Aug 28, 2025
Ginger Dhaliwal is Co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Upflex. A long-time tech entrepreneur and investor, she shares her human-first orientation which drives her passion for solving systemic challenges using technology and data—from micropayments to elder healthcare to flexible workspaces. Ginger discusses how intentional design, empathy, and sustainability are essential for building data-driven ecosystems that support a diverse, distributed workforce. She highlights behavioral indicators for shaping future-ready on-demand and long-term work environments, emphasizing collaboration and relationships.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[00:29] Ginger
studies social work and first focuses on understanding people and
reskilling immigrants.
[01:40]
Ginger’s travel takes her to Malaysia where she joins a tech
startup as the Internet takes off.
[02:35] At a
government-supported R&D lab, Ginger builds a venture studio
model.
[03:20] They
attract international talent to spin off multiple startups solving
real-world problems.
[04:05] One
early product enables micropayments using mobile phone billing
instead of credit cards.
[05:12]
Learning to persuade large corporations to adopt emerging
innovations and enter new markets.
[06:10] A
healthcare venture connects remote patients in S.E. Asia to
providers through internet cafés.
[06:48]
Healthcare tech is adapted for the U.S. to support elders aging in
place with sensor systems.
[07:50]
Adoption fails to take off due to lack of interest from medical
professionals in holistic data.
[08:40] Ginger gets disheartened, entrenched in the elder care community, and feels burned out.
[09:30]
Considering identity, AI’s impact, and future career
direction.
[10:45]
Personal remote work experience and coworking exposure lead to
co-founding Upflex.
[11:50] Ginger
sees coworking catalysing innovation with people from diverse
industries co-located.
[13:10] Upflex
becomes a platform to aggregate access to coworking spaces
globally.
[14:40] Early
clients like Nokia highlight retention, recruitment, and cost
control needs.
[15:20] Real
estate lacks actionable data, pushing Upflex to build a
decision-support layer for companies.
[16:25] Ginger
champions flexibility as a strategic asset for talent engagement,
not a perk.
[17:35] COVID
causes companies to confront data about remote work and location
preferences.
[18:40] Upflex
helps firms explore questions around hybrid work behavior using
their data tools.
[19:25] Focus
on location can mask deeper control and change adaptation issues in
hybrid transitions.
[20:45] Data
shows employees’ behavior is consistent across corporate offices
and on-demand coworking spaces.
[22:25] The
global shift from individual desks to more collaborative meeting
spaces.
[23:38] Most
day passes are booked same day, while meeting rooms are booked days
in advance.
[25:55]
Coworking supports relationship-building and community connection
as well as collaboration.
[27:30]
Companies are repurposing coworking memberships for team days,
pods, and local clusters.
[29:40] Upflex
advises clients to view coworking as workplace strategy
infrastructure.
[31:25]
Businesses experiment with timeshare-type space arrangements to
balance cost and access.
[33:10]
Exploring partnerships with landlords to offer on-demand overflow
capacity.
[34:50] AI is
being integrated to optimize seat allocation and dynamic workplace
management.
[36:15]
Comparing Upflex’s model to AWS—scalable space usage
tailored to
demand and cost savings.
[37:25] Ginger
emphasizes redirecting real estate savings to reskilling as rapid
tech changes cause workforce disruption.
[39:15]
Identity loss from desk removals prompt incremental workspace
changes.
[41:00] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To problem solve right now, there’s no playbook, it’s iterative. Come up with questions to test. Start small. Figure out a solution. Get buy in. Gather data for feedback to refine and grow.
RESOURCES
Ginger Dhaliwal on LinkedIn
Upflex website
QUOTES
“I don’t need to know the answers to things as long as I’m constantly thinking about solving these problems for people.”
“Coworking as a model for innovation and ideation is a wonderful thing and it's in your backyard. It's a block away from your, where you live.”
“How do we create a more sustainable lifestyle for people looking at the data. People losing 15 days of their lives commuting just didn't make any sense to us.”
“We can create that data layer so that people can actually make decisions based on data and understanding those preferences and how people are using space.”
“A lot of office space today is designed for productivity and it's shifting to collaboration. Coworking spaces are designed for that too, but also relationships. I think the evolution is we are all going to be craving relationships. It's not the collaboration that you're going for. You're going for the relationships.”
“We're working with landlords to figure out how you can create those overflow spaces and, from a corporate standpoint, be able to not build for the peak, but build for the average and then have the resources, the unlocking of the network, to handle the overflow.”