Javier Martínez
Creator of Fan-Driven Growth® | Disney Chairman Iberia & VP Southern Europe | CBO Atlético de Madrid | Global Executive & Keynote Speaker
Chris Kane
Corporate Real Estate Strategist & Author | Former VP, Walt Disney Company | Former Head of Workplace, BBC | Co-founder, Six Ideas
Chris Kane is the practitioner who has done what most workplace consultants only theorize about — transforming the real estate portfolios of The Walt Disney Company and the BBC at scale. Author of Where Is My Office? and co-founder of Six Ideas, he brings 30 years of hard-won client-side experience to the questions of hybrid work, corporate real estate strategy, and what it takes to build workplaces that genuinely serve people.
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Chris Kane biography
Chris Kane is one of the most experienced client-side voices in global corporate real estate — a practitioner, author, and adviser who has spent more than three decades reshaping how major organizations think about the relationship between physical space, people, and performance. His career has taken him from Jones Lang Wootton as a surveyor and partner, through the Vice Presidency of International Corporate Real Estate at The Walt Disney Company, to a decade as Head of Workplace at the BBC — one of the most complex and consequential property portfolios in European media.
At the BBC, Kane was responsible for some of the most significant real estate transformations in British institutional history: the creation of MediaCityUK in Salford, the redevelopment of Television Centre, and oversight of the £1 billion development of Broadcasting House in central London. These projects were not simply construction programs — they were organizational change initiatives in which real estate strategy served as the mechanism for cultural transformation and long-term value creation. The framework he developed to drive them, his “Smart Value” formula, became the intellectual foundation for his keynote work and his 2020 book.
Future of work speaker Chris Kane is the author of Where Is My Office? Reimagining the Workplace for the 21st Century, published by Bloomsbury Business. The Wall Street Journal called it “intriguing,” noting that its central lesson — that the focus must be on people and their activities rather than the physical space — is what separates offices that work from offices that are simply places to go. The book earned endorsements from the CEO of IWG Mark Dixon, the Chief Executive of Cushman & Wakefield, and the Dean of IMD Business School, among others.
Six Ideas, Board Work, and the Post-Pandemic Workplace
Kane is co-founder of Six Ideas, a global advisory community of thought leaders focused on workplace development, placemaking, and innovation, through which he has worked on corporate real estate initiatives for major multinational corporations. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the RSA, sits on the editorial board of the Corporate Real Estate Journal, and has served as a Non-Executive Director on the boards of Elstree Film & TV Studios, NHS Property Services, Network Homes, and Ashford St Peter’s NHS Trust.
As a speaker, Chris Kane brings something rare to the future of work conversation: not commentary from the outside, but hard-earned knowledge from decades of making consequential real estate decisions inside major institutions. His keynotes translate the Smart Value formula into practical guidance for leaders navigating hybrid strategy, ESG obligations, portfolio rationalization, and the deeper question of what the workplace should actually do for their people and their organization. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to book Chris Kane for your next event.
Chris Kane Speaking Videos
Chris Kane - Reimagine the Workplace - Where is my Office?
Chris Kane - The office is not obsolete - maybe the system is
Chris Kane Keynote Topics
Drawing from his book and his decades of client-side experience at Disney and the BBC, Kane makes the case that most organizations are asking the wrong question about the office. The real question is not where people work but why the space exists at all — what it is supposed to do for the people who use it and the organization it serves. He walks audiences through the shift from space-as-cost to space-as-value, explains why most workplace decisions fail because they start with the building rather than the people, and introduces his Smart Value formula as a framework for making real estate decisions that drive organizational outcomes rather than just occupancy metrics.
Kane's signature intellectual contribution to the corporate real estate field, the Smart Value formula, originated in the BBC's complex multi-site transformation and has since been applied across major multinational portfolios. In this keynote, he unpacks the formula in detail: how to move from a cost-center mindset to a value-creation mindset, how to align real estate strategy with organizational purpose, and how to use workplace change as a lever for cultural transformation rather than just a property exercise. Particularly valuable for C-suite audiences, HR and facilities leaders, and real estate directors who need to justify strategic investment to boards.
