“At the time that we approached this market, there were no tools that really helped manage the workplace in a straightforward, easy manner that would also provide tremendous employee experience for folks within the organization,” says Shamim Sahba, looking back at the roots of the business he co-founded.
Over a decade and a pandemic later, OfficeSpace, the software company Shamim launched with Ashkon Sabet in 2006, stands as a leading product in the workplace management space. “A lot has changed since then,” he remarks.
“So, here we are.” Today, OfficeSpace staffs more than 150 employees who altogether help manage a service that helps companies create flexible workplace experiences and teams optimize their workplace.
Shamim Sahba draws on product development and design for OfficeSpace
“We both kind of stumbled on to the field of facility management,” says Shamim, discussing how he and Askhon started building their project. “But we both came from a product development and product design background.”
That was 2004, when they co-founded OfficeSpace with the goal of creating an intuitive and effective workplace management platform. In 2006, they launched the product.
Since then, OfficeSpace has grown and refined its services. In 2019, they announced two major partnerships. In August, OfficeSpace partnered up with SensoLive, a leading developer in the field of workplace occupancy analytic solutions. Later in December, a strategic equity partnership with Resurgens Technology Partners was announced.
The platform that OfficeSpace provides is known as an Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS). Since the pandemic, OfficeSpace has played a big role in getting clients to “embrace the hybrid office to create a workplace without limits,” per BusinessWire.
Globetrotting family and new roots in Canada
Sahba is the son of Fariborz Sahba, the renowned Iranian-American architect of the Lotus Temple in Delhi, and the brother of Naysán Sahba, the Director of Global Communication and Advocacy at UNICEF, and artist and globetrotter Shirin Sahba. The family settled in Canada after spending time in Iran, England, India, and Israel.
Shamim and his brother both went to the University of British Columbia after their father moved to Canada. Shirin is now based in Barcelona.
While his brother specialized in international development and English studies, Shamim got a degree in computer science from UBC, going on to get his master’s in computer graphics design at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He now lives in Brooklyn.
Shamim Sahba grows OfficeSpace
After experiencing massive growth in business since 2020, OfficeSpace recently launched an entirely new role, a Chief People Officer, which Lexi Jones assumed in the summer of 2022.
BusinessWire, the press and business media company owned by Berkshire Hathaway, reported that Jones will lead efforts to “advance and elevate the company’s talent lifecycle, drive culture, enhance employee experience, and implement strategies to achieve positive business outcomes.”
“Hundreds of companies trust OfficeSpace to help them create great working environments for their teams because of its proven track record of success,” said Jones over this new initiative. “I am excited to turbocharge OfficeSpace’s efforts to deliver the best possible experience for employees.”
Learn more about OfficeSpace and their solutions and approach at their website here.
