The BIFMA 360 conference is a bit like a week-long camp for office furniture executives, albeit at a swanky resort in a warm location. They spend time learning, they socialize with their peers and play a bit as well. The conference has become a must-attend for C-suite level execs, one of the few events where competitors become colleagues for three days, this year at the Vinoy Resort & Golf Club in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Not even a winter storm with bitter cold and snow that stretched across the country could stop the 200 or so attendees from coming together to hear an impressive group of speakers who challenged the group’s thinking on everything from the economy to AI. While about a dozen executives were truly stuck or stranded by the weather and didn’t make it, those who found their way to St. Pete were treated to another excellent conference.
BIFMA President & CEO Deirdre Jimenez said 209 attendees were registered, topping last year’s total. “Many of you are returning and I’m seeing more leadership teams being registered and attending. We have nine member companies who registered over four associates per company. JSI took the lead with eight. The conference is designed to provide leadership content and what better way to prepare your teams that determine the future of your company by hearing the same messages, taking them back and hitting the ground running.”
KI President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Krenke, who is serving a term as BIFMA board chairman, welcomed everyone to the conference. “The future of the industry will be determined largely by the people in this room,” he said. “There are other (events), you’ve got the NeoCon, Design Days, Clerkenwell, Orgatec and other venues where you can (develop your network), but this is really a terrific venue for all of us to broaden our network. For me, 360 helped me develop friendships in the industry.”
Attendees came from virtually every notable furniture and textile manufacturer and a number of major suppliers. Leadership from design organizations such as IIDA and ASID attended as well, along with trade show organizers, technology partners and dealer groups.
The event kicked off with one of the most popular activities at the conference, a “speed dining” dinner. The dinner works just like its speed dating counterpart with attendees assigned tables that shift and shuffle after every course, providing a great way for industry friends to catch up and reconnect and new relationships to form.
One of the most powerful aspects of the event is its focus on topics that are adjacent to, but not directly connected with the commercial interiors industry. It is not a conference filled with speakers on the commercial interiors industry. Instead, it focuses on topics that are important to executive leadership and designed to help boost the industry.
Ryan Estis, founder of Ryan Estis & Associates led off the conference speakers with “Human Centered Leadership in a Technology Driven Era.”
He framed his message around leadership, customer experience and human-centered growth, grounding it in personal experience. Estis began his career as a high-performing salesperson inside a Fortune 500 company, was promoted into management, and quickly learned that success as an individual contributor did not translate automatically into effective leadership.
His first leadership role nearly derailed his career, marked by turnover, poor performance, and personal frustration. A turning point came unexpectedly at a motivational event featuring Jim Rohn, whose message — focused on becoming better rather than wishing things were easier — reshaped his approach to leadership and change.
That lesson anchored his broader argument: the pace of change today is unprecedented and accelerating, particularly with the rise of artificial intelligence. He cites global discussions predicting AI systems that may outperform humans at most tasks within a few years. Arguing this moment requires a fundamentally different leadership model. Traditional approaches are insufficient. Instead, he advocated for human-centered leadership, which research shows outperforms traditional models in innovation, financial performance, customer relationships, and employee engagement.
At the core of this approach is customer obsession — measuring success through the lens of customer experience. He used Starbucks as a case study, noting that Howard Schultz reframed the company not as a coffee business, but as a human connection business. Customers, he argues, default to price only when value and experience are unclear. In today’s “anything, anywhere” economy, expectations are shaped by companies far outside one’s category, forcing every organization to continuously evolve its experience.
Estis stressed that employee experience and customer experience are inseparable. He pointed to Mayo Clinic, whose purpose — “the needs of the patient come first” — creates extraordinary alignment and engagement. Mayo’s commitment to “life-changing careers” shows how investing deeply in people leads to sustained excellence.
Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at The Economic Outlook Group, provided the group with an economic overview.
