This Week In Coworking

Week 44 of 2026: AI agents for coworking operators, a hidden security risk in plain text files, a Brooklyn space at 100% occupancy, and a debate over whether "grown-up" coworking still needs community.Hector Kolonas is joined by first-time guest co-host Igor Dzhebyan-Benjamin, CEO and co-founder of Spacebring, a week after Spacebring Intelligence's launch. Igor walks through its three parts: an assistant operators can chat with, agents that run on a schedule or trigger (chasing unpaid invoices, flagging member milestones), and MCP connections that link Spacebring with tools like Claude and ChatGPT. He also shares how a prospect's trial was set up from their website in 13 minutes.From there, they get into prompt injections hidden in text files, how Spacebring limits what each agent can access and logs every run, and why the recent PHP and Node.js vulnerabilities show AI finding old security holes faster. Plus: how The Shop Workspace in Gowanus filled every office, why WeWork turning up on Jeopardy is good news for the whole industry, and the debate between Tobias Kollewe and Johanna Voll over whether coworking's "grown-up phase" leaves room for community.Chapters0:00 This week's lineup0:58 Meet Igor and Spacebring Intelligence3:41 Agent recipes: milestones and payment chasers6:05 A trial set up in 13 minutes6:56 Designing for the operator experience8:37 Prompt injection and AI agent security14:20 PHP, Node.js and AI finding old holes17:18 Is every system really on fire?20:00 Gowanus hits 100% occupancy21:59 WeWork on Jeopardy24:02 Coworking's "grown-up phase" debate27:26 One day, coworking is just workingRead the Week 44 issue: https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-44-2026/#coworking #flexspace #AIagents #proptech

If New Yorkers are back in the office, what is flex for?David Harrell is an office leasing broker at Colliers. He started out as a prosecutor and later helped launch WeWork's in-house tenant rep brokerage. He joins Hector Kolonas at his office overlooking Bryant Park to talk about Manhattan's flex market: why flex is a permanent part of it, why a 25-desk team room request below 34th Street turned up just two options, which landlords will and won't do deals with coworking operators, and what an operator needs to bring to get space in New York.Links and show notes at https://twic.co/bigcityflexThey also get into why management agreements and revenue shares are a hard sell while the office market is this strong, and why a lease is what investors and buyers are really paying for. David covers which US markets do better for coworking than their size suggests, and the trends he's watching: bigger team rooms, dedicated bench desks, and managed office.Chapters0:00 Intro0:51 David's coworking story6:40 Is flex permanent in Manhattan?12:01 Not two tiers, many tiers15:06 Do Class A landlords want flex?18:24 Second-tier buildings and landlord stigma20:40 What landlords want from operators24:01 Coming to Manhattan in 202727:09 Leases vs. management agreements31:50 Why leases make or break M&A33:39 The best markets beyond Manhattan37:00 Suburban coworking and the "trailing spouse"38:32 Trends to watch#coworking #flexoffice #NYCrealestate #CRE

More links and show notes at https://twic.co/newceoIvan Guberkov joined OfficeRnD's early team, helped take it from zero to more than $15M ARR, and went on to lead sales, the hybrid work launch and product before stepping into the CEO role. He sits down with Hector Kolonas to talk about what the company learned from two years of leadership changes, why coworking is getting 80% of its focus again, and how it plans to roll out AI agents and open up its data through MCP without losing operators' trust.They also get into the RealPage vs. EliseAI fight in multifamily, who should be responsible (and who should get paid) when outside tools plug into an operator's data, and what OfficeRnD customers can expect to change over the next 12 months.Chapters0:00 Welcome0:51 How Ivan got into coworking4:16 Lessons from two years of change8:11 Two products, 80% coworking11:27 Vibe coding, MCP and open data15:08 Inside the AI Hub20:31 Can outside agents plug in?22:17 RealPage vs. EliseAI and walled gardens28:29 Who's responsible, and who gets paid?32:00 What changes for customers (and what doesn't)34:39 Vibe maintenance and what's next#coworking #flexspace #proptech #AI

