New research found that 34% of businesses plan to increase the number of in-office days in 2025. This trend is prompting enterprises to enhance their use of artificial intelligence (AI) and cross-platform data analytics to better manage workplace occupancy and ensure a balanced employee experience throughout the workweek.
That’s according to Eptura’s latest annual Workplace Index report, which is based on a survey of 200 operational leaders and insights from 25 million global users. The worktech company said its report uncovers a critical paradox in technology: Enterprises aren’t suffering from a lack of tools—they’re struggling with too many disconnected systems. In fact, two-thirds of companies are using anywhere from six to as many as 40 different solutions to manage workplace operations.
“Despite the abundance of workplace technology, many organizations are struggling to harness its full potential due to disconnected systems,” said Eptura CEO Brandon Holden. “Instead of driving efficiency, fragmented tech stacks create decision-making bottlenecks, making it harder to streamline workflows, analyze data effectively, and adapt to evolving business needs.”
Among the key findings, enterprises highlighted their top operational challenges:
- Disconnected tech is impeding informed business decisions: Respondents said the biggest barriers to analyzing data are multiple dashboards and gathering meaningful insights across different systems, with 37% of organizations using 11 or more full-time employees to collate, analyze, and report on worktech data. In addition, 50% of businesses are using, on average, 17 standalone technologies to manage workplace operations.
- Enterprises are struggling to realize the full value of AI: Over half of organizations report insufficient skill sets and cross-platform integration as the top obstacles to deploying AI. Most businesses’ use of AI is at an early stage, primarily deployed for chatbots, dashboards, and diagnostics.
- Rising office attendance is exacerbating real estate portfolio challenges: 34% of businesses are looking to increase office attendance this year, and over the past three years, the volume of visitors per location has nearly doubled. This is placing more pressure on leaders to balance workplace experience with optimizing space utilization.
- Difficulty demonstrating ROI is slowing technology integration: More than two-thirds of businesses cite budgetary constraints as the key restriction to integrating workplace, buildings, and facilities technologies. Their No. 1 challenge in securing budget is a lack of perceived value in integrated solutions.
Despite these barriers, Eptura said its research highlights a clear path forward: True digital transformation comes from a unified operational approach and integrated technology across the organization.
Takeaways to optimize workplace operations include:
- Increase efficiency by consolidating operational data: The three key opportunities for organizations seeking to increase value across business functions are leveling occupancy across the working week, optimizing real estate portfolios, and increasing asset life cycles.
- Prioritize AI to drive experiences: The top two areas businesses plan to implement AI in the next 12 months are to enhance employee experience (77% of respondents) and automate visitor management (68%).
- Rise of the digital workplace leader: Organizations are turning to a new role to manage hybrid needs, with three-quarters having hired or in the process of hiring a digital workplace leader over the last 18 months.
- Technology value increases as systems become more connected: Enterprises that progress from separate solutions to fewer vendors and integrated platforms will maximize—and be better able to demonstrate—value from their investments.
“This year’s findings serve as a critical wake-up call,” said Holden. “By leveraging AI-driven analytics and cross-platform integration, organizations can enhance workplace efficiency, optimize their real estate usage, and extend asset life cycles—ultimately driving better decisions.”
The 2025 Workplace Index is available for download here.