In March 2024, Kadence welcomed thought leader Dave Cairns to the team as its new Future of Work Strategist. Dave joined from CBRE Canada, where he had been Senior Vice President of Office Leasing.
Who is Dave Cairns?
Dave Cairns is an office leasing expert and advocate for distributed work. Before joining Kadence, he was Senior Vice President of Office Leasing at CBRE Canada. His focus there was on high-growth companies in the tech sector, Space as a Service operators and financial services firms, at local, national and global level.
Dave brought an excellent set of relationships and a clear perspective on the future of work. His advocacy for distributed working made him a leading voice on LinkedIn, and his insights shaped how global organizations were thinking about new ways of working.
His career path is unusual. Dave moved from a successful career as a professional poker player to become a prominent office leasing broker for some of the world’s most respected companies. Along the way he showed a strong ability to anticipate shifts in the workplace. During the pandemic, his foresight into the future of the office market was widely praised.
What did Dave Cairns focus on at Kadence?
At the time of his appointment, Dave’s work focused on how hybrid work models had become the default, how they could be optimized, and how distributed work lets opportunities be spread more evenly. You can read his later work on the Dave Cairns author page, including our conversation on creating moments that matter.
Dave said of joining Kadence:
“Workplace leaders have known for some time that the office hasn’t performed optimally, but no one could have predicted that the rest of the world would become self-aware at the same time. We now have a generationally defining opportunity to reshape how we work faster. It’s this backdrop and this moment that has me beyond excited to join Dan and the whole Kadence team! I’m looking forward to leveraging my deep understanding of distributed work from my days as a pro online poker player and my 10+ years, 1,000+ transaction track record as an office leasing agent to a company redefining employee experience and workplace performance at scale.”
Dan Bladen, Kadence CEO and founder, commented:
“We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Dave to the Kadence team. Dave’s work will play a pivotal role in amplifying Kadence’s values to a wider audience, and ensuring that we continue to deliver solutions that meet the evolving needs of forward-thinking businesses.”
What was Kadence building in 2024?
In 2024, Kadence was building the next generation of hybrid workplace management software, by coordinating companies’ most expensive resources: people and spaces. Kadence’s view was that the most successful companies would be made up of teams who are intentional about what they are working on, who they need to work with, and where the work should be done.
To see how Kadence helps teams plan where and when work happens, book a demo.
