Companies across India are racing to adopt AI, but a major new report from global real estate services firm Colliers reveals a critical gap: their workplace and real estate strategies are failing to keep up with their own technological ambitions.
The Great Workplace Disconnect
The central
finding of the Colliers report, 'Asia Pacific Workplace Insights: Forces shaping office decisions in 2027', is a significant disconnect between expectation and action. The survey, which included corporate occupiers in India, found that while business leaders universally expect AI to fundamentally change their workforce, they have not translated these expectations into concrete workplace strategies. For instance, 100% of respondents believe AI will create new, specialised roles that require different skills and collaboration methods. A large majority also anticipate fewer roles overall (85%) and a rise in project-based teams (62%). Yet, despite this clear vision of a transformed workforce, these insights are not influencing decisions about office leases or physical space design. The report argues that the biggest risk for businesses today isn't AI itself, but the failure to plan for its wide-ranging impacts on people and places.
AI’s Impact: A Human Capital Lens
In India and Southeast Asia specifically, companies tend to view the rise of AI primarily through a human capital lens. Over 40% of business leaders in this region rank the development of new AI-driven roles, skills, and collaboration models as a top priority. This focus is creating strong demand for different types of physical spaces that can support these new ways of working. The report suggests that as AI automates routine tasks, the physical office becomes even more important as a hub for high-value human interaction—knowledge sharing, creative problem-solving, and innovation. However, many organisations lack the formal frameworks to even measure how effective their current spaces are, with a quarter of companies admitting they don't formally measure workplace performance at all.
The Real Estate Blind Spot
The disconnect becomes most apparent in corporate real estate planning. While leaders acknowledge AI will reshape how and where work is done, this isn't leading to strategic changes in their property portfolios. For occupiers in India and Southeast Asia, footprint reduction is a low-priority outcome (7%), with the focus instead being on securing different kinds of spaces (50%). The report from Colliers' Global Occupier Services, 'Building Resilience: 5 Megatrends Redefining Corporate Real Estate', reinforces this, identifying the AI-enabled workforce as a primary force changing what clients look for in locations. Companies now need access to specific talent pools and robust energy infrastructure to power AI technologies, factors that must be integrated into longterm planning. Failing to align real estate with workforce strategy means companies risk investing in outdated office environments that don't support the collaborative, high-value work of an AI augmented team.
Why Employees Are Paying Attention
This strategic gap at the leadership level is not going unnoticed by employees. Other industry reports highlight growing employee anxiety and frustration over how AI is being implemented. One report noted that around a quarter of workers are considering leaving their jobs due to their employer's approach to AI, whether it's a lack of clear guidelines or ethical concerns. Many employees feel that AI tools are being forced on them without adequate training, creating a divide between early adopters who thrive and others who fall behind. This can breed resentment and lead to 'quiet rejection' of new technologies, where staff revert to old methods because the new ones threaten their sense of expertise or because performance pressures outweigh the mandate to innovate. The lack of a clear plan from leadership deepens this uncertainty and can harm morale and productivity.
Bridging the Gap: The Path Forward
To close the gap, Colliers urges businesses to move beyond simply acknowledging AI's impact and start building a responsive workplace strategy. This begins with measurement. Organisations cannot optimise what they do not measure, and establishing a formal framework for assessing workplace effectiveness is a critical first step. The goal should be to create hyperflexible environments that can adapt to the dynamic interplay between humans and intelligent systems. This means designing spaces that are purposedriven, fostering the creativity, connection, and deepthinking that machines cannot replicate. Ultimately, leaders must treat their workplace not as a fixed cost, but as a strategic tool for attracting and retaining talent, fostering innovation, and driving business performance in an AIdriven world.
