Artificial intelligence is changing the workplace, but technology is only part of the equation. Matt Tucker and Jessica Schmidt explore how leaders can prepare their organizations for the future of work by balancing AI adoption, workforce expectations and employee development.
Artificial intelligence is transforming the workplace, but successful organizations know that technology alone isn't enough. Recorded live at World Workplace Europe, Dr. Matt Tucker sits down with Jessica Schmidt, Future of Work Strategy Lead at EY, to discuss how leaders can prepare their workforce for the future of work. Together, they explore evolving talent expectations, AI leadership, workplace strategy and why organizations must balance technology, physical workplaces and human behavior to create lasting business value. They also discuss the skills leaders need, why only a small percentage of organizations are realizing measurable returns from AI investments and what facility managers can do to prepare for the future.
Timestamps:
Jessica Schmidt: [00:00:00] We talk so much about how we can... invest, and it's a productivity breakthrough and so on. But behind all this enthusiasm, from our organizations the reality's a lot more sobering because the report shows that only 28% of companies currently turn their AI investments into actual business value.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Wow.
Jessica Schmidt: So we still have a very long way to go.
Host: Welcome to Connected FM, a podcast connecting you to the latest insights, tools, and resources to help you succeed in facility management. This podcast is brought to you by IFMA, the leading professional association for facility managers. If you are ready to grow your network and advance in your career, go to IFMA.org to get started.
AI is transforming the workplace, but successful organizations [00:01:00] know that technology alone isn't enough. Today, host Dr. Matt Tucker, IFMA's Director of Knowledge and Insights, sits down with Jessica Schmidt, an associate director at EY, to discuss how leaders can prepare their workforce for the future of work.
Together, they explore evolving talent expectations, workplace strategy, and why organizations must balance technology, physical workspaces, and human behavior to create lasting business value. Now, let's get into it
Dr. Matt Tucker: Welcome to the Connected FM podcast. I am very, very privileged to have Jessica Schmidt from EY with, with me today. The topic for this live podcast is around the future of work.
We want to explore how leaders are navigating AI, we wanna look at the evolving talent expectations, and really looking at the changing role of the workplace. So [00:02:00] before we start, this is definitely not about me. This is about this wonderful lady here. You
Jessica Schmidt: promised
Dr. Matt Tucker: Well, we're gonna have a fantastic dialogue now Yeah ... but before we start, Jessica, would you like to briefly introduce yourself and tell us- Sure ... about your role at EY?
Jessica Schmidt: Yeah. So my name is Jessica Schmidt. I'm the Future Work Strategy Lead in the Nordics within EY, which means I get to develop and take all the offerings within Future Work to the market with our clients.
It's a very fun role and we do a lot of work on all these topics, so we have an ambitious theme for this dialogue. We're gonna cover a lot. Absolutely. But in addition to be working at EY in my day job, I'm also a IFMA board member in Sweden.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yes, for- Yeah ... IF- IFMA Sweden.
Jessica Schmidt: Yes.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yes Yes, wonderful.
And you also deliver a wonderful podcast, so I feel slightly intimidated by this situation- ... 'cause you would normally be in my seat, right?
Jessica Schmidt: That's exactly right. I would normally be in your seat, most often asking the [00:03:00] questions rather than having the questions- ... handed to me, but it's good to be out of your comfort zone at times.
Yeah,
Dr. Matt Tucker: I think this is gonna be good. So let's kick off. Yep. We're gonna start by looking at the big picture. But, Matt? Yes.
Jessica Schmidt: Who are you?
Dr. Matt Tucker: Who am I? Okay. So I'm Matt Tucker, for those of you that don't know. I'm the Director of Knowledge and Insights for IFMA, so, I am normally on a stage talking about the insight initiatives that we have within IFMA and trying to really raise the awareness of, of different FM topics like the one that we have today.
So yeah, welcome everybody. Thank you for reminding me. So let's look at the big picture. Let's look at the future of work. Big topic. We could probably spend a day talking about it.
Jessica Schmidt: For sure.
Dr. Matt Tucker: But what I wanna... what I would like to ask you is when you think about the future of work from a strategic perspective- Yeah
so when we look a little bit higher up here, what do you see as the most important forces that are shaping organizations right now?
Jessica Schmidt: Yeah. So I mean, when you [00:04:00] look at it from exactly that, a strategic perspective, I, I see a few forces converging at the same time, and that is, in all honesty, what makes this moment fairly complex.
