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Density co-founder and CEO Andrew Farah spoke at the Axios “What’s Next” summit in April 2022 about the future of sensor technology, its potential when deployed on a city-wide scale, and the importance of privacy when collecting utilization data. Below are a few takeaways from the conversation.

There are hundreds of millions of square feet of space in the workplace that are completely unmeasured. What if we could measure all those millions of square feet?

“I think, largely, everything would change,” Density CEO Andrew Farah says. “Energy use would change, access would change, physical design of the space itself would change, and ultimately it would end in the modified skylines of cities.”

At Density, we have always believed that if, for example, New York City all of a sudden knew how it was used, it would identify its inefficiencies and redesign itself. An entire city reliably knowing how it was used would unlock a world of new possibilities.

But with measuring all this space comes concern over employees’ reasonable expectation of privacy.

We recently surveyed more than 1,000 employees to understand what they see as the benefits and challenges of hybrid work. Privacy was ranked by employees as the number one feature of the smarter workplace.

Nearly 60% of all respondents said they’d feel uncomfortable in the workplace if employers used camera-based technology to monitor utilization.

“I think if we’re not careful… this sort of massive acceleration in investing in new infrastructure for buildings and cities can result in [an accidental surveillance state],” Andrew says. “That is not a world I would like to live in.”

Watch Andrew’s full conversation above.