The future waits for no one. But you already know that. What you might not know is exactly how ready you and your company are for the possible scenarios that lie ahead.
The world is changing at rapid speed. Roughly 1 in 5 American workers use AI in their jobs, and 64% of teens use AI chatbots, according to Pew Research Center. Trust is eroding — in part because of the increase in AI-generated videos and images, along with declining confidence in media, institutions, and employers — and loneliness is at an all-time high. Climate disruption continues: 2025 was the second or third warmest year on record (depending on the dataset used), according to the World Meteorological Organization, and those high temperatures are contributing to extreme weather. And while construction materials generate a third of global carbon emissions, environmentally friendly innovations are emerging, from lightweight and resilient material inspired by deep-sea sponges to “Superwood” that is stronger than steel.
That’s just a snapshot of the manifold changes that will affect the built environment and the design industry, and it’s crucial that we’re ready for whatever comes next. IIDA Futures, our new research and foresight practice led by futurist Mark Bryan, IIDA’s chief research and strategy officer, was created to help the industry tackle the uncertainties, opportunities, and challenges of today and tomorrow more proactively.
Recently, Mark Bryan and IIDA’s Executive Vice President and CEO, Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA, hosted a webinar giving a behind-the-scenes look at IIDA Futures. As part of that conversation, they discussed the forthcoming Future Readiness Index, a first-of-its-kind diagnostic tool designed to help the built environment evaluate its ability to perform under future conditions. Below are a few key questions, answers, and highlights from Mark and Cheryl’s discussion.
Cheryl Durst: How do we wrap our heads around the future?
Mark Bryan: The first thing is, you have to challenge some of your assumptions, because we often think of the future as a fixed point. What’s actually true is that nobody can predict the future. I can’t predict the future, even though I’m a futurist. Really, what we can do is take data, figure out what’s happening today, and then model out what could be possible. It’s about being open to the plausible versus just saying what the future will be. Because once you try to say, “here is the future,” that’s when you’re going to get it wrong. We have to stay open to change and ask, what do we really know? What do we need to study next? What do we truly want to answer and what do we need to let go of at the same time?
CD: So this is not about predictions, correct?
MB: Correct. Foresight in general is about exploring multiple ways that the future could unfold. It’s about saying, given how the futures could evolve, which parts of those do we really want to enable? Which parts of those do we want to prevent? And using that to make more informed decisions. That’s what foresight unlocks, and what IIDA Futures is meant to bring to the industry. We’re asking, what are we prepared for and what are we not ready for? And what do we want to do about it? What capabilities do we want to build based off the multiple potential futures that lie ahead?
CD: We are all swimming in trend reports, and who doesn’t love a good trend report? But how is IIDA Futures, and the Future Readiness Index, offering something a little different?
MB: I don’t know about you, but at the start of the year, I get the email bombardment of trends we should be paying attention to in the coming year. There’s nothing wrong with those. But the issue that I found is that we may read a trend report and think, “yeah, I agree with that. But what do I do about it?”
The Future Readiness Index, which we are launching on June 23, a couple weeks after Chicago Design Week, is a practical decision-making tool designed to move the industry beyond observation and into action. Unlike a trend report that you may read through once, the Future Readiness Index is designed for you to visit it repeatedly. It allows organizations to assess their future readiness and resilience and benchmark year after year. It’s almost like a health assessment. The index is based on more than 1,000 data points and covers multiple different macrosystems that cause change across the world. What’s really interesting to me is that we’re seeing broad behavioral change; how people act, what they do, and where they do it is evolving.
CD: Are there some specific readiness gaps you see right now in our industry?
MB: The good news is that our industry is not short on creativity or intelligence. I think a lot of people are fearful of new technologies diminishing our creativity or making us feel maybe a little less smart. That’s not the gap that I’m seeing. What I’m seeing is that the continuity of human lives is being disrupted on an almost-daily basis. Our attention is being disrupted because of technology. Climate change is disrupting where we can live, and what safety and resilience looks like. And we’re starting to live longer as humans, which brings opportunities and challenges. There’s a gap in really diagnosing and being prepared for what’s coming next. I would also say we are seeing some gaps in the proof that we might need for our industry, because clients and end users are asking for more data, more proof about the outcomes that we are trying to guarantee.
CD: What’s one of the most intriguing shifts you’ve encountered in your research?
MB: The two-speed workforce, which we could see in the next 10 years. Some workers are moving faster with AI adoption, which can create a big gap within the same organization. According to Gallup, 49% of U.S. employees report that they never use AI, but there’s a growing cohort of power-users — 12% of workers say they use AI every day, and 26% say they use it at least a few times a week. This points to a real divergence in workflow speed and output, which will affect not just employers but design firms, dealers, and manufacturers. AI power-users may need different spaces and products than slower adopters. It’s one of the many behavioral and societal shifts that will be covered in the Future Readiness Index, along with a roadmap for how our industry can stay ahead.