Ravi Nanduri on Hospitality, Hyper-Personalisation and the End of Nine to Five

Ravi Nanduri is Vice President, Real Estate Services at HSBC, based in Hyderabad. With 18 years of experience across corporate real estate and workplace services in Asia Pacific and India, he brings a perspective that is rare in this field: he started in hospitality, working in food, beverages and hotels before moving into the corporate world. That background, it turns out, is exactly what workplace experience needs more of. Ram finally got him on the show after months of trying, and the conversation did not disappoint.

What stood out

Getting lost on the way to the coffee machine led to his best onboarding moment. Ravi had just joined HSBC and was still finding his feet on a new floor. He asked a colleague for directions to the pantry. That colleague locked their system, walked with him, introduced themselves, told him what they did at the company, and picked up a coffee along the way.

"That encapsulates everything that an office stands for. The collisions that happen, the experiences that are created. People go out of their way to walk along with you. That speaks a lot."

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Every touchpoint matters, even the ones you can't control. Ravi's hospitality lens comes through most clearly here. The workplace experience begins the moment an employee enters the campus and ends when they leave. Parking. The lift. The monitor connecting to the laptop. The walk to the coffee point. None of these feel like strategic decisions, but all of them shape how someone shows up to do their work.

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"Imagine driving 45 minutes into the office and not getting a parking spot. That triggers a negative thing and it rolls into your work. Your interactions change. The way you respond changes. In the end, your entire day is gone."

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Intentionality is the word that has changed everything. Pre-pandemic, offices were designed for presence. Post-pandemic, the question has flipped: what is the actual reason for coming in? Ravi described the shift from assigned desks with family photos and soft boards full of personal touches, to activity-based spaces where the sense of ownership has gone. The familiarity that made offices feel safe has had to be rebuilt from scratch.

Purpose-driven offices, not presence-driven ones. On the future of work, Ravi was direct: if someone is coming into the office to spend eight hours on Zoom calls, they could do that from home, from a coffee shop, from anywhere. The office has to earn its place.

"Looking busy is not being productive. Just because you come into the office and sit in front of a screen from nine to five doesn't mean you're being productive. That should never come back."

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Hyper-personalisation is coming to the workplace. Ravi pointed to the latest Mercedes MBUX system as an analogy — a car that learns your driving style, temperature preferences and music choices over time and has everything ready the moment you get in. His prediction for the office of the near future: workplace apps acting as digital concierges, understanding your habits, your preferred desk zone, your coffee order, and getting things ready before you arrive.

One thing I'll keep thinking about

Ravi mentioned that the most vocal feedback corporate real estate teams receive is not about strategy or culture. It is about parking, cold coffee and food. The gap between what leaders think matters and what employees actually experience in the building is wider than most organisations want to admit. Closing that gap, touchpoint by touchpoint, is the whole job.

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