Harith has partnered with global digital communications leader Cisco to turn its Sandton head office into Africa’s smartest building—a seamlessly connected, technology-driven space designed for efficiency, sustainability, and occupant comfort.
The SmartXperience building is future-proofed with cutting edge smart technology that ensures energy efficiency, optimises security, and ensures seamless connectivity. This modern workplace serves as a showcase for intuitive, trusted facilities that prioritize health, safety, and operational excellence
What sets SmartExperience building apart
The facility is equipped with a variety of modern and innovative technologies, from artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) to the Internet of Things (IoT) applications. With its state-of-the-art features, the building feels like a vision straight out of a sci-fi movie, redefining the modern workplace.
By leveraging real-time energy use insights, the SmartXperience Building demonstrates best practices in smart infrastructure, data-driven decision-making and environmental responsibility. It integrates cutting-edge technology to measure, report and optimize energy consumption.
Automation and monitoring help reduce unnecessary power consumption – which is crucial in a country that faces energy constraints – while sensors deployed across the building provide real-time insights into air quality, temperature, humidity and ambient noise levels, he detailed.
The Cisco Catalyst 9000 switches support 90 W Universal power Ethernet Plus and help enable carbon-neutral facility operations for lighting, blind automation and a variety of sensors.
This information additionally enables the monitoring of the carbon footprint of each device and room through a Sustainability Dashboard powered by machine-generated data management software company Splunk, which Cisco acquired in 2024.
The building’s hybrid workspaces feature smart room and desk booking, touchless voice assistants, digital signage, wayfinding, and workplace analytics for a seamless user experience.
All meeting rooms are equipped with high-quality video conferencing technology, integrated with Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Zoom. Additionally, Cisco Webex AI enhances productivity by providing real-time summaries, action items, AI-driven assistance, and content conversion into videos or polls.
Another notable feature of the SmartXperience building is the availability of smart tools that enables collaboration to continue before, during and after meetings. To that end, the meetings are summarised and every one present has access to the notes and information after they have left to enable them to continue collaborating beyond the meetings.
Harith’s SmartXperience Building demonstrates the power of collaboration, showcasing how industry leaders can combine their expertise to create innovative, technology-driven solutions for the future of smart workplaces.
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Harith is a strong believer in large scale projects that enhance the strength of a community. We’ve always aligned on our shared values and together we showcased what is possible with technology. Yesterday, I (literally) stepped foot into the new era of future-proofed workplaces with the launch of Harith’s new SmartXperience building! Equipped with Meraki sensors and the latest Webex devices, Harith’s building is a beautiful showcase of how workplaces can be smart, safe, and energy efficient. The SmartXperience building is also a great example of how far we’ve come in 10 years of Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration programs, and this project brings together some of our best partnerships for positive impact. Thank you to the incredible teams on the ground for bringing our shared vision to life! – Francine Katsoudas, Executive Vice President and Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer at Cisco.
The launch of the SmartXperience building in partnership with Harith is a testament to what’s possible when innovation meets purpose. This hashtag#CiscoCDA program is a model for smart, safe, and energy-efficient environments. By joining forces with Harith, we have an incredible opportunity to scale these innovations across Africa—empower businesses, up-skill communities, and drive sustainable growth. A huge thank you to the incredible teams whose hard work and resilience made this impactful project a reality. Excited for what’s ahead! – Dima Kandalaft, Driving Digital Transformation in ME&A Senior Director at Cisco.