Baumohl argued that the U.S. economy is caught between optimism and instability, shaped by an unprecedented mix of political disruption, aggressive trade policy and geopolitical risk. While near-term economic growth looks solid, forecasting has become increasingly unreliable as politics and economics have become inseparable.
Despite widespread uncertainty, the speaker expects the U.S. economy to grow about 2.5% in 2026, with no recession on the horizon. Growth is being supported by fiscal stimulus, tax cuts, possible direct payments to households, massive investment in artificial intelligence and electrical infrastructure, low unemployment and anticipated Federal Reserve rate cuts later in the year. However, this stimulus comes with trade-offs: inflation is expected to rise into the mid-3% range or higher, and the federal deficit continues to balloon.
The most critical indicator to watch, according to Baumohl, is the 10-year Treasury yield. If long-term rates rise above 5%, higher borrowing costs could choke off investment, mergers, and overall economic activity. The risk is heightened if global investors perceive the Federal Reserve as losing independence or lose confidence in U.S. fiscal discipline.
Consumers, often described as “resilient,” show signs of strain. Household and credit-card debt are at record highs, interest rates on that debt are near 30-year peaks, delinquency rates are rising, and consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade. Tariffs have further increased the cost of everyday goods, adding pressure to household budgets and making it less likely that tax relief will translate into higher discretionary spending.
Trade policy remains a central concern. The expansion of tariffs — both primary and secondary — has disrupted global trade flows, prompting many countries to reduce reliance on the U.S. and deepen trade relationships elsewhere. History suggests such policies carry long-term risks, potentially weakening U.S. competitiveness well beyond the current administration.
For the office furniture industry, tariffs have driven up input costs, accelerated price increases and encouraged shifts toward domestic manufacturing, consolidation and alternative sourcing strategies. While demand is expected to grow 4–8%, growth will be uneven. Data centers are emerging as a major new driver of furniture demand, while healthcare shows strong prospects due to demographic trends. Education and traditional office sectors remain mixed.
AI was an important topic at the conference as the industry tries to figure out how it will be deployed.
Technology Strategist and Futurist Jim Carroll delivered a sweeping, deliberately unsettling argument about the speed and scale of change in reshaping manufacturing and related industries. His core message was blunt: The future is arriving faster than organizations are prepared for, and past success offers no protection. What matters now is speed, adaptability and the willingness to engage with emerging technologies before they become unavoidable.
He grounded this in three realities. First, most future jobs do not yet exist, illustrated by his son’s career as a drone pilot, an occupation unimaginable just a few years ago. Second, knowledge is becoming obsolete at record speed; much of what students learn early in technical degrees is outdated by graduation. Third, products themselves are aging faster, with technology-driven obsolescence now the norm. Together, these forces demand continuous reinvention.
Drawing on examples from NASA, the space industry, and pop culture like The Jetsons, he argued that the future consistently arrives decades earlier than expected. Industries underestimate long-term disruption while over-focusing on short-term change. The result is an “acceleration gap” between organizations that invest early and those that hesitate, especially smaller, legacy firms overwhelmed by the scale of transformation.
Technology is getting cheaper and faster and Carroll presented data showing exponential cost collapses across robotics, AI, batteries, solar, genome sequencing and manufacturing technologies. He emphasized that AI’s real impact lies in the fusion of machine vision, robotics, and simulation on the factory floor. Humanoid robots, once dismissed as science fiction are rapidly advancing due to falling costs, open-source development, venture capital and digital training environments.
Crystal Washington’s keynote was a practical, human-centered guide to understanding change without being overwhelmed by it. Speaking as a futurist and technology strategist, she argued that much of what is hyped, especially in technology, lacks real utility. Technology, she emphasized, must serve humans, and leaders should feel confident filtering out what does not.
