Market Spotlight: HGA San Francisco

As a Principal at HGA SF, Lily Weeks brings a thoughtful perspective on how evolving technologies, client needs, and culture are shaping the future of work.

The challenge in our market that excites me right now is how AI is influencing not only the clients we are working with, but also fundamentally changing how we do our work across every spectrum. You would be hard pressed to walk out the doors of HGA’s Union Square office without overhearing a sidewalk conversation about AI. It’s in the ether and part of our everyday lived experience, especially being at the heart of innovation and technological progress.

Senior Technical Leader Dewey Chong brings deep technical expertise to HGA’s healthcare work, helping project teams deliver spaces that support complex care environments and the people who use them. His perspective is grounded in the long-term value of designing facilities that directly serve patients, providers, and communities.

Speaking from the healthcare perspective, I’ve found that taking care of an aging population, as well as those experiencing mental or behavioral health challenges, will always be a worthy cause. Designing facilities that support the practitioners treating these patients is a humbling but rewarding challenge. Unlike projects developed on a speculative basis, healthcare spaces are designed to be positively experienced by people in deeply personal moments. That kind of impact is incredibly satisfying, and healthcare will always (or should always) be a priority for everyone.

As HGA’s Director of Digital Practice, Pragya Gupta helps advance the tools, processes, and emerging technologies that shape how teams design and deliver work. Her role sits at the intersection of innovation, collaboration, and practical implementation across the firm.

Because of AI, we are finally at a point where everyone has agency to innovate — junior staff, tenured leaders, clients, and consultants. It is changing how we operate and how our buildings operate. I’m excited that we are experimenting, adapting, and thoughtfully elevating our work. The challenge now is to use that momentum with clear intention, making sure technology supports stronger collaboration, better decision-making, and more responsive design outcomes.

Principal Jeff Till brings a broad perspective across architecture, urban design, workplace, housing, and civic-minded development. His work is shaped by a belief that buildings are not isolated objects, but contributors to a larger urban environment.

One challenge that excites me right now is how we can keep upgrading and repurposing buildings that are underused or empty, whether as new workplaces, housing, or other community-serving uses. Housing remains one of the Bay Area’s most pressing needs, and at the same time, shifting work patterns are challenging us to think differently about how buildings can stay relevant over time.

As technology, climate challenges, and work patterns evolve, buildings need longer lifespans and a looser, less specialized fit around their functions. That adaptability gives us a real opportunity to create more welcoming, resilient places that people want to be in and take care of. Those are the places that will endure.