Mm-hmm. It's hard to really grasp all of it, but also at the same time trying to navigate. So I, I would say the first one is actually demographics. Workforces are aging in the market, and expectations across generations are somewhat diverging. Often the talk about generation becomes about stereotyping.
That's not really what I want to do, but rather the fact that we have different expectations at different times in life.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yep.
Jessica Schmidt: It doesn't necessarily have to do with age, so just putting that out there. But remembering that we are getting older and careers are longer, they're more fluid, and it's no [00:05:00] longer designed around, I'd say, one single stage of life, so that you really need to consider.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yeah.
Jessica Schmidt: Then I would also say I mean, the second one is what we heard from the former keynote speaker, it's all about technology, especially AI, and it's not just a productivity tool. We heard a lot before about how you can do more things at a better speed and so on, but it's really a fundamental change in how we work and how work actually is distributed between humans and systems, and I think we got a good introduction to that already.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yeah, you mentioned that word about diverging of, of- Yeah ... perhaps different generations. Mm. And I think the most common thing you see when people talk about generations and workplaces, they like to stereotype these- Yeah ... groups of people. From the research that you've done at EY, how, how do you see that?
Is it that [00:06:00] stereotypical profile of each generation or, or is it a more blended viewpoint?
Jessica Schmidt: It's definitely a more blended thing. I'm almost, I wanna say, allergic to the whole generational dialogue of Gen Z and Gen X and so on. It's not every single person the same age- Yeah ... or born in the same decade is the same, and I think that's very important to consider so you don't end up in that stereotyping perspective.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yeah.
Jessica Schmidt: However, the, the third thing I would like to mention, similar to this, it's all about talent expectations. Mm. So that we do see people are asking very different questions today than we have before, and there may be where you are in life also comes into play to some extent. Rather than talking a lot about where to work from, which is in all honesty a lot what media tends to focus on.
Mm-hmm. What's more important is why we work, how we work, and how we can really get the best conditions [00:07:00] to already today, but also into the future work in a more sustainable way. Yeah. So we as people get a more sustainable and healthy balance in life.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Sure.
Jessica Schmidt: And then, Just thinking about what's also spoken about in the key initial keynote here on stage, it's all about productivity.
Many leaders feel pressured to get more output faster and employees on the other hand, are experiencing, what should I say, somewhat of a work becomes increasingly fragmented, and there there's a tension. You need to perform more, you need to do more in a shorter time, but it also feels like there's more pressure.
So it's not only about adding tools, like adding AI won't, won't solve the entire situation we're at hand in right now. Yeah. So it's organization that really manages [00:08:00] to balance and consider all of those themes and combining it rather than keeping them in separate conversations, I said, will have a much, much better chance.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Sure. I wanna take a couple of things you said there, which moves nicely onto the next theme that I would like to cover. Yeah. You mentioned balance, you mentioned sustainability. Yeah. I, I enjoy listening to and reading the things that, that you do at EY, and one kind of phrase or term that you often use is bricks, bites, and behaviors, and trying to look at this holistic model of how we could, we could tackle the workplace.
Yeah. So, Could you briefly explain for the audience and the, and the listeners what bricks, bites, and behaviors are, and why you would take that approach to try and look at them together in balance rather than what maybe some organizations do, focus in on one and not the others?
Jessica Schmidt: Yeah. No, that, that's a very good question, and I mean, when I talk about bricks, bites, and behaviors and the [00:09:00] way we designed it within EY I really talk about, as you also mentioned, the full system.
So because it's the, it's the m- the whole of that that really shapes the world we're in right now in the workplace. And I mean, bricks, bites, behaviors in itself has been around, it's what we ca- talk about it, but there's this famous guy called Bill Gates. He started talking about places tech, and people already in 2005, where he said we're in a new world of work.
His company at the time could not just focus on being a software company, the tech part. We had to understand the other perspectives, and that would become their new product in the future. I mean, so this has been around and already before that.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Sure.
Jessica Schmidt: But when we talk about bricks, bites, behaviors, bricks is really about the physical places.
Mm-hmm. So workplaces spaces, facility management, sustainability. Whereas bites then is the technological aspect of the [00:10:00] workplace. It's data, tools, platforms, tech in general is the short definition of it. And then behaviors, it's all about understanding sustainable ways of working, how can we collaborate together, what are our needs today, and what do we think will be the needs in the future- Mm-hmm
and so on. And there I would also say that, I mean, in, in practice when combining these, true value is only created when you bring that holistic perspective.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Mm-hmm.
