What the GenAI-powered Future of ITSM Looks Like

If you were to ask one or more IT service management (ITSM) professionals about the major ITSM trends right now, their first answer would probably relate to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Yes, there are other ITSM trends. However, the use of IT service management (ITSM) in ITSM practices is the one that has seen a rapid growth in interest and adoption that’s unprecedented in the history of ITSM.

ITSM capabilities are changing as a result of GenAI. But this isn’t just the capabilities provided by forward-thinking ITSM tool vendors; GenAI is transforming ITSM processes and the requirements of people, too. The future of ITSM is looking GenAI-powered, and some of that future is already here.

Please keep reading to learn more, starting with some statistics from the SysAid AI in ITSM Mega Trends Report 2024.

The future of #ITSM is looking GenAI-powered, and some of that future is already here. This blog from @Joe_the_IT_Guy explores. #GenAI Share on X

What SysAid customers think about the future of ITSM

This year, the annual SysAid State of ITSM report pivoted to embrace the growth in interest and adoption of GenAI capabilities. It contains many helpful insights into where IT organizations are already adopting GenAI and how this is expected to change in the near future. For example, the top service desk goal for 2024 was to enhance employee experience through increased AI self-service for issue resolution. A question about selecting a service desk superpower found automatically categorizing tickets for faster resolution and resolving tickets before they’re even submitted to be the two top customer wishes. Both of these “superpowers” can be achieved through GenAI capabilities.

In 2024, these and other GenAI capabilities have gripped IT professionals’ imaginations and to-do lists, with how IT support is delivered set to change radically going forward.

Painting a picture of the GenAI-powered ITSM future – efficiency improvements

As already mentioned, some of the GenAI-powered future is already here. For example, increased efficiency through enhanced automation. A prime GenAI ITSM capability is intelligent ticket processing. GenAI automatically classifies the incoming incident or service request based on historical data. This capability can also include automated resolution for common requests and issues. GenAI also automatically sets the priority of incoming tickets based on impact and urgency, again using historical and real-time information. Expect this GenAI capability to be commonplace for IT service desks in the future.

Other GenAI efficiency-improving capabilities include virtual agents and virtual assistants. However, these might be known by names like chatbots and Copilots. Virtual agents are GenAI-based conversational capabilities that provide end-users with information and self-help capabilities. They were already one of the most adopted AI capabilities before GenAI offered an even better solution to IT self-service (than traditional AI). In the same way that nearly every IT organization implemented an IT self-service portal, expect virtual agents to be the first line of end-user IT support in most, if not all, IT organizations. Importantly, end-users can access virtual assistants while working in third-party services such as Microsoft Teams.

From efficiency improvements to knowledge sharing, #GenAI is already radically changing the #ITSM landscape, and there's only more to come says @Joe_the_IT_Guy #servicedesk Share on X

Whereas virtual assistants are GenAI-based capabilities that augment ITSM professionals’ skills, knowledge, and experience. For IT service desks, virtual assistants offer agents real-time suggestions and easy-to-access actions to help with ticket resolution.

Painting a picture of the GenAI-powered ITSM future – knowledge sharing

Better knowledge sharing has long been an aspiration for ITSM professionals. However, for many organizations, the effort required and other issues have caused their knowledge management efforts to struggle. Now, GenAI capabilities have moved the dial for knowledge management, with the technology helping with three aspects of knowledge sharing in particular:

1. Knowledge-need identification – automatically identifying gaps in knowledge bases
2. Knowledge creation – creating draft knowledge article content from ticket successful solutions and other sources
3. Knowledge retrieval – contextual knowledge search provides people with the most relevant knowledge articles.

These and other knowledge-sharing capabilities are changing ITSM practices for the better, whether the knowledge is consumed by people or technology. The ITSM future will finally see knowledge management success thanks to GenAI.

