Daaf Serné has spent nearly two decades running workplace strategy inside some of tech’s fastest-growing companies — not as a consultant watching from the outside, but as the operator in the room when the decisions got made.
As Global Head of Workplace at Miro, he built the company’s entire global real estate function from the ground up — scaling from a single Amsterdam headquarters to a distributed portfolio across 12+ countries. At ServiceNow, he served as Sr. Director of Global Real Estate & Sustainability, overseeing 150+ transactions across three continents, controlling a $122M real estate budget, and leading the company’s journey from no sustainability baseline to a Board-approved Net Zero commitment and SBTi targets.
Today, Daaf is the founder of PlaceWorks Advisory — operator-grade workplace strategy for leaders who are done with the deck factories. His work bridges corporate real estate, human-centric design, and the harder question most workplace discussions avoid: what would actually make people want to come in?
His approach is built on a simple idea — real estate is a product. Treat it like one. That means designing for the people who use it, making decisions with data that actually changes behaviour, and building sustainability in from day one rather than retrofitting it at the end.
Daaf holds the Master of Corporate Real Estate (MCR) and Senior Leader of Corporate Real Estate (SLCR) designations. He is based in Amsterdam and works with organisations across Europe and globally.