Jessica Schmidt: And when those three are, I would like to say, like intentionally aligned... I know we are most likely, both you and I, and a lot in the room are probably bricks people at, at heart or at least initially.
But the most important thing, I, I always want to highlight this, is really what we then refer to as the behaviors. Yeah. Because if you don't understand the people or your employees and you don't understand the needs of [00:11:00] the organization, you're gonna struggle- Mm-hmm ... with the solutions you bring out. So- I mean, you c- I can give a s- example in our world, like if you were to design a workplace Yep
let's say an office, but you don't work with the leadership when doing it, or you don't adapt or support or nudge the right kind of behaviors, it's, it's not gonna be the ex- the experience you're after. And same thing goes if you just roll out the technology without adapting your ways of working around it, you're not gonna get the desired outcomes.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Sure, yeah. I mean, I, I, I think this term bricks, bites, behavior is very fitting when we think about the future of work. Yeah So, you know, traditionally we would refer to things like the triple bottom line, or we would refer to things like- Yes ... people, place, planet.
Jessica Schmidt: Yeah.
Dr. Matt Tucker: But they almost feel a bit too behind the times now, [00:12:00] whereas we think about bites, for example, and we can think about the technological influence that we have on place and we think about behaviors, which is really at the heart of people.
It's... People are always gonna be coming in and out of a workplace- Yeah ... even if AI exponentially grows and, you know, there's some scary statistics about, you know, reducing workforces down from 10 to 1 or whatever it might be. But ultimately, the, it means people have to change their behaviors in how we work and in a facility management perspective, this is an evolving challenge for organizations.
So I think that that leads nicely to the next part, where I wanted to look at organizations from a, a sort of top level down and think about leadership. Now something we do at IFMA, we run an event called an executive round table.
So what that is, is we get senior FM professionals, CEOs MDs, directors in a room, [00:13:00] and we put them to work. We, we talk about a cutting edge topic which is really, really important to their business, and we ask them for their opinions on what they're doing to lead change.
Jessica Schmidt: Yeah.
Dr. Matt Tucker: We did one yesterday, which is on the very theme I wanna ask you about, which is around how they are leading an AI transition within their FM organizations.
Jessica Schmidt: Yeah.
Dr. Matt Tucker: So I know EY have done work around this and, and yeah, I, I think I'd like to ask you what your opinion is on that, of what you've seen from the, the senior executives that you deal with. What
Jessica Schmidt: they need to work with and how they can lead?
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yeah. Yeah. Sure, and what, what they think maybe, you know, what capabilities to, to...
what capabilities does a leader need, you know- Yeah ... to really identify All of this mass change that we're seeing in this AI minefield to really hone in on the teams they need to do the FM jobs that are still gonna be the same in, in five, 10 years. Buildings need to be operated. They need to be [00:14:00] managed efficiently.
Host: Are you looking to stay ahead in facility management? Join us at IFMA's World Workplace Conference and Expo, 18th through 20th of November 2026 in Anaheim, California. Here you can connect with facility management professionals from around the world, explore the latest workplace technology and solutions, and gain practical insights you can apply right away.
From expert-led education sessions to powerful networking opportunities, World Workplace is where the future of FM comes together. Register today at worldworkplace.ifma.org.
Jessica Schmidt: Yeah. So what we see, and one of the strongest messages from this year's EY Work Reimagined Survey 2025, which launched just before- Which is a
Dr. Matt Tucker: great document, by the way ...
Jessica Schmidt: Yes. It's a, it's a global survey. I can just give a little bit of [00:15:00] background- Mm-hmm ... so you understand the context. We've done it...
We started in 2020. This is the 11th version, so we released one to two each year since then covering both the employer and the employee perspective because it's important to grasp both. And this year's survey was answered by about 17,000 respondents- Wow ... across the globe, covering 19 sectors.
Amazing ... the organizations are mid-sized to large-sized companies. So I think the smallest, in order to qualify, you need to be at least 1,500 employees. Okay. But- So we're talking big companies ... but I'm sure that some of you in the room have also been part of answering this. So what we... One of the strongest messages is really about that an AI-enabled organization is not about technology.
It's back to what your question is all about. It's, it's leadership capability challenge. And the way we [00:16:00] talk about it in EY is we kind of divide it and say that you need these three capabilities. We talk about tool set, skill set, and mindset.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Okay.
