Flex/24: Bringing worktech, data, and sustainability together

With the rise of hybrid work models, organizations are facing new challenges in optimizing space utilization, streamlining employee experience, and achieving sustainability goals.

We think the best way to solve these challenges lies in an integrated worktech platform that leverages things like occupancy data to empower businesses in these critical areas. Our Flex/24 events throughout 2024 provided an insightful forum for leaders in the workplace to discuss these challenges and explore potential solutions.

Professionals from higher education, banking, and other industries gained valuable knowledge at these events. They got guidance on driving success in the workplace and how to use tech to manage facilities more efficiently.

With over 400 people from different enterprises all over the world coming together at our Flex/24 events, it was inspiring to see new connections formed at our events with ideas shared among organizations committed to innovation and change.

Core trends supported by our proprietary research

Our 2024 Workplace Index report, a compass for navigating the changing workplace, fueled the inspiring discussions at our Flex/24 events. combines proprietary data from Eptura’s worktech platform of more than 16.3 million users

Talks with attendees showed that they want to bring their teams back to the office but would need guidance on how to do it well. They expressed a desire to deepen their understanding of their operations and systems, enhance visitor control, improve space bookings, and better grasp their company’s space management strategies —

Insights from the speakers at our events supported our report’s findings and reaffirmed attendees’ desire for a collaborative, sustainable, and tech-enabled workplace.

A common thread shared among leaders is the importance of technology in creating a streamlined workplace that enhances the employee experience, producing valuable data for decision-making, and fostering a connected workplace that maximizes utilization and productivity.

Our report helps operational leaders with these challenges, providing them with a map of the global worktech landscape. With the mid-week mountain of office attendance an ever-present trend, employees that informed our report findings explained that opportunities to connect and collaborate “magnetize” the office and justify the commute.

One of the core focuses of our Flex/24 events was empowering attendees with how they can increase the magnetism of their offices with the help of integrated workplace tech solutions.

Connecting data by unifying operational technology

The strategic alliance between Eptura and Autodesk exemplifies the power of unified data. By bringing together rich datasets, this partnership addresses a critical pain point for facility managers: the lifecycle data gap. Autodesk representatives across our events in the U.S., EMEA, and APAC regions emphasized the importance of seamlessly integrating building information modeling (BIM) data into facility management systems.

In today\’s fast-paced environment, where time and resources are scarce, this collaboration offers a game-changing solution for making informed decisions and optimizing building operations.

The potential of technology to revolutionize the workplace is undeniable. As Andrew Lim, Research Director at JLL, highlighted at Flex/24 New York, a staggering 92% of companies see it as a key driver of competitive advantage. Yet our 2024 Workplace Index reveals a gap between this ambition and reality. While 50% of businesses are embracing integrated worktech platforms, many are still navigating the early stages of digital transformation.

This sentiment was echoed by JLL\’s Thomas Mackean at Flex/24 Singapore, who described a growing demand for Smart Buildings. This journey, he explained, begins with basic tools like spreadsheets and evolves into sophisticated AI-driven systems, demonstrating the industry\’s ongoing evolution.

Attendees at our Flex/24 events worldwide expressed a growing need to transition from managing hybrid work arrangements to harnessing data and technology for strategic advantage. Organizations need a single worktech platform to improve real estate portfolios and make important decisions. Such a platform would eliminate the frustrating challenges of fragmented data, empowering organizations to make data-driven decisions.

On a larger scale, it was fantastic to hear about government agencies’ new ways of looking at integrating workplace solutions. A representative of a government agency at the last Flex/24 event in Washington DC explained that they’re moving away from highly customized systems, which currently take up to 18 months to upgrade because of their complexity. Instead, they plan to utilize more configurable tools. This change aims to streamline their processes by reducing the intricacies associated with custom solutions.

Additionally, they’re moving toward embracing the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, also known as FedRAMP. FedRAMP promotes the adoption of secure cloud technologies, ensuring the protection of federal information and enhancing their use of configurable options to improve security. In today’s fast-paced world, where time and resources are limited, this collaboration offers a new way to make smart decisions and improve building operations.

