In episode 396, host Mike Petrusky speaks with Tonya Thornburgh, an accomplished workplace leader with years of experience and a passion for leaving people, places and things better than she found them. Mike asks Tonya about her career journey and why she believes continuous evolution, experimentation, and learning from failures are essential to long-term innovation and maintaining relevance in the workplace industry today. They explore how innovation in the built environment is less about adopting flashy new tools and more about deeply understanding human behavior, removing friction, and designing adaptable systems. As AI is transforming workplace strategy by enabling more personalized, intuitive, and data-driven experiences for employees, Tonya says that empathy and human experience should remain central to workplace innovation.
Agenda
Exploring how AI and workplace technology can reduce friction while enhancing the human experience
Understanding the evolving role of workplace and facilities teams as strategic value creators
Designing employee-centric environments that support productivity, clarity, and well-being
Building cross-functional ownership of employee experience across HR, IT, finance, and workplace teams
What you need to know: Workplace takeaways
Takeaway 1: Innovation starts with people, not technology
“Innovation isn’t necessarily about chasing the shiny tools or the hot new topic,” Tanya explains. “It’s about understanding human behavior, removing barriers, and creating systems that can adapt to the needs of people.”
Throughout the conversation, Tanya emphasizes that true workplace innovation is grounded in empathy and observation. The most impactful solutions come from deeply understanding how employees work, where friction exists, and how environments can be designed to support clarity and ease.
Technology — especially AI — should be viewed as an enabler, not the goal. When innovation remains human-centered, tools become vehicles for better experiences rather than distractions from them.
Takeaway 2: AI creates value when employees see real benefit
AI is rapidly transforming the workplace, enabling personalization, automation, and more intuitive support. However, Tanya stresses that adoption only works when employees clearly understand the value these tools bring to their daily work.
When AI is used to remove manual tasks, surface actionable insights, and simplify complex workflows, it helps create a “consumer-like” workplace experience — one that feels seamless and intuitive.
The opportunity isn’t just efficiency; it’s empowerment. By translating data into meaningful insights, workplace teams can make informed decisions that directly enhance employee experience and organizational performance.
Takeaway 3: Workplace teams are shifting from cost centers to value creators
“I think it’s really focusing on shifting our roles of being seen as a cost center to really being recognized as a value creator,” Tanya shares.
Modern workplace and facilities management functions are increasingly strategic. By leveraging data, AI, and cross-functional collaboration, these teams can influence real estate decisions, drive cultural outcomes, and demonstrate tangible business value.
Rather than simply maintaining spaces, workplace leaders are now shaping environments that support talent, productivity, and long-term growth — elevating their role within the organization.
Takeaway 4: Employee experience ownership is shared, not siloed
A recurring theme in the episode is that no single team “owns” employee experience. Instead, it’s a collaborative effort spanning HR, IT, finance, real estate, and workplace teams.
Successful organizations break down silos and align around shared outcomes, ensuring that policies, tools, data, and physical spaces work together seamlessly. This collective approach allows leaders to remove friction more effectively and create consistent, meaningful experiences for employees.
Takeaway 5: Curiosity and empathy are essential leadership skills
“Really stay curious,” Tanya advises. “Get comfortable with continuous learning, especially around AI and data. You don’t have to be the expert, but you do need to understand how these tools shape decisions.”
The episode closes with a reminder that leadership in the evolving workplace requires humility, adaptability, and empathy. Innovation doesn’t demand overnight transformation; it’s built through steady experimentation, learning from failure, and staying grounded in the human experience.
Or, as Tanya puts it simply: “Just stay human.”
Learn more about Eptura’s Flex/26 New York and explore the full library of Workplace Innovator podcast episodes for an in‑depth look at workplace insights.
Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/H2whdDD9ZCY?si=2TaKto_YhQs6ktCn