Jessica Schmidt: And I'll try to break them down,
Dr. Matt Tucker: Tool set, skill set, mindset.
Jessica Schmidt: Yes.
Dr. Matt Tucker: I like that.
Jessica Schmidt: So on tool set, it's... doesn't seem that advanced, but it is all about leaders need to ensure that their teams have the right tools for the right roles. And you also need to implement clear guardrails because many employees are already using AI, and we saw that, saw that already before as well.
Sometimes you bring in an AI thing that you're working with at home into the workplace, and that makes provides issues with transparency and clarity. So you need to ensure that my people, as a leader, have the right, the right tool set. Sure. So that's the first one [00:17:00] And then, okay, if you have the tools, what do you need then?
You need the right skills. Mm-hmm. So leaders need to ensure that their people have enough AI literacy. Yeah. I mean, we need learning around this, and we see a huge difference where you invested a lot in learning and where you have not. It's all about ensuring that you can make informed decisions you ask the right questions at the right time, and you can guide your teams with confidence.
Because if, if you don't it's a lot trickier. So the survey really highlights the fact that learning is really a productivity multiplier. Yeah. So you need to do investments in this. And then last but not least, it's all about- Mindset ... the mindset. Exactly. It's about trust and openness and how leaders talk to their teams-
Dr. Matt Tucker: Mm-hmm
Jessica Schmidt: uh, about productivity, about performance [00:18:00] at work, and also about how it will impact their jobs.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yeah.
Jessica Schmidt: Where leaders are transparent and intentional, and where individuals can really feel that and they see that and they know what to expect. And also where leaders support their teams to set goals and intentions around AI use.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Mm-hmm.
Jessica Schmidt: So you can nudge them, "Okay, Matt, why don't you do this week or each week try and use AI this amount of times?" Hmm. "Or try and see if you can enable this process by just playing around with AI, and we'll see what we get out of it." Yeah. I mean, that's really the key, having the right mindset and guiding people through it.
Mm-hmm. Because otherwise, I mean, we do see the tension. We know people are worried. Will it go from 10 people in my team to one because of AI?
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yeah.
Jessica Schmidt: Maybe, maybe not. What will we do with the time we have at hand now [00:19:00] when I got so much faster and so on? It's really, really important because then you can see it as, as an addition and a complement to what you do, rather than a threat.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yeah. Do, do you see on the mindset perspective organizations or, or employees within organizations embracing the use of AI, or is there still an element... And I remember when this, you know, really came to fruition a couple of years ago- Yeah ... and there was a fear around using it. If I put my academic hat on, I've worked for almost 20 years in a university it, it was almost like students can't use that.
It's cheating. And now it's embraced. You know, the way in which they approach the assessments at, for students, it, they, they need to make it their friend, not their enemy, and e- and enable the students to use critical thinking through the use of AI rather than saying, "That's off the table."
Jessica Schmidt: Yeah.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Has that kind of mentality translated into the commercial corporate [00:20:00] world?
Jessica Schmidt: I'd say so, for sure. And we should remember that even when we step into the corporate world, we're still just the same human
Dr. Matt Tucker: Exactly
Jessica Schmidt: So, so those, those feelings and thoughts are majorly there. And also, I mean, another interesting number that I like to highlight from the survey in itself is on this topic because we talk so much about how we can...
how we invest, and it's a productivity breakthrough and so on. But behind all this enthusiasm, both from high up to, to the floor of our organizations the reality's a lot more sobering because the report shows that only 28% of companies currently turn their AI investments into actual business value.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Wow.
Jessica Schmidt: So we still have a very long way to go.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yeah.
Jessica Schmidt: And a lot of those example that are highlighted, they're very cool, it comes from [00:21:00] those tech billionaires.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Mm-hmm.
Jessica Schmidt: That's not day-to-day business or operations for most people and most organizations out there yet.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Especially within FM, right?
Jessica Schmidt: Especially within FM.
Which- There's a lot of potential and a lot of things that we can continue to work with
Dr. Matt Tucker: Mm-hmm
Jessica Schmidt: I mean, anything from starting to integrating AI agents into the work, because you should also remember that we separate from basic AI use to advanced AI use, and today, the basic AI use is those, "Can you please help me summarize this document?"
Yeah. "Can you rewrite this email for me?" And if you only look, like, 12 months back, that was advanced use.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Absolutely.
Jessica Schmidt: Whereas now, advanced use is rather agentic AI, how can I optimize, what can I do, how can we optimize this process with the help of these agents and so on? How can I build my own agents, which we can already do if you have access to one of those tools.
