Mark Dixon, CEO of IWG, discusses how the company is scaling fast and using AI to cut costs following the release of the company's Q2 earnings.

The release of Open AI's ChatGPT has accelerated the development of artificial intelligence and warnings about its impact on society.

Rise of AI

The CEO of IWG emphasized the positive impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the company's operations and growth strategy. He noted that increased uncertainty and volatility in the business environment have led companies to seek more flexible arrangements, which IWG supports through its platform-based solutions. The company is investing heavily in AI, both to improve its own operations and to meet the needs of AI-focused clients. 

The CEO explained that automation is expected to change the nature of some jobs, particularly lower-value roles, but most IWG customers are knowledge workers, making the shift largely beneficial for the company. IWG is using existing AI platforms and engineering new processes to adapt to an AI-driven world, with significant operational benefits anticipated in the future. The company is also experiencing rapid expansion, opening more locations in recent months than in its first decade, and expects continued growth and efficiency gains through automation.

IWG CEO: 'You have to rethink how you operate in an AI world'

For us, it's very much positive. Uncertainty, and there's certainly a lot of uncertainty, a lot of volatility around, moves companies to want to be more flexible in whatever arrangements they're making. We help them with that to preserve cash. There's no capex with any of our solutions. They like that. And they want to support their workforce in a different way. So more and more of them are moving towards platform working for some and sometimes all of their workers. Mark, to that point, the companies we're talking about here try to trim and manage their fixed costs in an environment where the macro is so uncertain, but also a time when we know AI is being adopted by force by a lot of companies trying to manage their costs in that uncertain environment. What does that mean in terms of looking to manage their overall space? Are you seeing signs that AI is making a difference to workforce intentions? This is absolutely of interest to us for two reasons. One, we're using a lot of AI, and we're putting a lot of our investment into AI. We're a scale business with billions of transactions, 9 million users. It makes a lot of sense for us to be using AI, and we have a whole AI section to make the transition for our own company. What we're seeing on the demand side is lots of AI companies, consultants, platforms coming to us because this is a fast moving business and they are setting up in our offices all over the world. I think from a workforce side in the future, things will change. A lot of the low value jobs, call centre jobs and so on will change. More automation will mean probably less people. Overall, we see most of our customers are in the knowledge worker area. They're not low value jobs. We see this as being benign for us, but very helpful to our business in terms of managing our costs in 26 and beyond. Mark, to that point around costs and the investment required for AI, how is this being deployed by your company? I know some of it can be OpEx, you can sign up to some of the hyperscalers to have the compute capacity. What are you seeing in terms of the overall cost base for the company at this point to scale up for AI? Well, we're investing in, at the moment, we're using it already, and we're using existing platforms. What we're doing going forward is using platforms, but doing a lot of engineering about how we reshape how we operate our business. It's not about just using AI. You have to rethink how you operate in an AI world and have to do this at pace. We hope to have the benefits coming through in 26 from investments we're making in H2 2025. These are significant benefits in terms of our operation, in particular, as we're opening so many new buildings. We expect 26 to be a record year for openings. The more we can automate that, the more successful and the more efficient it will be. Yeah, Mark, it's interesting. I was going to pick up on that line from your commentary. It says, in the last six months, more locations were opened than in the first decade of our existence as well, which is extraordinary time for you to grow so aggressively. One thing I did want to know, though, Mark, why is the rev par under so much pressure? Well, it's not. If you look at that, it's a good pickup. The rev par is coming down only because we're adding so many new centres, because clearly a new centre starts with zero rev par. We're opening so many, that's diluting the rev par. If you look a line below, you'll see the mature rev par, which is at 285, and that's above. We actually set our target here of 250, so we're $35 better than target. Those are the mature ones. There are no comps on that, because that's the first mature group. But we expect the others will pull up to that over time. It's simply dilution. It's not that the rev par is going down. The rev par is coming up very well, and we're going to show that in ... I think it's later on in the document you'll find it, but it's also one of the slides today. We show very good progression of rev par. It's not an issue.

Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire proposal for Gaza, but mediators are still waiting for an official response from Israel. CBS News contributor Robert Berger has the latest from Jerusalem.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Mediators await Israeli response to Gaza ceasefire proposal

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met China’s top diplomat on Tuesday and hailed the “steady progress” made in improving the bilateral relationship after a yearslong standoff between the nuclear-armed Asian powers.

New Delhi

India's Modi meets China's foreign minister to rebuild ties

Texas Democrats who ended a walkout found themselves shadowed by law enforcement officers to keep them from repeating the protest that stalled Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts and fulfill President Donald Trump's desire to reshape U.S. House maps.

Austin

Police escort Texas Democrats to prevent new redistricting walkout

Air Canada has reached a tentative agreement with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), ending the strike that began over the weekend involving 10,000 members and disrupted travel for more than 100,000 travelers per day.

Toronto

Air Canada reaches tentative agreement with flight attendant union

Exiled former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui hailed Australia's grant of asylum status as a key acknowledgement of the territory's human rights infringements since its authorities quelled massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Hong Kong Island

Ex-Hong Kong lawmaker granted asylum by Australia

Forecasters are giving urgent warnings to millions of people who live along the East Coast as Hurricane Erin churns in the Atlantic. The storm will not make direct landfall but is expected to bring dangerous rip currents.

East Coast of the United States

Hurricane Erin to bring dangerous rip currents to U.S. East Coast

Jasveen Sangha, a Los Angeles woman known as the "Ketamine Queen," has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry. Sangha could face up to 45 years in prison.

