IT support teams and their leaders have a tough job in keeping pace with the volume of issues/tickets and keeping everyone connected wherever work happens (hybrid/remote/in-office), but artificial intelligence can help make their work easier. AI isn’t built to eliminate IT support jobs, but rather enhance them by serving as a productivity-boosting assistant to human agents.
Let’s look at some research about how AI will enhance human capabilities and thus transform work:
- An analysis by technology advisor Cognizant says that generative AI will “significantly change” the daily tasks and day-to-day functions of 52% of all jobs by 2032. AI will increasingly handle repetitive work tasks, while humans will manage more complex and creative tasks.
- A new study of highly skilled workers finds that AI can improve employee performance by as much as 40%, largely because people will be freed up to tackle more complex and creative issues, faster.
When using AI as an assistant, experienced agents who are already high performers will become even more valuable. New and inexperienced agents will have their learning curves accelerated by AI assistants, moving them from “lost in the dark” to actively supporting end-users.
Human AI Collaboration: A Growing Need
Why is human and AI collaboration so important in the context of IT support? It’s largely because of the unique challenges of the job function itself, which (as every IT leader knows) include:
- The scarcity of technical expertise: Many organizations struggle to find IT professionals with the necessary skills and knowledge. Organizations also face challenges onboarding and training new agents.
- Troubleshooting takes time and skill: Performing manual troubleshooting processes, which are the core tasks of IT support professionals, is both time-consuming and resource-intensive.
- The increasing demands on IT support: With the increasing reliance on technology in the workplace (whether in the office, hybrid, or fully remote), the demands placed upon IT support teams are growing, placing additional stress and strain on already limited resources of people and technology. The job keeps getting harder.
AI + Agent Equals Big Benefits
Since the beginning of time, humans have developed and deployed tools to help make their lives easier. AI is just the next evolution of humans-using-tools. AI-powered tools enable the automation of routine tasks such as device diagnostics, troubleshooting tips, and more, thus freeing up human resources to focus on more strategic and complex activities.- Human agents: As an AI assistant does the mundane tasks, human IT agents are liberated to focus on the more complex and more value-adding tasks. AI augments human agents by providing access to analytics, insights, and real-time decision support. This collaborative approach enables IT support agents and teams to solve fewer, but harder user challenges.
- IT leaders: Human-AI collaboration brings huge advantages to IT management, who can deliver more impact with less resources. With an increasing number of businesses and IT leaders facing resource constraints and encountering challenges hiring for technical roles, AI can mitigate these burdens. AI also gives leaders performance data in order to drive continual improvement and optimization efforts.
- End users: AI helps resolve user issues faster, as human agents do what they do best (resolving the most complex technical issues that require some creativity) and AI does what it does best (handling the routine, repetitive issues). End-users are increasingly seeking self-service options (such as AI-fueled chatbots and self-help portals) for resolving technical issues on their own time and around the clock.
What Human + AI Looks Like: 3 Examples
How will AI enhance and augment the work of IT support teams? Here are some of the AI technologies that are ready to help your agents work more productively:
1. AI-generated troubleshooting tips
Based on a user-submitted description of an issue, this AI tool accesses its knowledge base/training data and provides relevant troubleshooting tips/solutions to end-users waiting for a helpdesk agent to connect.
A use case for AI-generated troubleshooting: Let’s assume an end-user encounters a printer connectivity issue and seeks assistance from the IT helpdesk. The end-user submits a brief description of the issue via the company’s portal. While the user waits for a helpdesk agent to connect, AI-generated tips are presented.
By the time the agent connects, the troubleshooting instructions have successfully helped the user resolve her printer connectivity issue. The agent verifies the resolution and provides additional assistance if needed.
2. AI-powered scripting
IT support agents can easily create AI-assisted automated scripts that can run on multiple devices without user interaction. Agents simply type a prompt that tells the AI tool what they want the script to do.
A use case for AI-powered scripting. Let’s assume an IT agent receives a ticket from a user who's experiencing difficulties installing a new software application on her laptop. The user provides details like the operating system and the application type.
The IT agent can use the AI-powered scripting tool to input relevant details obtained from the user’s ticket. The scripting tool then analyzes the information and generates a tailored script to run. With the help of AI scripting, the agent quickly and accurately resolves the user’s installation issue.
3. AI-powered chat assistance
This tool offers agents a conversational, AI-powered interface that understands agent queries in plain text and provides agents with relevant assistance in real-time.
A use case for AI-powered chat assistance. Assume that your IT support team is onboarding a newly-hired agent. The new agent wants to diagnose a device and apply missing updates to it. An AI-powered chat assistant can run device diagnostics and quickly Identify missing updates. The agent simply selects all desired updates and hits run.
Work Smarter, Start Today
As you can see from the AI tools and specific use cases described above, artificial intelligence is a great resource for enabling your IT support team to work smarter. GoTo Resolve – the all-in-one IT management and support solution for small and medium-sized businesses – offers AI-powered tools that enhance agent productivity, including:
- With Helpline, user-initiated support sessions are elevated with AI. Through the GoTo Resolve customer portal, users can seamlessly initiate sessions with agents. When this feature is activated, AI-generated troubleshooting tips are displayed when users await a connection with an agent.
- GoTo Resolve’s remote execution enables agents to create AI-generated scripts and select between PowerShell, JavaScript, Python, or shell script execution with AI assistance.
- GoTo Resolve’s AI chat assistant, GoPilot, will facilitate an agent’s daily activities by enabling diagnostics, remediation, and prevention of issues while making agent workflows more intuitive.