Yep. I can build one uniquely for me and for my tasks, and I can [00:22:00] activate it, and it works in the background. But you really need to know what's the purpose-
Dr. Matt Tucker: Mm-hmm ...
Jessica Schmidt: what will I get out of it and you need, you need to have clear ways of understanding and, and good support for what's suitable, what's not suitable.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Sure.
Jessica Schmidt: Mm.
Dr. Matt Tucker: So I wanna move to the final question for, for this podcast. And I think it, it cuts across all the things that we've covered- Yeah ... in this conversation. What strikes me is we've, we're talking more here about people and behaviors rather than the technology itself and the bytes part, and you can't have one without the other.
The technology is almost easy.
Jessica Schmidt: Yeah.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Adopting that and changing that- With people is the hard bit. You mentioned towards the beginning about the fact that the FM industry is getting old. There will be many people retiring over the next five years. You might have a percentage for me, I don't know, but it's a lot.
Jessica Schmidt: It's
Dr. Matt Tucker: a lot. We're talking about a large chunk- Mm ... that won't be in this industry in the next five years.
Jessica Schmidt: Yeah.
Dr. Matt Tucker: So that leaves a gap. Okay? [00:23:00] One of the wonderful things about World Workplace Europe, there are so many young professionals around, and I love... I- this is my favorite event because it brings such a buzz to the room.
People that want to join this industry and be part of this industry Is that happening out there in the corporate world from what you see? Are... How are employees tackling this, this talent gap that I think we're, we're starting to see, and what skills are they looking for you know, over the next two to three years?
Jessica Schmidt: So, I mean, yes- ... is the short answer to that question. But what's important is also to remember that we are getting older. There are large sections of the workforce that will be retiring, but we should also remember that we are working longer and longer now. Many of the countries in the European Union have increased the number of years before you get public pension and so on.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Sure.
Jessica Schmidt: So, so we need to consider that. But yes, of [00:24:00] course, we need to adapt.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Mm.
Jessica Schmidt: We have spoken in recent years about something that's referred to the Great Resignation when it comes to employees actually the tendency of them saying that w- they would like to move to a new employer within the next 12 months.
So that's also a shift we need to consider. Yeah. And the Great Resignation, the term, comes from the fact that we saw that actually happening, not just people saying they would do it. Yeah. So we need to really provide a good employer value proposition- Mm-hmm ... for our people. And I think one of the key things that people and employees are looking for, young or old, is really about expectations especially around what we have been speaking about here now.
Yeah Productivity and value. It's not just about that I wanna save hours. People wanna feel that I'm doing good at work.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Mm-hmm.
Jessica Schmidt: I'm developing, I'm getting learning and development within [00:25:00] my role. And we also see a shift there that thinking of AI and in general, so not just FM, but I think it's representative as well.
You see a demarcation line between people who are getting less than 40 hours of learning and people who are getting more than 40 hours of learning. And what they then look for at their current employer and if they would like to change employer differs. If you're one of those who've gotten fewer hours of learning, you, you tend to switch job for a better pay overall solution, or you want to get career advancement.
Whereas, the people that we see have gotten more learnings around AI are actually looking for exactly that, more development- Mm ... more learning, more access to flexibility and actually remote work. And what's really interesting here is also the fact that the people who've gotten more than those 40 hours- are 55 times more likely to change employer.
So, I mean, we're saying, [00:26:00] of course, we need to invest in learning, we need to invest in our people, but you need to consider it from a holistic perspective-
Dr. Matt Tucker: Yep ...
Jessica Schmidt: because you need to have something more than that to offer- Absolutely ... to keep, attract, and retain the best people because I don't think there's any organization in the room who wants to stay with those who just stay around and might not be the best performers- Yeah
because they have left. So there are a lot of perspectives that we need to consider in this, dialogue where we are now in order to both adhere for and understand things are changing in the market. We are seeing many people retire, but we also need to ensure that it's not just the young people who do the learnings.
The learnings, the development needs to be across the entire spectrum- Sure ... of the people we have within an organization.
Dr. Matt Tucker: Wonderful. I could talk to you about this all day long. Yeah. Some fascinating viewpoints. I really appreciate your time, Jessica. Thank you very much.
Jessica Schmidt: Thank you.
Host: [00:27:00] Thanks for tuning into the Connected FM podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show because it really helps us reach more listeners just like you. And don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you never miss an episode. See you next time.