Commercial Design recently hosted its 10th edition of the Smart Office India Summit 2023 in Bengaluru. The conference is one single platform that brings together stakeholders involved through the lifecycle of a building – from developers to architects to facility and project heads.
It’s a holistic knowledge-sharing initiative that fosters cross-pollination of ideas and insights between each of the verticals to explore and get real about the challenges and opportunities in creating next-gen workplaces.
The Summit’s keynote address was delivered by Juggy Marwaha, CEO – Office Ventures, Prestige Group.
This forum discussed topics ranging from such as:
– The Changing Nature Of Work And The Workplace
– Designing for the Future: Challenges & Opportunities
– Addressing The Needs To Create Next-gen Workplaces
Panel Topic 1: The tectonic shift in the ‘role of the office’ and its impact
The director and moderator of this panel is the very dynamic Major Aditi Mohan, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), FNF India. The speakers on the panel discussed in detail the operational reality and complexity of CRE’s role in enabling businesses. They also addressed the need for integrated thinking and closer collaboration between CRE professionals, architects & designers and technology solutions providers. Major Aditie put forth an apt question as to why the sector is still traditional and fragmented by nature with a lack of transparency. The speaker shared insights into effective technology and systems that enhance workplace productivity and efficiency. The importance of an ‘inclusive design’ and what an inclusive office design look like was also another critical topic discussed on this platform.
Panel Speakers:
- Kushalappa KP, Director & Practice Head – Total Workplace & Workforce Analytics, Strategic Consulting, Cushman & Wakefield India
- Sumeet Sharma, Chief Security Officer India , Group Security, Capgemini
- Rudresh K V, AVP – Global Lead, Workspace Design & Project Management, Cognizant
- Sitanshu Shekhar Singhdeo, VP – Facilities, Brigade Group
- Tapan Mozumdar, GM – Projects, ITC Infotech
- Somnath Chaudhari, National Key Accounts Manager- South Asia, Business Vertical – Offices, Dormakaba
Panel Topic 2 : Designing & Creating Next-Gen Workplaces
Stressing on the significance of creating a ‘Circular Workplace Design’ and its principles, the panel speaker discussed what is inclusive design given the attention and details that it needs by architects & FMs and what measures are being implemented by companies in this direction. With regard to design development, they touched upon The process of creating the most efficient and effective office design for its needs. Operational challenges was another important topic the panel took up – clearing a path for commercial space operations and how operational challenges can be addressed at the design stage. Cost optimization has always been a – With the stress on budgets and RoI by management, how can design strategies work around cost optimization? Adopting strategies to ensure sustainability and success for workplace transformation. When creating and designing future workplaces, how does agile link to inclusive design? Do inclusive workplaces affect wellbeing?
Panel Speakers:
- Fancy George, CEO, Thomas Workplace Design
- Niladri Prasad Mishra, Head – Global Infrastructure, Infosys
- Renuka Rajagopal, Senior Director, Workplace, VMware Inc
- Roshan Gowda, Head – APAC, SAP
- Vinod Mathews, Regional Director, Global Real Estate & Facilities, Asia, AMAZON
- Vidyashankar Krishna, Joint Vice President – Marketing Head, Professional Lighting, Havells
Panel Topic 3: The Changing Nature of Work and the Workplace
The panel speakers discussed the current disruption, changes, and innovation in the workplace and commercial real estate while addressing the lack of meta-skills in the industry. They also mentioned why there is a requirement for resources to be equipped with skills other than mere technical knowledge. In an industry where poaching is so rampant, how can the ongoing challenge of training and resourcing be addressed? The importance of customer-facing skills and soft skills like negotiation in FM professionals and why has the industry been hiring resources with hospitality backgrounds? They also shared strategies dealing with change management
Panel Speakers:
- Shobha Regunathan, Founder, The Build ED
- Narasimha, Mercedes Benz India Research Centre
- Sanjeev Tullicherry, Director, Carelon Global Solutions
- Himachala, AVP – OPerations, EMIDS
- Nagendra Sharma, GM – South Region, Siemens Healthineers
- Vikas Chawla, Director – Employee and Workplace Solutions, Adobe
- Laila Khalil, Director Real Estate & Workplace Services, Salesforce
This strategic platform brought together the key stakeholders, industry champions, and thought leaders to deliberate on the key problems and chart out the future of the workspaces in India.