Ep. 408: "Be More Human" – Embracing AI, Robotics and the Future of Workplace Strategy with Kevin Sauer, MCR.w of Nhance.ai & Sauer Strategy Works, LLC

we talk about here, Kevin, these are the key issues covered in this very short podcast.

So I want to get to some of it quickly, if you don't mind me just kind of cutting you off and kind of wonderful story.

Didn't mean to give you the hook early, but it's like I could talk to you for 20, 30 minutes about that, I'm sure, because you've been to so many places.

You've seen the world.

You've seen the impact of data and technology and technology.

and what it does to workplaces today.

And here we are in the middle of 2026 with so many people listening to us from the perspective of a facility management or corporate real estate leader trying to do what's right for their organization and be a workplace innovator.

So I wonder when you said, hey, Mike, sure, I'll come on your show, what do you think about? What does it take to be innovative in the workplace today? I

mean, I think you have to really... kind of challenge prior assumptions and also not get caught in the trap of what's been done before.

I think probably the greatest thing ever happened was COVID because it really kind of shook things up, challenged assumptions.

I mean, I was big into driving kind of activity-based working, shared desking, and there was always a pushback of, oh, we can't do that for any number of reasons.

And then suddenly pandemic comes and, wow, that's no longer an issue.

We can actually do that.

So I think it really changed the dynamics and the understanding of what is the relationship between work and place? And now I'm even more excited about AI because it starts to bring together a lot of the elements that as a human or as an individual, it's hard to kind of think about all the different elements that come together to support people in the work, the type of work they're doing, and what that could look like in the future.

And now we can actually kind of crunch that and test out theories and hypotheses much faster.

And I think it's really going to revolutionize our industry in good ways and bad ways, but that's kind of the way of –

Take it all, right? Yeah, the good with the bad.

Well, we'll talk more about it.

I want to hear your views on AI and its potential and its power.

And maybe if there is a downside, the warnings you might issue to my audience of workplace leaders.