The Evolving AI-Enabled Office

This IDC Perspective examines the three interconnected investment layers shaping the AI-enabled office: the software collaboration stack already broadly in place, the AI-native meeting infrastructure and building operations technology organizations are deploying to support it, and the cross-functional governance structures that determine whether those investments compound or conflict. IDC's 2026 Future of Work Survey finds that office occupancy is rising, investment in AI-enabled workspace technologies is near universal, and the standard employees bring to the office has risen sharply. For IT, HR, and Facilities leaders, the physical workspace has become a shared mandate, and the organizations closing the gap between where AI-enabled work happens and what those spaces can deliver are building a durable competitive advantage."For the first time, the meeting room and the AI stack are the same conversation. When 96% of organizations plan to invest in AI-enabled physical workspace technology, the building itself has entered the AI adoption road map - and IT, HR, and Facilities all own a piece of it." - Amy Loomis, group vice president, Workplace Solutions, IDC.