Creating a frictionless employee experience

Of the 400+ attendees at the Flex/24 events, we found they all face the same challenge: how do we get people back into the office? Many know that they need to get their staff back into the office but are struggling to decide on what works and what doesn’t because they don’t have enough data to help inform decision-making. As our 2024 Workplace Index report affirms, companies find that the office is the prime environment for valuable collaboration and increased productivity. Having these conversations at the Flex/24 events was important as we realize we have an unmissable opportunity to help companies with these core challenges.

As the rate of desk booking increases, providing a smoother employee experience is essential to organizations. Our 2024 Workplace Index report reveals a significant year-on-year increase in returns to the office: 27% in the Americas, 52% in APAC, and 31% in EMEA. This data underscores the need for integrated technology to streamline operations.

John Hilderbrands, Eptura’s VP of Solutions Engineering, stated at Flex/24 London that “booking is not a goal, but a superfluous action that helps achieve an outcome [like collaboration] and allows people to work the way they want to work.” With feedback from attendees that the in-office employee experience is a priority, it was a timely opportunity for a live demonstration of our latest automated check-in feature, illustrating how AI can be leveraged to streamline the employee experience in the office.

Drew DePriest, McKesson’s Director of Real Estate Operations Technology, posed this question: what tech is important to the business? For him, it’s the ability to collaborate asynchronously and for business continuity. The purpose of tech in the workplace is also to become more anticipatory — something enterprises can become stronger at when empowered with comprehensive data. This conversation contributes to the overarching theme of using data to predict trends in office utilization and to remove barriers to a collaborative employee environment — core capabilities that Eptura enables.

Hitting sustainability targets with tech

Sustainability was a major focus for attendees at all Flex/24 events. A prime example is Royal London\’s office move, led by Workplace Design Manager Graeme Roberts, where they prioritized furniture reuse and saved a remarkable 44 tons of CO₂ by diverting waste from landfills.

Fabrice Martin, Eptura’s Chief Product Officer, emphasized the massive opportunity for businesses to use sustainability and green building management tools to hit their targets, such as waste reduction and lowering their carbon footprint. Since nearly 40% of the world’s carbon emissions originate from buildings, leaders can leverage data generated by integrated technology to achieve sustainability goals. This can be done by identifying opportunities to optimize space utilization and modernizing facility maintenance processes.

Tim Rijnders, Senior Sales Manager from VergeSense, spoke at all Flex/24 APAC events, and echoed this. He stated that “the impacts of unused space on ESG are significant. Buildings are responsible for 37% of global carbon emissions and 34% of energy demand. Optimizing our footprint is one of the most effective ways to contribute [to ESG efforts].” He also stressed the need to match workspace layout with employee behavior by using data insights to create the best working environment.

All these possibilities and insights were crucial considering most speakers and company representatives said that reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 was a huge focus for the future, including McKesson’s Drew DePriest. Drew mentioned at Flex/24 Chicago McKesson’s goal to reach a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2032. Manufacturing-heavy aspects of the business won’t allow them to be 100% carbon-free but mentioned that defined tech integration supported by a sustainability reporting team will help optimize their portfolio and drive sustainability goals.

This was a good example of how technology and human teams can work together to reach sustainability goals, no matter what industry.

We also had in-depth discussions about Local Law 97 at our New York event — an ambitious municipal program for reducing building carbon emissions. JLL shared that they are actively engaged in understanding this legislation\’s impact on tenants and property owners, as well as the corresponding guidelines and penalties enforced by agencies until 2040. These examples highlight the growing urgency for businesses to implement sustainable practices, and to integrate the appropriate technology to achieve this as seamlessly as possible.

Rooms filled with leaders committed to change

The Flex/24 events led to important conversations about making operations easier, improving the employee experience, and meeting environmental goals. Our discussions with industry leaders highlight the transformative potential of integrated worktech solutions. Together, we can build workplaces that are not just efficient, but also inspiring.

Thank you to everyone who attended and presented at our Flex/24 events in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Silicon Valley, London, Singapore, Canberra, Melbourne, and Washington, DC. Follow our events page to discover where we’ll be in the future.