Why FM budgets stall with the C-Suite (and how to get to a yes)

About the event

Budget requests being met with, “Not this quarter?” You’re not alone. 40% of FM and workplace leaders faced outright budget cuts in 2025, even as organizations continue to pour 10–20% of their P&L into the physical workplace. The leaders who win budget are the ones who show up with a case built in the language the C-suite already trusts—connecting FM work to risk reduction, capital efficiency, and measurable business outcomes.

Join OfficeSpace CEO Erin Mulligan Helgren and special guest Linda Foggie (Scotiabank) for a practical, experience-driven conversation on what it takes to get a yes. Erin has seen this problem from both sides: as a leader who had to make the case, and as a CEO who has watched organizations leave millions on the table because the right case was never made. Linda brings a rare vantage point, having worked across every dimension of the built environment, from architecture and FM to global corporate real estate. Together, they’ll share what it actually takes to move the conversation forward.

You’ll walk away with:

• Why FM proposals get deprioritized and how to change that
• How to speak the language executives already respond to
• What Erin learned leading a $13.5B operation that applies to your next budget conversation
• How the C-suite evaluates FM proposals
• How to make the case for AI and workplace technology investment to a skeptical CFO
• How to keep executive credibility after you’ve won the budget

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This session is for you if:

• You’ve had a budget request deprioritized or cut without a clear explanation
• You’re preparing to make a significant capital ask and want to get it right
• You want to understand how the C-suite evaluates FM proposals, from the experts themselves