Dear Diary, Part. 2: Still delulu, slightly more solulu.

There’s this unspoken assumption that being Gen Z automatically makes you a digital oracle. Yes, I did grow up with the internet and gadgets, but I also remember a time when I wasn’t using tech 24/7. I remember being outside, playing by the pool and scraping my knee on the asphalt from rollerblading. So, while I may be part of the “digital native” crew, I’m not exactly out here coding in my sleep.

But let’s get back to the matter at hand, the elephant in every meeting room—or more accurately, the algorithm behind it: AI.

In corporate real estate, AI is no longer just a buzzword. It’s not a slide at the end of a presentation or something the innovation team is “looking into.” It’s already here. It’s in workplace experience platforms, smart building systems, energy usage dashboards, and yes—even the way we interpret how people move through office space is being shaped by machine learning.

On one hand, I love the idea of working smarter. Why spend hours manually formatting spreadsheets when a system can generate insights with a click? That’s time I could spend doing higher-level work—or let’s be real, having lunch that isn’t inhaled at my desk.

On the other hand, am I being replaced? Is that little chatbot in our BOX platform going to take my job one day?

Despite all the new tech, one truth still stands: real estate is about people. It’s about how spaces feel. How they support culture. How they either help—or completely hinder—collaboration.

You can’t automate a vibe. You can’t replace the gut feeling you get when a space just works. And you definitely can’t programme empathy, at least not yet.

Gen Z understands this. We’re the generation that values experience, wellbeing, and authenticity. We’re not just designing for efficiency—we’re asking questions like, “Does this environment support mental health?” and “Can someone actually thrive in this space?” Sure, AI can give us the data, but it’s on us to ask the human questions. To translate numbers into meaning.

The first time I used an AI tool at work it generated our client’s competitor analysis in seconds—something that would’ve taken me days. It was 70% there, which was both impressive and slightly soul crushing, but I leaned into it. I asked more questions. I refined the output. I learned. And in a weird way, the AI was learning too.

That’s what this new era is asking of us—not perfection, but adaptability. We don’t need to have all the answers; we just need to know how to ask better questions.

Another thing AI hasn’t replaced? The value of mentorship. If anything, it’s made me appreciate it more. With information coming at you faster than ever, having someone who can help you filter it—who can say “this matters, that doesn’t”—is invaluable.

We’re living in this weird hybrid era where traditional experience meets digital fluency. And as Gen Z professionals, we’re often the ones bridging that gap—translating between two worlds, sometimes within the same meeting.

So here I am: still figuring it out, still delulu, and still learning one AI prompt at a time.

AI isn’t going away—and honestly, I don’t want it to. It’s helping us build better, think faster, and challenge what’s possible. But the best workplaces—the ones Gen Z wants to build and belong to—are the ones that don’t lose sight of the human behind the data.

So if you’re reading this and feeling a little lost, a little intimidated, or a little “how is everyone so chill about all this?”—same. You’re not behind. You’re just in the middle of a very fast-moving train. And the good news? You’re not riding it alone.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk (again). Signing off—but not before I ask ChatGPT if this article is engaging and reads well.