Many CEOs pushed hard for return‑to‑office when the issue was just working remote. Now, the combination of remote work and rapid AI adoption makes it risky to design an office strategy around old assumptions. A smarter move is to rethink office space needs. This should focus on what humans do best together. AI and remote work should act as core design inputs rather than afterthoughts. That’s a huge mind shift for many executives.
The Reality of Return‑To‑Office
Around 70% of companies now have formal return‑to‑office (RTO) policies that require some in‑office time. Three days per week is the most common requirement. Why is that? The data on productivity or happy workers doesn’t support it. So it’s really just CEO’s flying by the seat of their pants. And the little CEOs are just following along with the big CEOs.
Yet even with high‑profile mandates, average office utilization in major U.S. markets has hovered around roughly half of pre‑pandemic levels. Keycard data shows big‑city attendance in the 46–52% range through late 2023 and early 2024. So, regardless of what the boss says, reality shows a different picture. One analysis found that required office time increased 12% from 2024 to 2025. But actual attendance rose only 1–3%, underscoring a growing gap between policy and behavior. Basically, the math doesn’t math. But why cloud the issue with facts? RTO pressure also comes with talent risk. A survey cited in 2026 reported that 64% of workers would consider quitting if forced back to the office full‑time. Attrition rises when strict mandates are imposed.
Remote Work is Now a Stable Layer
Many CEOs thought remote work was just a necessary evil during covid. It is no longer a temporary anomaly. In early 2024, about 22.9% of U.S. workers (roughly 35.5 million people) teleworked at least part‑time, up from 19.6% the year before. Roughly 55% of U.S. jobs are considered “telework‑eligible”. This means over half of a;; roles could be done remotely at least some of the time. Job postings have shifted accordingly. Between 2023 and 2025, hybrid listings rose from 9% to 24%. Fully remote jobs rose from 10% to 13%, and fully in‑person dropped from 83% to 63%. Many organizations that expanded remote work saw productivity gains even before the pandemic. More recent data continues to show no significant productivity penalty for remote workers in many knowledge roles.
AI is Changing What Offices are For
AI is no longer experimental at the margins. A 2024 survey based on McKinsey’s data found that 72% of businesses were using AI in at least one function. This is up from around 50% in previous years. Now in 2026 it’s almost hard to keep track of the usage. CEOs are making AI decision based on FOMO, when they should be testing tools, rather than betting on the come.
Generative AI usage has exploded from about 33% of businesses in 2023 to more than half in 2024. Companies are actively deploying tools for coding, content creation, and customer interaction.
AI accelerates tasks like drafting documents, building first‑pass analyses, and generating code. Also, a larger share of individual “heads‑down” work can be done effectively from anywhere.
This undercuts the old logic that “butts in seats” is necessary for productivity or supervision. Instead, it shifts the unique value of the office toward collaboration, problem‑solving, mentoring, and trust‑building. These are the things AI does not do well.
Office Space Under Pressure
Despite aggressive RTO messaging, national office vacancy in the U.S. reached about 19.5% in late 2024. This rose 170 basis points year‑over‑year as leases expired and firms downsized.
Key markets like the Bay Area, Boston, Austin, and Denver saw some of the sharpest office space vacancy increases. This is because companies are reassessing long‑term space needs.
Location analytics data shows that office visits in 2024 were still only about 60–72% of 2019 levels. This was true even as many employers tightened attendance rules.
Meanwhile, firms that embrace flexible and remote work can save significant real estate and facilities costs. One office space study estimated average savings of around $11,000 per employee per year for remote arrangements.
Rethinking Office Strategy for AI Plus Remote
Instead of treating RTO, remote work, and AI as separate debates, leaders need to see them as interlinked concepts. They need to redesign their office strategy around three questions:
- Which activities truly require co‑location?
Strategy sessions, complex cross‑functional problem‑solving, onboarding, and high‑stakes client work often benefit from in‑person interaction. Also, activities which require specific equipment, security, or access to customers are also generally location dependent. Activities involving more analytical and documentation work can shift remote with AI support. - How much space do we need for intentional collaboration, not daily presence?
Forget what you have. This is the trap so many companies fall into. Big‑city attendance plateauing at roughly half of pre‑pandemic levels. Many organizations can move from large permanent desk farms to smaller hubs built around project rooms, studios, and social spaces. - How do we design work so AI and location flexibility reinforce each other?
Again, forget how you work now. Think about outcomes rather than outputs. Things are going to change. We don’t want to further automate paper processes. AI can standardize workflows, documentation, and decision trails, making distributed work more manageable while the office becomes a purposeful gathering place for high‑value human interaction instead of a default destination.
An example future‑state model might have most individual work done remotely with AI copilots. There could be a network of smaller collaboration centers used for two to four days per month for intensive in‑person work. And real‑estate investments redirected into better tools, training, and change management.
For CEOs and boards, it’s time to wake up. AI is transforming how work gets done, and remote work has stabilized at meaningful levels. RTO mandates are a waste and not a realistic expectation. Clinging to pre‑2020 office assumptions is a strategic liability. Organizations need to deliberately align AI, flexible work, and right‑sized office footprints. The new world of work is upon us.
