Anant Yardi, Robert Teel and Akshai Rao

Yardi Systems generated headlines, and perhaps some scratched heads, with its decision earlier this year to take over WeWork, acquiring a majority stake in the battered coworking firm in exchange for most of the $450 million the company needed to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Yet, according to Anant Yardi, it was simply the right opportunity at the right time.

“There is a significant transition that’s underway in the way commercial space is utilized,” Yardi said. “If the traditional mode was the leased or owned spaces, now it’s coupled with coworking and flex spaces. … Our relationship with WeWork was a technology relationship. We didn’t pursue anything, it just came our way. And there’s something attractive about it because we can influence the transition that’s underway in this market.” 

Indeed, Anant Yardi and his firm, which turned 40 this year, are particularly bullish on the growth of such hybrid spaces, even as major players in the tech world like Amazon, Apple and even Zoom (ironically) issue return-to-office mandates for their employees. He also argued that the rise of flex/coworking spaces and return-to-office mandates are not mutually exclusive, nor do they harm one another. If anything, the founder said, such mandates actually make flex and coworking spaces more viable as companies seek to accommodate returning employees.

“When we think about the commercial industry at large, it’s my belief that every major building will have flex and coworking space, and they will all be connected,” Yardi said. “In the surveys we have seen, most companies are beginning to think about 20 percent of their space set aside for flex and coworking … because of the hybrid mode of work, and also in many cases they’re unsure about their staffing needs.”

Yardi the company — where Rob Teel and Akshai Rao play major roles in shaping business lines — has also been supporting the launch of Voyager 8, the latest version of its property management platform, which saw its general release earlier this year and which already has more than 1,500 clients. Anant Yardi also said that the development of a fully automated residential leasing system was underway, via Yardi subsidiary RentCafe, with a launch expected within the next few years.