The hybrid model has not settled — it is still being negotiated between organizations, employees, cities, and landlords, with most institutions still carrying portfolios designed for a world that no longer exists. Kane examines what a genuinely hybrid-ready real estate strategy looks like: how to think about headquarters differently, what role regional hubs and third places play, how to design for the activities that actually require physical presence, and what the data says about where productivity and collaboration really happen. A practical, evidence-grounded session for leaders who need to make portfolio decisions, not just participate in the debate.
Kane's career has always encompassed more than buildings — MediaCityUK is a case study in what happens when real estate strategy is done at its most ambitious: creating not just an office campus but a regenerated community, an innovation district, and an anchor for regional economic development. In this keynote, he connects the placemaking dimension of corporate real estate to the ESG agenda, arguing that the smartest organizations are now asking how their physical footprint creates value beyond their own walls. An increasingly relevant session for organizations with sustainability commitments, city-center footprints, or community stakeholders to engage.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Chris Kane
Why Chris Kane?
Booking Chris Kane means giving your audience access to someone who has actually done the work — not advised on it from the outside. He transformed the BBC's real estate portfolio over a decade, delivered MediaCityUK as a national regeneration project, and spent years as VP of International Corporate Real Estate at The Walt Disney Company. That depth of client-side experience, combined with his Smart Value framework and his ability to translate complex property strategy into organizational language, makes him a uniquely credible voice for senior leadership audiences navigating hybrid decisions, portfolio rationalization, or workplace-led culture change. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to check availability and fees.
What is Chris Kane's Smart Value formula?
The Smart Value formula is the analytical and strategic framework Kane developed during his tenure at the BBC to guide major real estate decisions in a way that connects physical space to organizational outcomes. Rather than evaluating real estate purely on cost or utilization metrics, Smart Value asks leaders to assess workplace investments against their impact on people, culture, productivity, and organizational purpose. The formula emerged from the BBC's need to justify and align large-scale property decisions — including MediaCityUK and the Broadcasting House redevelopment — with the institution's public service mission. Kane now shares it in keynote form as a practical tool that can be adapted by any organization making consequential real estate decisions.
What is Chris Kane's book about?
Where Is My Office? Reimagining the Workplace for the 21st Century (Bloomsbury Business, 2020) argues that the traditional office model is fundamentally broken — not because remote work replaced it, but because it was already failing to serve people before the pandemic made that visible. Kane draws on his three decades of client-side experience at Disney and the BBC to show how organizations can move from thinking about real estate as a cost to be minimized to thinking about it as a strategic asset to be optimized. The book introduces the Smart Value formula, examines the role of technology and agile working, and makes a case for putting people and their activities — rather than desks and square footage — at the center of every workplace decision.
What topics does future of work speaker Chris Kane cover?
Chris Kane speaks on corporate real estate strategy and the future of the office, hybrid work models and portfolio rationalization, workplace design as a catalyst for organizational culture change, ESG and placemaking in the built environment, and the shift from real estate as a cost center to real estate as a value creator. His talks are grounded in three decades of senior client-side experience and are particularly well suited to C-suite audiences, real estate and facilities leaders, HR directors, and boards navigating major workplace transitions. Aurum Speakers Bureau can advise on the right topic for your event and provide full details on Chris Kane's speaking fees and availability.
How to book Chris Kane as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Chris Kane as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Chris Kane's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Chris Kane or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Chris Kane speaking fee?
Chris Kane speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Chris Kane to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Chris Kane.
How can I contact Chris Kane?
We only work with Chris Kane on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Chris Kane and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Chris Kane speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Chris Kane for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Chris Kane for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Chris Kane is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Chris Kane for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