Los Angeles

"Ketamine Queen" to plead guilty in Matthew Perry's death

European leaders who converged on the White House for talks on the Russia-Ukraine war demonstrated a united front regarding Ukraine's security on Monday, underscoring the issue as pivotal for the entire continent, not just Ukraine.

Washington

Ukraine Invasion

EU leaders show cautious optimism following Zelenskyy, Trump talks

As Hamas reportedly agreed to some ceasefire terms that would include the return of more hostages, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered troops to take more of Gaza.

Israel digs in on Gaza takeover as Hamas softens on ceasefire

President Donald Trump said that the United States would help Europe in providing security for Ukraine as part of any deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

Trump tells Zelenskyy U.S. would help with security in a peace deal

Bolivia's presidential vote headed to an unprecedented runoff after elections Sunday that ended more than two decades of left-wing dominance in the Andean nation but signaled voters' trepidation about a major lurch to the right.

La Paz

Bolivia heads to runoff after historic defeat for the left

All Air Canada planes were grounded on Monday (August 18) after its 10,000 flight attendants refused a return-to-work mandate from the Canadian government.

Air Canada delays plans to resume operations

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the White House Monday (August 18) for his meeting with President Donald Trump and other European leaders about Russia's war in Ukraine. CBS News White House reporter Taurean Small has more.

Trump meeting with Zelenskiy, European leaders at White House

Hamas on Monday informed mediators that it had accepted a ceasefire deal proposal submitted to it the day before, according to international and Israeli outlets.

Reports: Hamas accepts latest Gaza ceasefire proposal

Hurricane Erin will bring dangerously rough surf to parts of the U.S. East Coast. Over the weekend, Erin's outer bands lashed Puerto Rico with up to 7 inches of rain and flooding parts of the island.

Erin expected to bring dangerous conditions to U.S. East Coast

Ahead of his Monday meeting with President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymry Zelenksyy says his country will not give up any territory to Russia, even as the White House insists potential land swaps will be necessary. Willie James Inman reports.

Kyiv

Ahead of Trump meeting, Zelenskyy says won't give territory to Russia

Thousands of Israeli protesters demanded a deal to secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas in one of the biggest demonstrations since the war in Gaza began. Debora Patta reports.

Thousands of Israelis protest in Gaza, call for end to fighting

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flies to Washington on Monday under heavy U.S. pressure to agree to a swift end to Russia's war in his country, but determined to defend Kyiv's interests — without sparking a second Oval Office dust-up with Donald Trump.

Zelenskyy, European allies to meet with Trump to discuss peace

European leaders voiced strong support for Ukraine ahead of a Washington summit with U.S President Donald Trump. They emphasized unity, territorial integrity and security guarantees as essential to any peace deal.

Paris

European leaders stress unity with Ukraine ahead of peace talks

International condemnation and pressure from allies have done nothing to stop Israel's plan to displace the people of northern Gaza. Israel on Saturday (August 16) said it is preparing to move Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza.

Israeli military prepares to move Palestinians to southern Gaza

Thousands of people took to the streets on Sunday in a nationwide strike amid fears further fighting could endanger the 50 hostages believed to still be in Gaza.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Dozens of Israelis arrested in protest to demand end to Gaza war

Russia continues to target Ukrainian cities firing hundreds of missiles and projectiles daily despite ongoing peace efforts, led by the United States. Ukrainian officials say their unwillingness to dial back their offensive reflects their lack of sincere interest in peace.

Five killed as Russia continues to pummel Ukrainian cities

U.S. President Donald Trump said that Ukraine should make a deal to end the war with Russia because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not," after a summit where Vladimir Putin was reported to have demanded more Ukrainian land.

Anchorage

Trump told Zelenskiy that Putin wants more of Ukraine, source says

Efforts by Texas Republicans to redraw the state's congressional maps got new pushback from protesters at rallies across the country Saturday. Nearly 280 events took place in 34 states, according to organizers.

"Fight the Trump Takeover" protests held across U.S.

West Virginia's governor says he will send up to 400 National Guard troops to the nation's capital at President Trump's request. They'll join other National Guard troops and federal agents already deployed with local police on the streets of Washington, D.C.

More troops arrive in D.C. at Trump's request

President Trump reversed course Saturday, saying he is no longer seeking an urgent ceasefire in Ukraine, but now agrees with Russian President Vladimir Putin that pursuing a peace deal is the best way to end the war.

Trump sides with Putin, preferring peace over ceasefire

Russian President Vladimir Putin described his meeting with President Trump as "frank, substantive and bringing us closer to making the necessary decisions." But the Alaska summit couldn't have been more far removed from the battlefields of Ukraine.

War-weary Ukrainians desperate for a ceasefire

In Ukraine, many do not believe Russia's president Vladimir Putin actually wants a ceasefire deal. They say Trump should stop making concessions to the Kremlin and for U.S President Donald Trump to demand an end to Russia aggression.

Ukrainians sceptical of Vladimir Putin’s intention

Being a Category 1 hurricane, Erin underwent a 'rapid intensification' which helped the storm to grow and strengthen to a powerful Category 5. Hurricane Erin won't make a direct hit on the U.S., but it will produce dangerous surf conditions for the entire East Coast.

San Juan

Hurricane Erin 'rapidly intensifies' to a Category 5

The Washington, D.C., police chief will remain in command of the local force following a settlement with the Trump administration over the federal takeover, but they are required to cooperate with the White House's immigration policy.

IWG CEO: 'You have to rethink how you operate in an AI world'

Breakdown

See The Full Story

Rise of AI