Dr. Gleb Tsipursky – The Office Whisperer
Nirit Cohen – WorkFutures
Angela Howard – Culture Expert
Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
Corporate real estate is moving out of its post-pandemic repair phase and into a period defined by strategy, speed and resilience. Cost pressure remains intense — more than seven in ten companies still rank savings as a top priority — but the organizations pulling ahead are the ones treating real estate not as overhead, but as a lever for talent, technology and adaptability.
According to new analysis from JLL, 2026 is shaping up to be a year where CRE must not only absorb constant change but build capabilities that allow teams to thrive in it.
Below are the five trends JLL says will define the year ahead — and how CRE leaders can respond.
1. Elastic Portfolios Replace Static Footprints
A new model is emerging: portfolios designed to expand, contract or reconfigure in near real time. Instead of anchoring strategy in multi-year leases, companies are mixing headquarters, hub offices and on-demand flex space. This indicates a glaring mismatch between actual use and intended capacity.
Global office utilization averages 54%, far below the 79% many employers target — and the gap is widest in North America.
Yet underutilization isn’t translating into downsizing alone. Nearly half of business leaders expect headcount to rise and a third anticipate needing more space in the next several years. Combined with unpredictable hiring cycles and the impact of AI on job growth, companies need real estate systems that behave less like fixed assets and more like adaptive infrastructure.
How leaders should respond: Treat portfolio planning like an always-on engine, not a one-off optimization project. Monthly scenario planning that blends utilization data with business forecasts, flexible lease language, modular buildouts and strategic use of enterprise-grade flex providers can give CRE teams the elasticity they need to keep pace with shifting demand.
2. The Office Must Earn the Commute
After years of debating mandates, a different truth has emerged: people are resisting offices that don’t meet their needs. While the majority of employees understand and even accept current attendance expectations, showing up consistently requires a workplace that aligns with how people actually work and live.
Flexibility has become a core human expectation. Work-life balance now outranks salary as the strongest retention driver. At the same time, burnout is rising, hybrid norms are blurring boundaries and workers say the overall environment — including the neighborhood — matters as much as the building itself.
Demand for vibrant, amenity-rich locations is especially pronounced in fast-growing markets like India, China and the Middle East, where long commutes and expanding urban centers shape daily routines.
How leaders should respond: Build workplace strategies that integrate policy, physical experience and location. Borrow from hospitality by personalizing services, supporting wellbeing, offering easier scheduling and curating amenities through local partnerships. And invest heavily in integrated CRE-HR data, which will become essential for refining hybrid policies and guiding future space design.
3. AI Moves From Experiments to Essential Infrastructure
AI has moved from curiosity to near-universal exploration in CRE. Two years ago, only a small minority were running pilots; now 92% plan to test AI tools. But most are still stuck in early-stage experimentation, held back by outdated systems and fragmented data.
Where adoption is happening, the focus is pragmatic. Predictive maintenance, energy optimization and automated work-order management have all surpassed 80% adoption in certain categories.
In facilities management, more than a quarter of organizations have already embedded AI, targeting high-impact areas like asset lifecycle insights and workflow automation.
The real bottleneck is data. AI thrives on consistency, and CRE data is often scattered across sensors, access systems, booking platforms and building management tools.
How leaders should respond: Strengthen data architecture before scaling AI. Build interoperable systems, establish governance and collaborate more closely with IT, HR and finance. Start with proven use cases — maintenance, energy and space analytics — where companies are already reporting measurable results. Then focus on training, adoption and cultural readiness to convert AI pilots into real operational advantage.
4. Facilities Management Becomes a Talent and Change Engine
Facilities management (FM) is undergoing a profound shift as technology transforms workflows and raises the expectations placed on FM teams. Cost pressure is intense — 84% cite rising operating expenses as their top challenge — but the bigger transformation is human. Digital tools, automation and AI are changing skills needs faster than many teams can adapt.
Upskilling, change management and new leadership models are becoming as important as operational efficiency. FM teams are increasingly expected to influence workplace experience, support safety and wellbeing, and deliver measurable ROI beyond cost control.
How leaders should respond: Rebuild FM around a future-ready skill set. Invest in digital fluency, cross-functional collaboration and agile structures that help teams absorb continuous change. Pair automation with a human-first culture, measuring success not only by cost per square foot but by satisfaction, safety and productivity outcomes.
5. Energy Management Becomes the Core of Sustainability Strategy
Energy volatility and tightening regulations are pushing energy performance to the center of CRE strategy. Costs have surged dramatically — up 20% in India and over 50% in the U.K. in the last four years — making energy tracking one of the strongest ROI levers available.
Despite this urgency, many organizations still lack real-time visibility into consumption. Data silos and outdated systems make it difficult to measure savings or build credible business cases for retrofits and decarbonization.
Yet where companies are investing, the returns are significant: 59% report substantial cost reductions from retrofits, with many also seeing higher asset values and productivity gains.
How leaders should respond: Build a unified energy data platform and integrate it directly into operational dashboards, capital planning and vendor negotiations. Tie utility savings to performance targets across the organization. Treat energy reduction as both a financial and compliance priority — and as the foundation for more advanced sustainability initiatives.
The Common Thread: Data Holds the System Together
Each of these — portfolio elasticity, experience-led workplaces, AI adoption, FM transformation and energy performance — relies on one shared requirement: high-quality, integrated data. Without it, hybrid policies stay subjective, AI systems underperform, energy initiatives stall and portfolio decisions remain reactive.
With it, CRE teams become strategic partners capable of reshaping work, enabling growth and building resilience across the business.
