Transcript:

Caroline Woods : What’s the number one reason companies are adopting AI in the workplace?

Mark Dixon: Well, for us at IWG, it’s about speed and it’s about better customer service. It’s about automation. It’s about lower costs. So there are a lot of drivers for AI adoption for us.

We’ve got nine million customers — it makes sense. You need to get computerized. We’ve been doing it for a while, we’re just investing a lot more in it now.

Caroline Woods: Now, your latest CEO or C-suite 2026 outlook shows that CEOs are optimistic, but they’re very focused on costs and cutting costs. How are companies balancing growth while being mindful of the bottom line?

Mark Dixon: It’s a tough challenge for any business to save costs while growing. What they’re doing is saying: if I’m going to adapt my business and develop my business, I’m going to do it quicker.

So business development and innovation cycles are much shorter. Companies want to innovate fast. They want to fail fast. That’s being adopted by a lot of companies. That’s number one.

Number two, they’re confident but they know there’s volatility. They’re trying to keep their costs under control and flexible. They outsource as much as possible, keep everything variable that can be made variable, and stay agile.

They don’t want to get bogged down with heavy capital-intensive projects. So be capital light, be flexible, but invest in the right things and get results quickly.

Caroline Woods: We talk a lot about CapEx, especially with hyperscalers. I would think adopting AI in the workplace would be pretty capital intensive.

Mark Dixon: No, not really. It’s actually very good value.

We’ve been amazed by the level of investment required and the returns you can get. It’s still in its infancy, but the return on investment is very attractive for any company.

Caroline Woods: Are companies actually seeing that return on investment?

Mark Dixon: Yes, absolutely. It’s a key part of our strategy.

It doesn’t really work for very small companies, but for scaled-up businesses, the cost savings are significant. The improvements in customer engagement are significant too.

These benefits — for relatively low technology investment compared to the returns — make it very compelling.

Caroline Woods: Talk to me about how your communications with customers are improving with AI, because some people say they get frustrated when redirected to a bot instead of a person.

Mark Dixon: It’s interesting — that’s what people say if you ask them. But the reality is, I’ve listened to the calls with bots. They work 24 hours a day. They don’t get answers wrong. They resolve issues quickly.

You can’t use a bot for every job, but if you pick the right ones, you get a significantly better outcome.

Simple things like “I don’t understand my invoice” — bots are very good at explaining it. I’ve seen them answer ten questions in a row from a customer email and go through them logically. They’re outstanding.

Another use for us is scheduling. We have AI tools looking at weather, train times, and multiple databases to work out how many people we need in a particular location at a particular time. They scan everything and come up with the right results immediately.

That speed is what AI gives you.

Caroline Woods: Those jobs were done by people before. What are those people doing now?

Mark Dixon: They actually weren’t done by many people — maybe a couple — and they weren’t done very well.

Now we get better customer service by having the right people in the right place at the right time. We don’t have more people, but we get a much better outcome. It’s a more efficient use of people, and people are a major cost for our business.

Caroline Woods: Let’s bring it back to the C-suite survey. CFOs are trimming budgets by about 10% on average. Is that higher than in previous years?

Mark Dixon: They probably do that every year. That’s what we do. Every year we look to cut our budget by 10% to become more efficient.

The real issue is where you find the savings. CFOs have to get more creative every year. How can you be more efficient? How can you make people more productive? How can you automate processes to reduce leakage?

You’re not going to get 10% just by cutting a bit here and there.

Caroline Woods: Five years from now, what do you see for the future of work?

Mark Dixon: It’s going to be so digital you wouldn’t recognize it.

It’s like Amazon. No one ever imagined warehouses delivering everything to your door. My daughters order from Amazon several times a day. That transformation changed retail — and work will change the same way.

Technology-driven companies will be totally different from analog ones. The pace of change is accelerating, and AI will speed it up even more.

Everything will become faster, more efficient, more transparent.

Caroline Woods: What’s your best advice to business leaders as things change so rapidly?

Mark Dixon: You need to run your business at two speeds.

Separate your AI and new business methods team from your business-as-usual team. Business-as-usual teams are busy with day-to-day work and tend to resist change.

You need a fast gear focused on the future. Because in five years’ time, your business will be very different — and you need to be ready.

Caroline Woods: Is AI taking our jobs?

Mark Dixon: It will change many jobs and take some jobs. It will also create many jobs. But net-net, you’ll need fewer people.

AI is best at taking away admin tasks and repetitive work. That’s the reality.