If Netflix ran your office.

A few weeks ago I went to CoreNet Amsterdam, the annual gathering of the European chapter of the global network for people working in and around corporate real estate. It was great to reconnect with familiar faces, meet a few new ones, and take the chance to hear some fresh ideas.

These kinds of events can be a mixed bag when it comes to content, which I don’t necessarily mind, but I made a point of doing the homework and picking out the sessions I thought would land well. Over the next few weeks, I’ll share some reflections on what I heard and what stuck with me.

First up was futurist Anders Sörman-Nilsson.

I’ll be honest, I’m always a little cautious when it comes to futurists. Their ideas can often feel just vague enough to escape accountability, and chances are they won’t be around to see if any of it comes true anyway. But over the years I’ve come to appreciate the role they play. At their best, they help push your thinking into new territory — even if it’s just by helping you figure out why you don’t agree with them.

That said, Anders was actually pretty good. Unsurprisingly, AI played a major role in his talk, but what stood out was his focus on the human impact of it all. It got me thinking about the work we do at Audiem and how, at its core, it's all about understanding the human voice inside the workplace.

On one level, it’s obvious — we capture human stories. And we do it at scale. Our platform gives people the freedom to express how they really feel about their work and workplace, while giving workplace teams the confidence that nothing’s getting missed. Just to put that in context, we’ve recently worked with a global organisation that shared over 30,000 survey responses with us — each with three open-text questions. You do the math. That’s a mountain of words. Now imagine having to read it all. The good news? You don’t have to. That’s what we’re here for.

We give teams the reassurance that they’re seeing the full picture.

And then Anders said something that really stuck with me. He described AI as “someone else’s brain chemistry wrapped up in a story.” I hope I got that right. Either way, it made me think.

Because I talk all the time about the impact that James Pinder — Audiem’s co-founder — has had on the development of our platform. He’ll hate me saying this, but he’s a genuine multi-threat. He’s PhD-level in Facilities Planning and Management. He’s lectured and researched at the same level at two universities. He’s consulted on workplace strategy with major corporates. He’s taught research methods, understands data science, and — just to round it all off — he can build AI-powered applications too.

It’s that totally unique blend, in my opinion, that sets us apart from the wave of generic AI tools popping up everywhere. Because when Anders talks about brain chemistry wrapped in a story, that’s exactly what Audiem is. It’s James’ thinking, experience and technical ability, brought to life in a way that helps real workplace teams solve real problems. And that’s where Ian and I come in — we help shape and share the story.

But the bit that really struck home was when Anders spoke about Netflix. Specifically, the data they bring together to shape their service.

Now, we all know they track what you watch — but it goes much deeper than that. They know when you pause, what you rewatch, what you skip. They track which thumbnails you hover over, what device you're on, what time you tend to watch, what you start but don’t finish, who your favourite actors are, what genres you keep coming back to. They even test different cover art to see which image will most likely make you click. And they use all of that not just to recommend what you’ll like next, but to decide what to commission, when to promote it, and — let’s be honest — how likely you are to keep paying your subscription.

Anders made a link between Netflix’s data model and the idea of smart buildings, and it gave me a bit of an epiphany. If we’re serious about creating “self-driving” buildings — a concept that’s been hovering around the CRE space for a while now — then we need to ask: what’s the equivalent of the viewer feedback? Because it’s one thing to adjust lighting, temperature or layout based on sensor data or badge swipes. But how do we know whether any of it actually made a difference?

With Netflix, the clicks, scrolls and watch time tell one part of the story — a bit like occupancy or utilisation data in a building. But they scrapped written reviews years ago. What they don’t really have is the deep qualitative feedback — the emotional, human reaction — to help them understand why something worked or didn’t. And that’s where workplace has the opportunity to go further.

If buildings are going to adapt themselves based on human behaviour, then people need to be the control measure. Did the change help them focus? Did it improve performance? Did it make them more likely to stay? That kind of insight doesn’t come from a motion sensor — it comes from listening properly. And maybe that’s our biggest contribution at Audiem. We help collect and decode the human feedback that adds depth and direction to all the behavioural data — so workplace teams aren’t just reacting to what people do, but understanding what they feel and need.

Because if Netflix can personalise your viewing experience, then surely we can personalise work. We’ve just got to ask the right questions.

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