There was a time when “office optimization” meant counting heads, dividing by desks, and hoping the math worked out. You paid rent on 1,500 desks because that’s what you’d always paid. You ran HVAC 24/7 because someone might be working late. You installed meeting room displays by calling electricians, drilling walls, and waiting for IT to configure everything. That was expensive. That was normal.
Now there’s a Dutch software company that can tell you exactly which 450 of those desks nobody’s using, calculate the million-pound savings if you cut them, and give your building owners sensor data that pays for itself in energy savings alone. No hardware sales. No installation crews. Just software that connects people to buildings and buildings to people—and makes both sides more valuable.
The office infrastructure problem didn’t get solved with better hardware. It got solved when someone made the building itself intelligent enough to prove what it’s actually worth.
The Problem: You’re Paying for Office Space Nobody’s Using
GoBright is a Dutch Smart Workplace software company established in 2016 that helps building owners optimize office space through sensor-driven analytics, room and desk booking, and building management tools. The platform integrates with Microsoft 365, Teams, and Google Workspace to provide real-time occupancy data, energy monitoring, and space utilization insights that enable companies to cut unnecessary real estate costs—in some cases saving over $1 million annually. GoBright operates through a 100% partner-driven model, working with AV integrators who handle hardware sales and customer relationships while GoBright provides the recurring software platform.
Walk into most corporate offices managing 1,500 employees and you’ll find roughly 1,050 desks—70% coverage, which used to be the standard. But with hybrid work, those desks sit empty most days. You’re still paying rent on them. You’re still running power to them. You’re still cleaning around them.
Chris Wieger, CCO, from GoBright, is direct about the math:
“If you have an office with 1,500 employees, you probably have 70% coverage of desks. That’s 1,050. I dare to say that without tools, you can cut back 450 desks to 600 because you don’t need them anymore.”
The European norm requires five square meters per desk. In expensive cities like London, office rent runs $300-400 per square meter. Do the math: 450 desks × 5 square meters × $400 = over $1 million in annual savings on office rent alone.
But here’s the problem: without data, you’re guessing. Facilities managers don’t know which desks are actually unused versus occasionally used. They don’t know which meeting rooms are booked but never occupied. They don’t know where the energy waste is happening.
GoBright solves this by turning your office into a data-generating asset.
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From Booking Tool to Building Intelligence
GoBright started in 2016 as a booking platform—rooms, desks, parking, spaces. That’s still the foundation. But the platform evolved into a building management solution that uses sensor data to optimize how the entire office operates.
“We connect people to the building and the building to the people. If you have a building management solution with all kinds of sensors, nobody’s reading the data. But if you can give the data back to the users, they know how to use the building correctly. And if you use the data from the users—how they book, where they book, their favorites, when they come in—we can utilize the building better and save lots of money.”
Wieger explained
The platform now includes room and desk booking integrated with Microsoft Outlook, Teams, and Google Workspace; sensor data for occupancy measurement, people counting, humidity, CO2, and temperature; energy monitoring that tracks power consumption of unattended desks and screens, cutting power automatically when spaces aren’t in use; digital signage; and analytics that help building owners optimize cleaning schedules, reduce HVAC costs, and prove ROI.
The ROI on GoBright’s platform is high because it’s not about adding infrastructure—it’s about making the infrastructure you already have work smarter.
Why GoBright Doesn’t Compete with Integrators
Most software companies want to own the customer relationship. GoBright does the opposite. The company is 100% partner-driven, meaning it works exclusively through AV integrators, resellers, and installation partners who handle the customer relationship, invoicing, hardware sales, and ongoing support.
“We do talk to end customers, but we always introduce a partner to do the invoicing, help out with the installation, maintain the contacts. They need to sell the hardware products. If we have room booking software, we don’t sell the room booking panels. That’s where the partner comes in.”
Wieger said
This model works because it aligns incentives. AV integrators have spent decades selling hardware with shrinking margins and one-time revenue. GoBright gives them recurring software revenue on top of the hardware they’re already selling.
For a company managing 1,500 employees, GoBright might charge $50K in software licenses. The integrator sells the hardware, installs the system, and maintains the relationship. The customer gets a comprehensive solution. The integrator gets recurring revenue. GoBright scales through partners without needing its own sales and installation infrastructure.
“In our business of Smart Workplace solutions, there’s a lot of consolidation these days. There’s a lot of equity coming in, because we seem to be the new gold, especially for AV integrators, because we add software, recurring business to the hardware people want to sell.”
Energy Savings, AI Integration, and Cisco Partnership
At ISE 2026, GoBright showcased its latest product roadmap, which extends the platform beyond booking into environmental monitoring and energy optimization.
The new features include a gateway and sensors for people counting, humidity, CO2, and temperature monitoring; energy-saving capabilities that monitor power consumption of unattended desks and screens, automatically cutting power when spaces aren’t in use; integration with Cisco and WebEx; an AI chatbot within Teams that allows employees to book spaces conversationally and learns preferences over time; and integration with utility device management platforms so that if a booked meeting room has a broken screen, the system automatically rebooks the employee.
The energy-saving features alone create ROI. If you have 400 unattended desks with screens and docking stations on standby, the power consumption is significant. With proximity card tap-in at booking devices, power only comes on when someone actually uses the desk. The investment pays for itself in four years through energy savings.
