Physical offices are being redefined with a focus on collaboration rather than mere occupancy. The office is now considered a destination, rather than the default working environment. In the 1988 science fiction novel “Mona Lisa Overdrive”, William Gibson repurposed the phrase “There is no ‘there’ there.”  to describe cyberspace as a realm devoid of physical location but full of connections, highlighting the internet's delocalized nature. In the modern workplace, “there” is an obsolete concept.

The shift to hybrid and remote work has generated requirements for endpoint management and end-to-end connections that can withstand attack by unfriendly actors. While much has been written about zero-trust and other security technologies, the online banking system is the model that should be used. Trillions of dollars are exchanged every day, and the banks do not require virus scanners, VPNs, or endpoint management. They essentially have been using zero trust longer than the concept has been well known.

The rise of AI brings both transformative potential and new risks. AI agents will track endpoints and operators, learn their patterns, and report any deviations. Integrated with other organizational systems, these patterns will be automatically adjusted. The development of agentic AI agents will also significantly affect the the modern workplace. These agents, equipped with access to organizational information as permitted by their creators, can autonomously expand their capabilities through learning.

As someone who developed some of the first remote work technologies and governance, and who worked remotely for 20 years, I can help you navigate the changing organization structures necessary to support the hybrid workplace, the technologies required to support it, and create the policies the regulatory environments will demand.