Workplace technology experts share insights on AI, collaboration tools, data-driven systems, and trends shaping the workplace.
Key takeaways: How technology and AI will shape the workplace
- AI will be embedded into everyday workplace systems, not used as a standalone tool
- Collaboration technology will require more intelligent, always-ready spaces
- Simplified platforms and consolidated hardware will reduce complexity and friction
- Workplace data will increasingly guide space planning, energy use, and user experience
- The most successful workplaces will be designed for adaptability, not fixed solutions
The workplace is evolving faster than ever
As organizations plan for the year ahead, one thing is clear: technology is no longer just a tool that supports work. It actively shapes how work happens, where people gather, and how spaces perform day to day.
To understand what’s coming next, we asked four of our technology leaders to look ahead to 2026: Matt Curtin, Director of Technology Sales; Heather Long, Business Development Consultant; Jonathan Kiley, AV Engineering Supervisor; and Ashish Maru, Director of Technology. Together, their insights point to a clear theme: simpler systems, smarter data, and AI working quietly in the background to create more responsive, human-centered workplaces.
Real insights from people who live this work every day
The ideas shared here come from a group of people who spend their days deep in workplace technology, not theorizing about what might happen, but helping clients navigate it in real time. Collectively, this team brings decades of experience across commercial AV, workplace strategy, sales, engineering, and emerging technology. They’ve led complex projects, launched new solutions, worked alongside manufacturers and startups, and supported organizations of all sizes as their needs continue to evolve. What connects their perspectives is a practical point of view across top trends like AI in the workplace grounded in what’s working now, what’s changing fast, and what clients are actually asking for as they plan ahead.
What technology trends do you expect to shape this year?
“Without a doubt, AI is the single biggest factor that will shape technology in 2026. I think we need to parse this out into a couple of different discussions. First, the collaboration and productivity features offered by Copilot (and the like) require technology in every space in a way that wasn’t needed before. Second, the onboard AI feature sets offered for video conferencing are bringing new user experiences to the market. These are driving generation 2 conferencing hardware to support these new capabilities.”
Matt Curtin
Director of Technology Sales
603.512.4740 | mcurtin@red-thread.com
“Clients are placing greater emphasis on flexibility, integration, and actionable data. They want technology that can keep up with changing space needs, support both in-person and remote collaboration, and work seamlessly within their existing tech stack. There is also a noticeable shift toward asking how technology can provide insights and how it can help them understand space utilization, team behaviors, and opportunities to improve the workplace experience.”
Heather Long
Business Development Consultant
617.291.3023 | hlong@red-thread.com
“A continued consolidation of products and manufacturers reducing complexity and ease of installation of systems. Over the last 5–10 years the number of disparate products and manufacturers that are needed to meet a system design has reduced significantly, and I only see that continuing to progress. Manufacturers like QSys consolidate audio processing, video and USB switching, and control into a single box. Huddly Crew takes a complicated solution like automated camera switching and simplifies the solution to a few small cameras, some network cables, and a network switch. Shure with their foundation kits and still in development camera solution integrate software-based audio processing directly into the Teams or Zoom computer. Even within the lifecycle of a single project, we see improvements that greatly reduce the need for technology and the number of boxes required to accomplish the same solution.”
Jonathan Kiley, CTS-D
AV Engineering Supervisor
978.265.2241 | kileyj@red-thread.com
“In addition to what Jon mentions, we’re seeing a clear uptick in innovations across monitoring platforms like XYTE to manage deployed AV systems. As systems simplify, expectations for devices to be “always on” and ready the moment a user walks in are higher than ever. We haven’t implemented a monitoring platform yet, but client interest is definitely rising. We’re also seeing a growing reliance on AI to interpret and act on the volume of data these platforms generate.”
Ashish Maru, CTS-D, LEED AP
Director of Technology
781.760.2084 | amaru@red-thread.com
What are your predictions for how AI will be used in the workplace next year?
Matt Curtin, Director of Technology Sales:
Where won’t AI be used? AI is rapidly reordering the day-to-day activities of every knowledge worker. Research, writing, data aggregation, analysis, and visualization have moved from a slow, painstaking manual process to a fully automated experience delivered in seconds. People will spend less time at desks, staring at monitors and typing. The workplace will become more oriented around amenities, comfort, and face-to-face collaboration.
Heather Long, Business Development Consultant:
AI will become more embedded in the systems we already use, quietly improving how spaces and technology function. Rather than being something people actively engage with, it will work in the background to automate scheduling, optimize room usage, support content creation, and personalize settings based on user behavior. The real value will come from AI reducing friction and making workplace experiences feel more intuitive and responsive.
Jonathan Kiley, CTS-D, AV Engineering Supervisor:
A lot of manufacturers use AI as more of a way to catch your attention or as more of a “me too” than actually implementing it into solutions. For those that are truly building around AI, the good and bad is that it is constantly learning and growing from use. For end users who essentially become the trainers or beta testers, that can be frustrating at first. You want the benefits right away, but over time, as AI learns, its performance improves at an exponential rate. Huddly Crew is a good example. Early on, it was a challenging experience, but as the AI algorithms have been refined, it now delivers a close approximation of much more complex solutions at a fraction of the cost. I see similar progress coming quickly in areas like quoting tools, customer support and RMS solutions, and control systems.
Ashish Maru, CTS-D, LEED AP, Director of Technology:
AI is great at turning large amounts of data into clear, actionable insight that humans can easily digest. AI in the workplace will manage building systems based on expected traffic patterns, optimizing energy use and reducing waste. It will also shape collaboration by predicting when teams should be together in person and adjusting spaces accordingly. Overall, AI will quietly orchestrate smarter, healthier, and more efficient environments for both employees and the organizations that support them. These capabilities will show up both in built-in features from platforms like Teams and in custom solutions that clients develop for their own needs.
What this means moving forward
Taken together, these insights point to a workplace future that is less about flashy tech and more about intentional integration. Fewer boxes. Smarter systems. Technology that anticipates needs instead of reacting to them.
As AI matures and platforms continue to consolidate, the most successful workplaces will be the ones designed with adaptability in mind. Not just to keep up with change, but to make that change feel seamless for the people using the space every day.
The future of work isn’t just intelligent. It’s intuitive.
Continue the conversation
Technology will keep evolving, but the most successful workplaces are shaped by the right conversations early on. If you’re thinking about how these trends could impact your spaces, your teams, or your long-term strategy, our technology experts are always open to talking it through.
