AI should redesign offices for concentration, Bureau says

Bureau has urged businesses to use artificial intelligence to redesign workplaces for concentration rather than rely on software alone to raise productivity. The workplace design firm said poor office environments cost UK businesses an estimated £488 billion a year.

The argument comes as employers continue to spend heavily on AI tools while pressing ahead with return-to-office policies across the public and private sectors. Tyson Gundersen, co-founder of Bureau, said the physical office has changed little over the past decade despite rapid investment in automation, software and digital systems.

Many organisations still operate open-plan layouts that expose staff to noise, interruptions and distraction, he said. In his view, that mismatch between modern technology and outdated office design is undermining efforts to improve output.

The productivity gap

Gundersen argued that the central issue is not a lack of technology or talent, but the effect of constant disruption on employees' ability to focus. Research cited by Bureau suggests workers can take up to 23 minutes to regain concentration after an interruption, while Microsoft's 2025 Work Trend Index found employees are interrupted by meetings, emails or messages as often as every two minutes during the working day.

He said this repeated loss of attention creates a cumulative cost for employers. The claim adds to a wider debate over whether productivity gains from AI will be limited if workers remain in environments that make sustained concentration difficult.

Return-to-office requirements have made that question more pressing. A 2024 University of Pittsburgh study cited by Bureau found that 99% of organisations introducing return-to-office mandates recorded a decline in employee satisfaction.

The study does not explain the reasons for that decline, but Bureau pointed to office quality as one factor employers should examine more closely. It argued that the productivity debate has focused too narrowly on software, dashboards and automation, while giving less attention to the spaces where work takes place.

Role of AI

Rather than adding to digital noise, Gundersen said AI should be used to reduce low-value tasks and cut friction in the working day. He also argued that the technology can be applied to the design and management of office space.

Bureau pointed to AI-driven space planning as one example of how employers can track how workplaces are used and adjust layouts in response. Booking systems, acoustic monitoring and environmental controls can help identify quieter areas, limit distractions and refine office settings over time, it said.

That approach would shift office design from a fixed model to one that changes with observed work patterns. In practice, companies would use data not only to measure output and headcount, but also to assess conditions such as focus and friction in the workplace.

Design and focus

The company's position reflects growing interest in the relationship between office design and employee performance. Open-plan workplaces have long been criticised for making concentration harder, yet they remain common because they are often seen as efficient uses of space and a way to encourage collaboration.

Bureau is calling for a more deliberate balance between collaboration and privacy. In its view, offices should do more than provide desks and should actively support concentration, privacy and productive work.

Gundersen said businesses have invested billions in AI tools, software, platforms and automation, yet most offices still look much as they did a decade ago.

"Businesses have spent billions adopting AI tools, new software, new platforms and new ways of automating work, yet most offices today look almost identical to what they did a decade ago. The same open plan layouts, with lots of noise, interruptions and expensive distractions. The technology has evolved, but the workplace hasn't, and that disconnect is where productivity is being lost," said Tyson Gundersen, co-founder of Bureau.

He said employers should rethink how they frame the link between productivity and technology.

"Businesses have spent years asking how AI can make employees more productive. The better question is how AI can help create workplaces where productivity is actually possible. AI didn't create the modern office's biggest challenges, but combined with smarter workplace design, it may finally help solve them," Gundersen said.