WorkX San Francisco: Inside the minds of workplace experience leaders
What happens when workplace leaders from Meta, Google, Etsy, NVIDIA, WSP, Fresenius Medical Care and Acuity Brands, plus a workplace veteran whose career spans Alo, Netflix, Uber and Headspace, get in a room? You quickly realize they are wrestling with the same question: how do we make the workplace worth the commute for people and worth the investment for the business?
Fresh from WorkX San Francisco, we unpack the ideas that stuck with us. Francis Aquino on shrinking budgets and growing expectations. John Lopes of WSP on the workplace as a “value signal.” Jenn LaBelle of Etsy on piloting before committing. Sharad Aggarwal of Google Cloud on why AI makes human skills even more valuable. And Raymond Chan of NVIDIA and Chirag Kadiwar of Meta on choice, focus, collaboration and how we “bring the buzz back.”
The takeaway? Occupancy is not the goal. Value is. And people are still the biggest reason people choose the workplace.
Key insights
- Strong workplace experiences do not require bigger budgets. Intentional programming, adaptable spaces, and thoughtful investments can make limited resources go further.
- Workplace strategy should support business goals, helping organizations drive innovation, attract talent, improve efficiency, and adapt over time.
- Workplace success should go beyond occupancy and measure what the space actually enables, from stronger collaboration to better business outcomes.
- As AI handles more routine work, human skills like judgment, trust, communication, and problem-solving become even more valuable in the workplace.
- Giving employees choice between focus, collaboration, privacy, and connection creates a workplace that better supports how people actually work.
Learn more about Wesley Edmonds
Wesley Edmonds is the Director of Workplace at OFS, where she combines her background in interior design with a passion for relationship-building, workplace strategy, and the future of work. After beginning her career as a commercial interior designer, Wesley transitioned into the furniture industry, bringing together design expertise and business development to help create more thoughtful, human-centered environments. As a contributor to Imagine a Place and host of In the ROOM, she is dedicated to fostering meaningful conversations that inspire designers, challenge industry thinking, and explore how the spaces we create shape the way people live and work. Connect with Wesley on LinkedIn.
Learn more about Christina Jameson
Christina Jameson is the Director of Workplace at OFS, where she focuses on workplace strategy, research, and understanding how evolving ways of working are shaping the spaces people need. Through conversations with workplace leaders and industry professionals, Christina helps uncover insights around employee experience, culture, flexibility, and the future of work. As a contributor to Imagine a Place, she brings these perspectives to life through research and storytelling that help organizations create more thoughtful, adaptable, and human-centered workplaces. Connect with Christina on LinkedIn.
Learn more about Imagine a Place
Imagine a Place gathers industry-leading voices that can inspire the design community through storytelling and broaden our creative horizons. The goal of Imagine a Place is to further elevate the belief that the places we make and the ways we design them matter in our lives. Follow Imagine a Place on LinkedIn.
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