Hector Kolonas and William Edmundson recap key items from the This Week in Coworking Week 42 (2026) newsletterFollow along with Week 42's (2026) Coworking News: https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-42-2026/They share iPostal1’s “28-minute” operator checklist to grow virtual address revenue, including updating listing photos and adding iWorkspaceMail as a white-label digital mailbox revenue stream, then “rewarding yourself” after completing the steps. They discuss major real estate and flex signals: leadership transitions at Hines and its building-as-flex approach, and Tishman Speyer’s 150-year Chrysler Building lease with plans to invest $235M and expand pre-built suites and flex. The episode also covers a reported 30% rise in offsite bookings, Flexday’s fractional offices, hotel membership models as a potential competitor, and a “launch week” strategy for new spaces, including staging offices and consultative selling supported by AI research.00:00 Welcome and Week 42 Preview01:00 Sponsor Spotlight iPostal101:27 28 Minute Revenue Boost02:48 Step One Update Photos04:46 Step Two Add iWorkspaceMail05:58 Step Three Coffee and Tools07:05 Big Story Hines Leadership Shift09:03 Chrysler Building Flex Future10:50 New SKUs Offsites and Fractional Offices14:48 Hotels as Coworking Competitors17:23 Launch Week and Space Staging Tips20:42 Consultative Tours and Using AI23:53 Wrap Up and Goodbye

Host Hector Kolonas is joined by co-host Sam Shea (ex-Workbar, ex-WeWork, ex-LiquidSpace; now at Uniti; and founder of FLOC—Future Leaders of Coworking) to discuss the 2026 Coworking Tenure Survey and key Week 41 stories. Read the Week 41 newsletter at https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-41-2026/Get the free 2026 Coworking Tenure report at https://twic.co/tenure/resultsThey review survey findings from 37 operators across five regions, including that 78% report entry-level staff staying a year or more, with drop-off often occurring around 2–3 years, and that defined career paths correlate with lower churn. Reported reasons for entry-level departures include limited career progression (39%), moving industries (39%), and compensation (31%). They discuss internal promotion splits (some promote most managers internally, others few) and optional revenue-per-employee results where 33% reported $300k–$500k. The episode also covers AI agent adoption (a master agreement bringing Uniti to the Vast franchise network), an IKEA franchisee case study on reskilling, HubSpot’s shift toward consumption-based pricing, Alcove’s expansion to 33 pods including Manhattan, and a FLOC collaboration pub quiz at GCUC UK in London.00:00 Welcome and Sam Shea00:43 What is FLOC01:49 Tenure Survey Key Findings03:18 Career Paths Reduce Churn05:13 Why Staff Leave06:03 Promoting Managers Internally08:11 Revenue Per Employee Insights10:35 AI Agents Enter Coworking12:47 AI Reskilling Lessons17:13 HubSpot Pricing Shakeup20:20 Alcove Pods Expansion21:43 GCUC London Wrap Up

Hector Kolonas hosts the Week 40 (2026) recap of This Week In Coworking with guest co-host Cat Johnson, discussing upcoming events including GCUC UK in London, a Coworking Creators meetup, the Coworking Creator Summit, and October and November convos, plus a surprise trivia game at GCUC UK powered by This Week In Coworking and hosted by FLOC. They highlight a Cobalt resource on pricing psychology (price anchoring, the endowment effect, frictionless signups, and effective discount framing), then explore how AI personal assistant agents from Meta and OpenAI could shift booking and search behavior and what that means for coworking ecommerce, reviews, and positioning. They also cover Google Sheets gaining Gemini-powered board-style interfaces, the risks of “vibe coding” without maintenance, and implications for tech stacks and coworking space sales. Finally, they discuss Tamara’s public response to a “bad member” and review bombing, emphasizing transparency, community trust, and online context.00:00 Welcome and Birthdays00:40 Cat’s Event Sprint01:31 GCUC UK Trivia Tease02:19 Pricing Psychology Wins04:33 AI Agents Change Buying10:08 Aggregators and Incentives11:26 Gemini Sheets Goes No Code13:29 Vibe Coding vs Maintenance15:16 Exit Strategy and Tech Stack18:34 Handling a Bad Member22:16 Community Support and Wrap