Waiting for trends to be fully formed, she argued, is no longer viable given the pace of change. Organizations need to act earlier. A central theme was human adoption. Change may feel overwhelming, but technology cannot move faster than people are willing to use it. She illustrated this with examples like video calling and QR codes, both invented decades before mass adoption, which only occurred once conditions (smartphones, COVID) made them convenient and unavoidable. The current AI boom, she warned, sits squarely in a hype cycle. AI will be powerful, but its impact will be constrained by how, when and whether humans accept it.
She said technology cannot replace human connection. Automating tasks is useful; automating relationships is not. Tools like AI should make people “superhuman” in their relationships, not distant or generic. This is especially relevant for industries shaping public and work spaces, where design directly influences how people live, connect and feel.
Washington also outlined several long-term industry trends: flexibility and reuse outperforming new construction; healthcare demand remaining more resilient than office demand; education shifting toward workforce and adult learning rather than traditional campuses; and climate migration quietly reshaping where people live and work.
Janet Pogue McLaurin, principal and global director of workplace research at Gensler and Brandon Michael Larcom, senior associate and global director of product development at Gensler jointly presented research from the global design firm.
The presentation framed the future of the built environment around a single premise: Place is radically human. Design, particularly workplace design, must prioritize people, connection and lived experience over static efficiency. Using Gensler’s San Francisco office as a living laboratory, the speakers described a shift away from assigned desks and hierarchical layouts toward open, social, unassigned environments that encourage collaboration, choice and adaptability. Deep focus work is pushed to quieter, enclosed areas, while the heart of the space is deliberately communal. Research shows people are creatures of habit, but good design allows just enough flexibility to support changing teams, tasks and moods.
The pair also introduced Gensler’s annual Design Forecast for 2026, which identifies six converging trends shaping design across sectors: experience, human connection, agility and intelligence, repurposing, AI integration and future-proofing products. Experience is about how spaces make people feel and perform, not just about buildings alone. Human connection remains irreplaceable, even as AI advances; in fact, research on collective intelligence shows teams that combine in-person collaboration with AI outperform all others. The office, therefore, must be a destination, not an obligation, offering energy, learning and social capital that cannot be replicated remotely.
Repurposing existing buildings and furniture is emphasized as one of the most effective ways to reduce carbon impact, aligning sustainability with economic pragmatism. This thinking extends to product development, where modularity, adaptability, and multi-use design are essential as workplaces blend hospitality, wellness, and work.
Gensler research found high-performing workplaces balance effectiveness (function) with experience (emotion). These environments offer greater variety, autonomy and personalization, leading to higher job satisfaction, stronger teams and better business outcomes. Two-thirds of workers are currently “hacking” their spaces, especially for ergonomics and comfort, signaling unmet needs and opportunities for furniture innovation.
Jay Baer, customer experience strategist and marketing consultant wrapped up the conference with a presentation about elevating the customer experience.
Having seen multiple waves of innovation, he said AI stands out for its scale and speed, citing Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s assertion that AI may ultimately surpass fire and electricity in importance.
AI cannot be a company’s long-term “secret sauce.” It is necessary but insufficient. Ignoring it would put firms at a major productivity disadvantage, but adopting it only ensures parity. The speaker estimates AI and automation will return roughly 25% of organizational capacity through productivity gains. The strategic question is how leaders choose to reinvest that reclaimed time and resources, whether in R&D, M&A, growth initiatives, or customer experience. That decision, he argues, will separate average companies from exceptional ones.
Where companies should “zag” while others “zig” on AI is in humanity. As automation increases, human connection becomes more noticeable, rarer and more valuable. The most powerful driver of growth remains word of mouth, which is fueled not by products alone but by stories, particularly stories rooted in human behavior and care. Acts of humanity, not efficiency, are what people talk about. Research supports this view. Human-centered teams outperform traditional teams by 30%. Analysis of Yelp data shows restaurant reviews mention people far more often than food, underscoring that memorable experiences transcend the product itself.
Next year’s BIFMA 360 leadership conference will be held in Orlando, Fla. from Jan. 25-27 at the Waldorf Astoria in Orlando with registration and sponsorships open on June 25.
