India’s flexible office market is entering a more mature phase, with Indian corporates emerging as the key driver of its next phase of growth and BFSI as its fastest-rising industry, according to India’s Changing Face of Flex, the latest report by myHQ.

Indian corporates accounted for 23.4% of flex demand in 2026, up from 21.9% in 2025, overtaking SMEs to become the second-largest company segment after startups (39.2%). Their average requirement has more than doubled, from 25 seats in 2023 to 55 seats in 2026, a sign that flex is becoming part of mainstream corporate office planning. myHQ expects Indian corporates to be the key driver of enterprise flex growth in the next phase.

At the other end, startup teams are getting leaner. The average startup requirement has fallen from 22 seats in 2023 to 13 seats in 2026, even as startups’ share of flex demand rose to 39.2%, as AI helps new companies start and scale with smaller teams. In 2023, the average corporate needed just 3 more seats than the average startup; in 2026 the gap is 42 seats.

The biggest shift is across industries. BFSI’s share of flex demand has grown 2.7x since 2023, from 4.5% to 12.2%, the biggest gain of any industry, taking it from the ninth-largest contributor to the market in 2023 to the second-largest in 2026. IT/ITeS remains the largest industry at 43.9%, but its share has eased from a peak of 44.8% in 2025, its first decline in four years. myHQ expects the IT/ITeS share to continue easing as other sectors pick up and as AI enables technology teams to do more with fewer people.

Demand from MNCs, including global capability centres (GCCs), has stabilized at 14.6% of flex demand, compared with 14.9% in 2025. With MNC demand steady, the growth in enterprise flex demand is now coming from Indian corporates.

Together, IT/ITeS, BFSI and Consulting accounted for 67.7% of flex demand in 2026, up from 50.9% in 2023, indicating that desk-based service sectors now drive most of the market.

Utkarsh Kawatra, Co-Founder & CEO, myHQ, said, “Flex in India is entering a more mature phase. Three years ago, a corporate and a startup came to us asking for almost the same office, 25 seats versus 22. Today it is 55 versus 13. Indian corporates are making flex part of how they plan their real estate, and we expect them to drive the next phase of flex growth. At the same time, AI is letting startups build with leaner teams, and BFSI rising from ninth to second tells you flex is no longer just a tech-and-startup product. It is mainstream.”

The report also identifies clear headroom for flex adoption. Among end users of office space, BFSI accounts for 12.2% of flex demand against 17.8% of traditional office leasing, with secure, compliance-ready workspace formats expected to support further adoption by banks, insurers and financial services firms. Logistics (3.3% of flex demand vs 8.2% of traditional leasing) and Life Sciences (3.0% vs 6.8%) remain the most under-represented sectors relative to their size, with their head office, sales and regional teams seen as a natural fit for flex.

The report is based on myHQ’s demand data of over 20,000 requirements, comprising company-level seat requirements received by myHQ across India’s top six office markets (Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai), covering January to September of each year from 2023 to 2026. Flex demand is measured by share of total seat area requested.