Unlocking the path to strategic advantage with AI in ITSM

AI is everywhere, surfacing in everything from search engines and virtual assistants to our breakfast conversations. Yet, despite the buzz, IT leaders remain wary of integrating it into IT service management (ITSM).

The irony is hard to ignore. A Harvard Business Review Analytic Services survey of 225 members of the Harvard Business Review audience, who are involved in decision-making about how the IT department provides service for their organization, found that while 62% agree their organization understands the importance of using AI to be more competitive in the market, only 34% agree that their organization’s IT department is actively adopting AI to improve its processes and services. If AI can unlock value in other sectors, why should ITSM be left behind?

With IT systems growing more complex and user demands rising, AI is emerging as a transformative tool for tackling these challenges. It can automate repetitive service requests, harness predictive analytics for swifter resolution, and evolve continuously through adaptive learning.

Why the hold-up? CIOs and their AI hesitation

However, achieving this shift requires cultural alignment and a willingness to rethink processes from the ground up, making automation an intimidating prospect.

The reluctance also reflects AI’s nascency; despite interest, many organizations are not yet ready to fully leverage AI’s capabilities within ITSM. According to IT decision-makers surveyed, the service management areas where organizations are least effective are integrating IT silos with systems and applications (cited by only 8% as very effective) and using AI to improve the delivery of ITSM (7% citing it as very effective).

For AI to make an impact, ITSM must be embraced not as a functional must-have, but as a competitive differentiator. Failing to tap into its potential keeps IT teams trapped in maintenance mode instead of innovation mode.

At its core, ITSM can serve as the backbone of a connected business, unifying processes and tools to deliver consistent service across the organization, increase efficiency, and enhance employee satisfaction; 80% of respondents agree that improving ITSM at their organization would raise employee satisfaction with the department.

But the greatest value that it produces is reducing friction. The report highlighted that a small shift from a well-executed AI-powered ITSM strategy—like 3% of developers’ time redirected from troubleshooting to innovation—could translate into significant business outcomes. While it might not seem a lot, a 3% improvement in an organization with 6,000 software developments is a whole other product you can put up.

AI in Action: Pushing the boundaries of ITSM

Businesses today are experimenting with new ways to enhance ITSM with AI, testing the limits of what it can achieve.

The most popular use case of AI in ITSM (cited by 40% of respondents) involves handling user requests through multiple channels—think email, voice, chat, and self-service—while the second most cited use is streamlining the process of submitting and tracking service requests (cited by 31%).

Other less common uses of AI in ITSM include providing natural language interfaces to make IT services easier to interact with (18%), personalized recommendations for IT services based on users’ references and behavior (14%), and round-the-clock support (9%). While adoption is still maturing, these real-world applications signal the shift towards a more proactive approach, setting the stage for a more agile ITSM landscape.

Freshworks exemplifies this shift with its enterprise-grade, AI-powered solutions, offering compelling ways of how AI can be an indispensable ally in empowering business teams.

Take its Freddy AI Agent for instance. This new generation of easy-to-deploy and use autonomous service agents can be deployed in minutes and has helped users in customer support and IT autonomously resolve an average of 45% and 40% of service requests respectively. Beyond simplified service management, it also offers intelligent recommendations that make IT services more intuitive and accessible.

For businesses ready to embrace this transformation, the opportunity to reshape ITSM into a strategic powerhouse is within reach. It’s no longer just about keeping the lights on—it’s about empowering IT to drive business growth.

Unlock the full potential of AI in ITSM by downloading the report “The Service Management Advantage: Helping CIOs Turn IT into a Strategic Powerhouse.” here.