Painting a picture of the GenAI-powered ITSM future – reducing admin

How much IT professional, particularly IT service desk agent, time is spent on admin? Too much, probably. For the IT service desk, GenAI-based capabilities summarize ticket data. Initially, the ticket description for easier understanding. Secondly, a ticket summary can be created once the ticket is closed. This capability provides a far better understanding of the ticket context than the traditional practice of judging tickets by their opening and closing codes. The latter is also an administrative task that agents no longer need to undertake.

GenAI-based capabilities also generate content for communications, including alerts for major incidents or changes and IT service desk responses to incoming end-user requests. Expect this capability type to be leveraged further as trust in GenAI capabilities grows through its successful use.

The ITSM future also includes automated performance reporting, when GenAI capabilities provide regular automated IT support leadership and staff updates. For example, the SysAid Copilot for Agents continuously monitors key performance indicators (KPIs), including first-contact resolution (FCR) rate, average resolution time, and customer satisfaction scores, to assess performance and identify improvement opportunities. The days of someone taking a week to create a monthly management reporting pack will be no more.

Painting a picture of the GenAI-powered ITSM future – improving the effectiveness of IT operations

GenAI capabilities don’t just improve the human-delivered status quo; they also offer the ability to do things that weren’t previously possible. For example, GenAI-based capabilities can identify issues with hardware and software and automatically rectify them when possible. This capability can also predict future issues, with predictive alerts also providing preventive maintenance recommendations.

For the IT service desk, with SysAid Image Analysis, end users can now upload an image of their issue rather than trying to describe it. For example, providing details of an error message, where the GenAI analyzes the uploaded screenshot(s) and identifies the error type and best resolution.

#GenAI capabilities don’t just improve the human-delivered status quo; they also offer the ability to do things that weren’t previously possible. Here Joe_the_IT_Guy takes a look at its future in #ITSM. Share on X

Another example is that, thanks to system data, GenAI knows more about employees and their work than their line managers. It can, therefore, determine the best people to work on an incident or problem based on their skill sets, experiences, proximity, and availability. This “intelligent swarming” is a GenAI evolution of an existing efficiency and effectiveness improving change to IT support operations.

In the future, GenAI will not only help ITSM professionals work more effectively but also deliver better experiences to end-users. This is a crucial point to note, with the successful adoption of GenAI capabilities judged on their business impact rather than the ease of implementation.

Painting a picture of the GenAI-powered ITSM future – better insights and data-driven improvements

GenAI’s predictive analytics capabilities forecast future trends, enabling better resource planning and allocation. In addition to the aforementioned performance reports, GenAI automatically creates customized reports with insights into specific ITSM areas (these reports are triggered by operational anomalies and trends).

However, as with all of the areas outlined in this blog, GenAI also offers capabilities that weren’t previously possible. A good example is sentiment analysis, where the SysAid Copilot for Agents already helps agents understand how end-users feel during an IT support interaction. Meaning they can take proactive steps to help ensure the end-users become happier with their support experience.

Another example is process mining, where the GenAI can identify issues in ITSM processes and suggest improvement actions. For example, after discovering a high level of bounced incident tickets, the root cause(s) can be identified and addressed.

@Joe_the_IT_Guy: A significant benefit for the future of #ITSM capabilities is improving service quality and the end-user experience in particular, here's how #GenAI helps. Share on X

What GenAI means for the future of ITSM

The GenAI capabilities described in this blog are already here. These will revolutionize IT service delivery and support, making ITSM professionals more productive, speeding up activities, reducing costs, and delivering better end-user experiences and business outcomes. However, using GenAI to improve ITSM operations and outcomes is still in its infancy. More beneficial use cases will arise, and more organizations will employ them.

While it’s easy to see the positive speed and cost implications of GenAI use, a significant benefit for the future of ITSM capabilities is improving service quality and the end-user experience in particular. For example, leveraging personalization or using multi-language capabilities for tailored assistance in addition to better delivering against the end-user’s immediate service or support need.

The GenAI-powered future of ITSM is already within your reach. Are you already using it? Let me know in the comments.