AI in Action: How and Why M Moser Associates Revolutionizes Workplace Creation with Generative AI

I am thrilled to share the story of how our global team has embraced generative AI to enhance our approach to workplace creation. This is the first in a series of articles where I will regularly share our AI journey, highlighting our progress, insights, and the impact we've achieved.

Why We Embrace Generative AI

Every industry is exploring the potential of AI, each with its own aspirations and sophistication levels. At M Moser Associates, we have opted for a practical, agile approach—one that allows us to quickly develop and adapt AI solutions, experiment, iterate, and build on what works. Our focus is on tangible, useful applications that can be rapidly integrated into our existing workflows.

Our internal ecosystem is diverse, encompassing professionals who strategize, design, engineer, manage, and deliver fully integrated workplace solutions. This includes a strong emphasis on sustainability and wellness, aligning with our holistic and technology-enabled approach.

Our projects range from delivering 1.4 million square feet for Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) to transforming a power plant into Dyson's headquarters, and completing HSBC’s new office in New York’s Hudson Yards. With 27 global locations and numerous significant projects, seamless integration of our efforts is critical. Our answer to “why” we are embracing AI is not just to increase efficiency but to deliver superior value to our clients by creating and delivering optimal workplaces that meet their unique needs.

How AI Enhances Our Work

Despite our established methodologies, world-class experts, and a proven track record of excellence, we saw the potential for AI to bring significant improvements. Here’s how generative AI is making a difference for us:

1. Enhancing Creativity: AI provides new perspectives and innovative ideas, expanding our creative horizons.
2. Facilitating Knowledge Sharing: AI helps us manage and disseminate knowledge more efficiently across our global teams.
3. Experimentation, Prototyping, and Simulations: AI enables rapid testing and iteration of new concepts.
4. Supporting Agile Work Practices: AI tools enhance our ability to adapt quickly and respond to changing project needs.
5. Gaining Insights from Data: AI improves our ability to analyze data and extract valuable insights.
6. Creating Compelling Narratives: AI aids in developing engaging stories, explanations, and descriptions for our projects.
7. Enhanced Analysis of Needs: AI helps us better understand client needs and identify potential value creation opportunities.
8. Identifying Opportunities: AI assists in uncovering new business and project opportunities.
9. Effective Data Utilization: AI enhances our decision-making processes by making better use of data.
10. Focusing on Innovation: AI automates routine tasks, allowing us to dedicate more time to creative problem-solving and innovation.

Our Journey into AI

First things first: many of us had been experimenting with ChatGPT since its release in November 2022, which left us in awe. I had previously nurtured a creative technology team focused on developing apps, but with ChatGPT, we quickly saw a new direction.

We initially experimented with tools like LangChain and Hugging Face, creating chatbots and apps to explore the potential of generative AI. While coding with AI has gained prominence, we discovered that, at the outset, it required substantial technological understanding. The true breakthrough came when we realized the broader applications of AI beyond just coding.

Recognizing the potential, our company partners introduced a reimbursement process for OpenAI accounts, allowing everyone at M Moser to experiment with ChatGPT. This initiative lowered the barrier to entry and encouraged widespread exploration of AI’s capabilities. Surprisingly, many friends, associates and some colleagues were at first initially unaware of ChatGPT. We needed to rapidly change that and this only served to highlight the importance of this accessibility.

By March 2023, with the introduction of ChatGPT-4, we understood the need to expand beyond coding and embrace skills like prompt engineering, language proficiency, and creative use of prompts. By September, we formalized our AI efforts, creating a dedicated team to integrate AI into our processes strategically.

Looking Ahead

In the upcoming articles, I’ll share practical examples, successes, and challenges we’ve encountered. We’ll explore how we formed our AI team, set goals, developed AI assistants, and engaged our people in this transformative journey.

Join me every Tuesday as we delve deeper into our AI integration journey. I hope our experiences will offer valuable insights for your teams as well. If there are specific aspects you're curious about or want me to cover, please let me know in the comments below.