The next time you visit an office, could you be met in the lobby by a robot receptionist? Will the coffee in your meeting be served by a cyber assistant? It might sound far-fetched but, with global companies such as EY and Google using new tools to track employee attendance, technology is already transforming the office.

As we enter what looks to be another technological revolution, this time powered by artificial intelligence, technology has the potential to renew the purpose of the office by providing workers with the space and resources required to work to the best of their ability. But we need to understand the opportunity in full to make the best use of it, and to avoid bringing in tech where it is neither necessary nor helpful.

Technology is one of the forces identified by the British Council for Offices (BCO) as having an important impact on real estate and the workplace, and forms one of the pillars of the BCO’s new research agenda, alongside economic change, new business structures and the rise of environment, sustainability and governance (ESG) principles.