The ongoing relevance of the service desk in an AI world
Authors: Adam Griffith and Roman Jouravlev – ITIL Architects, PeopleCert
Barclay Rae, co-author of ITIL 4, recently stated that service desks are “the human face of IT while handling complex technical problems behind the scenes.” He added that the service desk can also be “the flagship...the face of your entire IT organization” and an “engine that drives successful change”.
In this context, what are the key skills, competencies and behaviors the modern service desk professional needs to fulfill this vital role?
1. Technical skills
Technical skills remain important, with some service desk analysts possessing in-depth expertise in specific areas. However, they are still expected to be generalists and have at least some knowledge of everything. What is essential is knowing who your users are and being one step ahead of them.
2. Soft Skills
Service desk professionals need an above-average level of communication capability and be able to hold conversations that match the varying degrees of user knowledge and understanding. Empathy, something often overlooked, is equally important; so much so that one organization trains its service desk staff in grief counselling as, for example, the loss of data can affect users in a way that mirrors the grief cycle.
3. Understanding business context
Having a comprehensive understanding of users’ business context enables the right blend of knowing both how and why services are used – and their importance. As part of induction to a business, it pays to show service desk teams the users’ working environment, whether the warehouse or the shop floor. Then, they can understand the technology and systems but also the terminology, and can recognize (and even feel) the impact and frustration when systems become unavailable. In one manufacturing company example, onboarding new IT staff involves spending four weeks performing every job involved in the production process to understand the part IT plays in supporting each of them.
AI and the service desk: technical evolution and the ongoing human touch
There are certain service desk skills and competencies that AI can enhance or even replace.
For example, AI automates repetitive, low-value tasks like password resets, ticket logging, and basic troubleshooting. AI-powered chatbots and virtual agents can handle a high volume of Tier 1 requests, providing instant support 24/7. In addition, AI leverages vast amounts of data: incident logs, knowledge articles, and historical records to learn and provide intelligent solutions and optimize entire value streams. For example, in an incident management value stream, AI can automatically triage and route tickets, suggest solutions to agents or even resolve simple issues without human intervention. This speeds up resolution times and improves efficiency.
Other service desk skills and behaviors, however, remain defiantly human. For instance, the empathy to both recognize and feel innately how and why services are used and why they are critical to the business.
A service desk agent can understand a user's frustration, anxiety, or urgency in a way an AI cannot. They can provide reassurance, listen to the full context of a problem, and build trust. This is critical for maintaining positive relationships with customers and employees (demonstrating ITIL’s guiding principle of focus on value). And they can think creatively, collaborate with different teams, and use their institutional knowledge to find a solution. This is where human expertise is the true intelligence that AI cannot yet replicate.
While trends we have observed in service desk development include a push to replace human agents with AI chatbots in search of greater efficiency, users have shown their dislike of dealing with scripted chatbots.
Therefore, organizations have seen the value of organizing on-premise IT support – taking a leaf from the Apple store approach – where they are trying to increase the efficiency of first contact but bring service desk specialists closer to users, maintaining the human touch of the organization.
Ultimately, a balanced approach that combines human agents and AI co-pilots can allow faster and more efficient access to knowledge base information while ensuring service is oriented to human needs.
ITIL – an ongoing guide to service desk performance
The use of new tools and technology, such as AI, distributed services, and the normalization of the virtual service desk, has become common practice for most organizations.
However, that doesn’t change the requirement to understand users, reduce the time to resolve their issues, provide communication, and update and understand the technical landscape. ITIL 4’s service desk practice addresses all of this, while also extending to the delivery of services and integrating with other ITIL practices.
As with all the 34 ITIL practices, the service desk practice keeps evolving, and the next planned update will reflect the growth in AI agents and co-pilots. However, regardless of technological advances, the service desk remains a human-centric business, and the updated practice guidance will still acknowledge that.
In addition, the four dimensions of service management in ITIL 4 – a mirror held up to the organization – continue to provide a checklist so professionals can develop comprehensive and holistic solutions while spotting any gaps.
And the latest addition to the ITIL library in PeopleCert Plus – ITIL: How to Implement Official Book – can support service desk managers planning any major change to ways of working, workflows, and technology. Because the service desk is often a hub for multiple value streams and the main communications conduit between a service provider and its users, any changes should be addressed properly.
For example, even one practice improvement or system implementation can be complex and multi-layered; the new guidance helps service desk practice owners with such transformations and increases the likelihood of success.
Taking the service desk seriously “from the top”
If the service desk is truly to be the “engine that drives successful change”, then leaders need to recognize it.
Leaders who care what users think about their organization and its products and services should also care about the service desk.
Today, user experience is most often shaped by people’s interaction with digital services. And as long as users want to engage with the service provider – especially when something goes wrong – the service desk needs to be there to provide the essential human element of support.
While it’s rare for any organization to provide a perfect service, it’s often the involvement of the service desk that leaves users with an overall positive impression of the service and the provider. For this reason, it remains a strategically vital element in what an organization does.