The purpose of the Ferris blog is to be a record of our team building in public.
We have huge aspirations for what Ferris & Co. can become: the greatest possible office for founders. We invite you to come along for the ride and experience the transformation of this building from a defunct WeWork into something completely fresh, innovative, and high-performance. Like any start-up, we anticipate a journey that contains both successes and failures. That's OK. In fact, without reporting on the setbacks we'd lack the credibility and integrity necessary to build practical, evidence-based workplace design.
The development of Ferris & Co. is already a lively, ongoing discussion that many of you are participating in. If you see something we could be doing better, we welcome constructive criticism. If you have an idea that you think would improve the workplace, let us know and, if we agree, we'll test it and report back. This blog is the record of our collective "path to better."
To begin with, let's discuss the three core themes foundational to Ferris & Co:
1. Ferris AI
Aside from being the name of the building, Ferris is the name of the dedicated AI agent embedded into the environment. Think Jarvis or HAL: an ambient computer intelligence that's there to help you. Each member of our community gets their own instance of Ferris, tailored to their needs — both their company's needs and their personal performance. The goal isn't for Ferris to do your job. The goal is for Ferris to help you zero in on your strengths and minimize distraction and context switching, so you can spend more time working on the part of your job that drives the most value for your enterprise. Ferris leverages AI so that you can achieve more deep work. Ferris AI can also add value to non-work activities, such as getting more out of wellness resources and community connection.
Current state: Ferris AI is being built under the direction of David Steinberg and a growing group of Ferris Residents. A beta version exists, and we're testing it and building out the basic features. We're eager to share more as soon as it's ready to roll out to a test group.
2. Work + Wellness
The key element in the founding of a company is growth. Look closely at the concept of growth, and you'll find it's an ongoing alternation between two states: stress and recovery. This is the model for our design of the physical environment at Ferris & Co. The reality is that taking a company from the chaos of raw opportunity to adaptation by the market takes years. The founders who perform best are those who can sustain a high level of intensity throughout that entire journey. We are building Ferris & Co. to support you on that journey.
First and foremost, Ferris is a place to work. When you're working at your best — totally locked in — you're putting yourself in a state of stress. Ferris & Co. provides space optimized to give you the best chance at deep focus and efficient collaboration. When you work here, we want you to feel the burn, the pump. That is the feeling of progress.
When you step back from your work, we want you to recover your energy. So we've selected a set of amenities geared toward wellness: a gym for your body, a second gym for your brain, a dining room with healthy food, a lounge for socializing, and an event space for intellectual stimulation. These amenities are grounded in the scientific findings that describe how humans achieve flourishing: learning, building warm relationships, experiencing awe, and play.
Current state: We are building, testing, and learning as we go. As of August 2026, Ferris & Co. has one full floor of work in MVP mode. We are studying our current builders, gathering feedback on their experience, and optimizing as we go. We'll have a second floor online within the next month. The amenities are being designed and will go into construction before the end of 2026.
3. Community
Building around entrepreneurs who are up to big things is more fun, more inspiring, and more productive than building in isolation. Having people around who are mid-problem, working the same hours you are, changes what you can hold in your head. Specifically, it's valuable to be in proximity to people solving hard problems in AI, so you stop re-deriving things others have already learned.
The first generation of builders who have joined Ferris cite community as the single most important reason they're here. If you're looking for a community whose values combine work, health, and fun, you should apply.
Current state: Community is an extremely easy thing to say and a very hard thing to build. It takes hundreds of thousands of small but meaningful interactions between people who care about each other. It takes a sense of shared purpose. Ferris & Co. is at the beginning of that process, but we already have a strong foundational cohort of Chicago builders who are fully engaged — growing and building alongside one another, and pushing each other forward.
We're sincerely grateful for your interest in Ferris & Co. and hope you'll follow us on this journey. We are proud to share what works and committed to being candid about what doesn't. The future of work at the dawn of AI is extremely bright, and this will be an exciting time to grow together.
David Dewane
Executive Director
Ferris & Co.