I've worked from home, on and off, for most of my career. I put in my time commuting down the 101, sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and taking two hours to make a 20-minute drive to work. But for the past two decades, I've exclusively worked from home.

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Running a Small Business in the New Era of Work

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In fact, when my wife and I purchased our house, we took into account our work from home (WFH) needs. We bought a structure that had spaces for both living and the type of work we each do for a living, as well as reliable access to high-speed fiber internet.

When the pandemic hit back in 2020, we were pretty much prepared, at least from a work perspective. But most office and professional workers were not. They had to adjust to the idea of replicating their work environments at home.

Central to this transition, for so many newly WFH workers, was Logitech. The company produced the hardware that allowed millions of the newly unofficed to work from home. had the opportunity to talk with Logitech about the future of work.

Rethinking work after the pandemic

"Very few thought of WFH as a long-term arrangement, so companies and individuals did not invest in long-term WFH setups and technology to optimize the experience," says Prakash Arunkundrum, president of Logitech for Business.

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But that was then, and this is now. The pandemic changed many perspectives about working from home and working remotely, morphing into situations where some people (like my wife and I) worked from home exclusively, while others adjusted to a hybrid work life, spending some time at home and some in an office or corporate facility.

For some, the increased understanding of the WFH and remote work lifestyle and needed technologies has been a welcome boon to work culture. But for others, particularly business leaders, the WFH trend has triggered a conflict between the desire to bring employees back to work and workers who have gotten comfortable with the freedoms of remote work.

Our work culture has changed. Although it was once taken for granted that most people worked in an office, our mode of work now exists on a spectrum between all remote and all in-office. Some companies grappling with the return to office (RTO) challenge are looking at ways to create a holistic solution that meets everyone's needs.

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"Flexible and remote work are now seen as features of the modern workplace," says Logitech's exec. "Rather than a temporary pandemic-era stopgap measure, many organizations are integrating it into their long-term strategies."

Empowering productivity beyond the office

Prior to the pandemic, webcams were a fairly unusual peripheral. I remember doing an interview with a senior executive who should have been very familiar with webcams -- most of his company's laptops shipped with them -- and he still needed help figuring out how to make it work.

Today, the ability to set up and use a webcam is as job-critical as the ability to read and answer email. But, says Logitech's president, "Companies implementing hybrid work models are at different stages of adoption."

Remote work is no longer just a necessary response to an emergency situation. For many small businesses, it has become a workable long-term strategy. Not only does it provide the flexibility that some employees crave, but it also provides agility and sometimes considerable cost reduction for the small business, especially in terms of floorspace costs.

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Logitech told , "We already know that people can be just as productive, if not more, from home." This idea reframes the role of the office from the place where all work is done to one piece of the puzzle when it comes to productivity and work output. For small business owners, the office can be more of a meeting place and communal area, fostering communication and productivity. This is a stark contrast to the array of cubicles that seemed to stifle individuality and even the life force itself.

But there are friction points. 

Everyone hates listening to crappy audio. Bad video can be disconcerting. Security and backups also become a problem when a company's most valuable intellectual property lives on a laptop sharing space with stuffed animals and children's playsets. Small business leaders who are saving on real estate costs must recognize that providing home technology for professional work is a key to increased productivity. As Arunkundrum says, "Remove those obstacles, and remote workers will flourish."

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One friction-reducing feature Logitech offers is Show Mode in the Logitech Brio 505 webcam. This mode lets you showcase your desk and sketches of physical objects by tilting the angle of the camera. The built-in accelerometer flips the video feed so that the viewer sees the image correctly. 

Noise-cancelling headsets also became crucial as working environments became more varied and introduced a broader range of distracting sounds. Another feature that matured during this time was two-way AI-powered noise cancellation, which minimizes distractions not only for the headset wearer but also for the other person. AI noise suppression, four noise-canceling mics, and hybrid ANC help employees work without distraction.

Logitech also expanded on the typical laptop dock idea. Their Logi Dock product includes collaboration features like one-touch-to-join, calendar integration, and improved mute control. It also tries to reduce clutter and cable management by allowing users to connect and charge up to five USB peripherals and two monitors.

Designing the digital experience for employees

Work is no longer a one-size-fits-all proposition. Rather than the four walls of an office defining the work environment, the digital environment, regardless of where it's used, increasingly defines a workspace.

For employers, this means allowing remote workers to function seamlessly with on-premises workers and transition fluidly between both classifications. This is creating a demand for new collaboration technology in the office.

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One example is Logitech's merging of the basic laptop dock with the reality of hotdesking, where employees share desks and resources. This resulted in Logi Dock Flex, an office-centric version of the dock discussed earlier. The Flex model adds a booking feature for shared workspaces, where users can check into desks, view schedules, and do video calls right from the device.

Logitech says, "Employees' experience with their digital environment will be marked by smart office tools for desk and room booking, real-time availability of meeting rooms, interactive maps, and building sensors to adjust the environment."

One such necessity is to help make off-site workers feel more present with on-site workers during meetings. The company's

  Logitech Sight is a tabletop camera that enhances hybrid meetings by using smart multi-camera switching.

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People present physically can often filter out extraneous noise from an open office, but it's very difficult for employees participating in meetings remotely to do so because the inherent directionality is not passed through the webcam. Rally Board 65 is a smart monitor that features built-in beam-forming AI to suppress distractions and create a "digital cocoon," ensuring clear audio and video only from the intended meeting zone.

"Dozens of factors make up the employee experience, including culture, leadership, recognition, career development, and wellness," says Arunkundrum. The remote/onsite office dynamic can have a very "othering" feel for those working remotely. But by using some of the tools discussed here, it's possible for team members located on premises or all over the world to feel like equal participants.

What about AI?

Last year, I wrote about Logitech's unexpectedly handy little AI prompt builder. It's not a big thing, but it pops up a ChatGPT interface every time I press a pre-programmed mouse button. It's gotten a lot of use.

Logitech's president told , "AI will continue to be transformative in our everyday work, beyond the capabilities most commonly associated with generative AI."

Already, collaboration tools like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams offer AI agents that transcribe meetings, identify and extract action items from conversations, and provide other notes.

Also: The best video conferencing software of 2025: Expert tested

Arunkundrum says Logitech sees more possibilities with AI in their products. "We use AI in our video conferencing products to intelligently frame individuals in hybrid meetings, suppress distracting noises and equalize voices, and trigger workplace automation actions that save time and hassle," he told .

AI has a lot of possible uses for home collaboration. Background removal has saved many home workers from being embarrassed by the pile of clutter behind them. Audio repair has helped otherwise rough-sounding audio seem more professional. With other technologies being integrated into home hardware, the perception of professionalism can be maintained even in a hectic home environment.

Sadly, no noise cancellation technology yet invented can cancel my puppy's extremely loud and high-pitched yaps whenever anything -- and I meananything-- happens outside.

How has your work changed?

We'll wrap this up with an insight from Arunkundrum: "Companies have needs as diverse as the people who work in them, so we refuse to adopt a 'one size fits all' approach and instead we tailor workspaces, rooms, and configurations to be adapted to the specific needs of each individual, team, and company."

What about you? Has your business embraced remote or hybrid work? What tools have made the biggest difference in helping your team stay connected and productive? Are you investing in AI-driven collaboration or sticking with the basics? And how are you addressing the balance between flexibility and structure in your workplace? Let us know in the comments below.

You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly update newsletter, and follow me on Twitter/X at @DavidGewirtz, on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, on Bluesky at @DavidGewirtz.com, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.

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