In this episode of the Week 39 recap, host Hector Kolonas is joined by Ivailo Ivanov, VP of Product at OfficeRnD, to discuss three critical topics from this weeks newsletter for the coworking industry:1. A "catastrophic booking failure" case study: Analyzing how breakdowns in access, staffing, SOPs, and Wi-Fi can ruin the member experience despite a successful booking.2. Branding over overcrowding: An argument that flex workspaces aren’t suffering from overcrowding, but rather a lack of clear branding. We compare coworking differentiation to hotel tiers and emphasize the need for clearer expectations based on specific use cases.3. AI in coworking: A product-focused deep dive into OfficeRnD’s utility-first approach. We explore implementing sales agents and web chat widgets to drive conversions, and experimenting with conversational analytics for faster data insights.Follow along at https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-39-2026/Or subscribe for the free email newsletter at https://twic.co/subscribeWe also offer a warning against the risks of "vibe coding" bespoke systems, emphasizing that long-term maintenance and security require more than just a surface-level approach.Chapters:00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:23 Catastrophic Booking Fail04:10 Fixing Ops and WiFi Basics09:03 Branding Not Overcrowding12:18 Power Outage Reality Check12:39 OfficeRnD AI Philosophy14:44 AI Adoption Types19:28 AI Sales Agent and Conversion22:49 Conversational Analytics and Data Trust24:26 Vibe Coding Warning25:52 Wrap Up and Thanks

Host Hector Kolonas recaps week 37 of 2026 with guest co-host Perla Caballero from Alliance Virtual Offices calling in from Monterrey after attending the GWA conference, where she led roundtables on excellence management and member loyalty, drawing on experience from WeWork and Airbnb. Follow along with the web-version of the free newsletter at https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-37-2026/Perla shares Alliance revenue opportunities for operators beyond virtual offices, highlighting meeting rooms as a lead generator for new members. They discuss Sarah Travers’ view that companies now proudly use flexible offices as a hiring and operational advantage, and explore corporate demand for managed, amenity-rich private offices. They also cover Jamie Hodari’s point that restrooms and “hidden” spaces shape the overall experience, suggesting tours, photos, and potentially ratings for bathrooms and other amenities. Finally, they review OfficeRnD’s tech survey, which shows integration challenges rising to 68%, and discuss how well-built integrations and instant bookings reduce workload and improve responsiveness.00:00 Welcome and Introductions00:36 GWA Denver Highlights01:37 Perla Career Background02:07 Alliance Revenue Streams03:25 Coworking Credibility Shift06:02 Enterprise Flex Office Benefits09:21 Restrooms Matter Too13:16 Tours Ratings and Bathrooms16:39 Tech Survey Integrations23:03 Wrap Up and Where to Meet

In the Week 36 (2026) recap of the This Weekend Coworking podcast, host Hector Kolonas and guest co-host Mark Furness discuss Mark’s reacquisition and take-private of essensys, his renewed focus on building faster with AI, and what “AI at the core” means: agentic capabilities across essensys Platform (network/WiFi), elumo (meeting room access and monetization), and Operate (lead-to-cash/ops system) via more autonomous operations and natural-language interfaces. They debate where AI agents should and shouldn’t replace deterministic workflows, rising concerns around data security as workers bring their own tools, and the need for interoperable, best-in-class stacks. They cover improving onboarding/activation journeys, insights from Flexspace data on full-day bookings (median eight seats), the importance of distinguishing buyer vs user, and why utilization data is a stronger signal than occupancy, including plans for MCP-enabled access to essensys data and a push toward autonomous flexspace operations.00:00 Welcome and Introductions00:41 Mark Reacquires Essensys02:44 AI at the Core08:50 Agents vs Infrastructure11:39 Security and Data Risks16:14 Autonomous Ops Use Cases19:37 Onboarding and Activation20:55 Flexspace Booking Data23:44 Fixing the Arrival Experience28:41 Occupancy vs Utilization32:15 MCP and Data Access35:25 Wrap Up and Thanks