the AWA Institute, AWA’s senior leader forum. A Chartered Fellow of the CIPD with more than 30 years in HR across the finance and professional association sectors, he has held senior people roles at the CIPD, CIMA and Barclays, and hosts the Institute’s senior HR and facilities round tables.
To be announced
Practitioner voices
We are inviting practitioners who are applying AI to real estate and workplace operations now. Confirmed guests will be announced ahead of the morning.
Built for the people making office decisions
Designed for senior leaders responsible for how space, operations and people come together, at organisations that will commit to space before the AI picture settles.
Workplace leaders
You are being asked what the office should become before anyone can say what the work becomes. This is the morning to compare answers.
Real estate & property
Leases, moves and fit-outs are coming up whether the answers arrive or not. Bring the decisions you are facing.
Facilities & workplace operations
AI is arriving in the day-to-day running of buildings. Hear what is actually working, from peers rather than vendors.
HR & people leaders
The workplace shapes how people take up AI. A seat at this table connects the people question to the property one.
Request your seat — Thursday 17 September
In person, over breakfast, in London.
AWA Institute members
Your seat is included in your membership. Choose “Yes — I’m an Institute member” below and Amy Thornbury, our Practice Manager, will confirm your invitation by email.
Every request is verified personally by Amy. The venue is in London and shared with your invitation. Photos and short videos are captured at AWA events for marketing purposes. If you would prefer not to appear, tell Amy on the day. Your data is handled in line with AWA’s privacy policy.
Research that changes how organisations work
Advanced Workplace Associates is an independent research and consulting firm specialising in the science of work. For over 30 years, AWA has helped organisations understand how people work best, and design the environments, policies, and cultures that make it possible.
This roundtable is part of the AWA Institute — AWA’s forum for senior workplace, HR, and real estate leaders. The Institute brings together practitioners across the field to share evidence, challenge assumptions, and develop the thinking that shapes how organisations manage work and space.
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