“If you have 400 desks unattended, but there are two screens on and a docking station on standby, the power consumption is huge. You can monitor that. We can cut off all the desks. As soon as you come to the desk with your proximity card, you tap into our booking device. The power comes on. The little investment for that you earn back in four years.”
Scalability from Three Rooms to 300 Buildings
One of the most compelling aspects of GoBright’s platform is that it scales from three meeting rooms to 300 buildings without changing the core model.
Small offices with just a few rooms can use GoBright for basic booking and digital signage. Large enterprises with hundreds of meeting rooms can use the full platform—occupancy analytics, energy monitoring, environmental sensors, and building optimization.
“We’re there for customers who have three meeting rooms. Fine. Come in. We will help you out. We do digital signage to spread every message from every space. Even if you have only two licenses, we love you as a customer. But on the other hand, because we can connect everything in the office and use your current infrastructure, we also attract a lot of large offices, large buildings.”
The platform is modular. You stack features like Lego. You only pay for what you use. There are no per-user fees—just asset-based pricing. And because GoBright integrates with the tools companies already use, there’s no separate app employees need to learn.
It’s workplace intelligence that doesn’t feel like workplace technology. It just works.
The Future Where Buildings Prove Their Own Value
Imagine a workplace where every desk, every room, every sensor, and every screen is connected. The building knows when you’re coming in. It knows your preferred temperature. It knows which rooms are booked but never used. It knows which desks are drawing power with nobody there.
Now imagine that same building generates a report every month showing exactly how much money it’s saving you. $1 million in eliminated desk costs. $200K in energy savings. 30% reduction in cleaning costs because the system knows which areas were actually occupied.
The building isn’t just infrastructure anymore. It’s a data-generating asset that proves its own ROI.
“When I started in 2017 to set up the whole commercial business, I said, ‘My goal is to become a real brand, well known by everybody. Second, every potential customer that comes to market and says we’re going to tender for this—we at least want to be in the top five and get an invitation.’ That’s now happening because of the customers we have, the great partner landscape we have of resellers, and the great integration partners we have.”
The gap between “we think we need less office space” and “we know exactly which 450 desks to eliminate and how much that saves us” is widening. On one side, you have companies still guessing. On the other, you have companies with platforms like GoBright feeding them data that turns real estate into a strategic asset.
The office that proves its own value is the one that survives. The platform that makes buildings intelligent is the one that scales. And the partner model that makes everyone more valuable is the one that outlasts consolidation.
GoBright isn’t selling software. It’s selling certainty. And in a world where hybrid work makes every square meter of office space a question mark, certainty is the new ROI.
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FAQs
What is GoBright and what does the platform do?
GoBright is a Dutch Smart Workplace software company established in 2016 that provides room booking, desk reservation, parking management, and building optimization through sensor-driven analytics. The platform integrates with Microsoft 365, Teams, Google Workspace, and Cisco WebEx to help companies optimize office space usage, reduce energy costs, and improve employee workplace experience. GoBright operates through a 100% partner-driven model, working with AV integrators and resellers who handle hardware sales and customer relationships while GoBright provides the recurring software platform.
How much money can companies save using GoBright’s workplace analytics?
Companies managing 1,500 employees can potentially save over $1 million annually in office rent by using GoBright’s occupancy analytics to identify and eliminate unused desks. The platform’s sensor data shows which desks and meeting rooms are actually being used, enabling data-driven decisions about space optimization. Additional savings come from energy monitoring features that reduce power consumption by automatically cutting power to unattended desks and screens, with ROI achieved in approximately four years.
Why is GoBright’s partner-driven model valuable for AV integrators?
GoBright’s partner-driven model allows AV integrators to add recurring software revenue (typically $50K+ per enterprise deal) on top of traditional hardware sales, transforming one-time transactions into ongoing relationships. Partners handle customer invoicing, hardware sales, installation, and support while GoBright provides the software platform—meaning integrators own the customer relationship and capture both hardware margins and software licensing revenue. This model addresses the industry shift toward recurring revenue as Smart Workplace solutions attract equity investment.
What new features does GoBright’s latest product roadmap include?
GoBright’s latest product roadmap includes environmental monitoring (people counting, humidity, CO2, temperature), energy-saving features that monitor and control power consumption of unattended desks, integration with Cisco and WebEx platforms, an AI chatbot within Teams for conversational booking, and integration with device management platforms for automated room rebooking when equipment failures occur. The platform also introduced new gateways and sensors that extend building intelligence beyond basic booking into comprehensive facility optimization.
How does GoBright scale from small offices to large enterprises?
GoBright uses a modular, asset-based pricing model with no per-user fees, allowing companies to start with just three meeting rooms and basic booking features, then scale to hundreds of rooms with full occupancy analytics, environmental monitoring, and energy optimization. The platform integrates with existing infrastructure (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Cisco) and works through partner networks for installation and support, making deployment practical for both small offices and global enterprises managing multiple buildings.
What happens if every building becomes intelligent enough to prove its own ROI?
If workplace platforms like GoBright make every building capable of generating data that proves its value through occupancy analytics, energy savings, and space optimization, the office stops being a fixed cost and becomes a strategic asset with measurable performance. The gap widens between companies making real estate decisions based on guesswork versus data. Buildings that can demonstrate ROI through sensor-driven intelligence become the ones that justify their existence in hybrid work environments—and the ones that can’t prove their value become the ones that get eliminated. The office infrastructure that survives is the infrastructure that can show exactly what it’s worth.
