- OTRS Survey: Two-thirds of IT pros in the United States agree that AI will lead to employees in service jobs needing different skills than before
- Nearly three quarters believe AI will significantly improve the performance of service employees
- At the same time, fear of AI replacing service jobs is widespread
Cupertino, CA, 11. July 2024 – There is no question among IT leaders that AI will change the ways in which they work and the skills that are needed by employees in the field. In fact, on an international level, 71 percent strongly or somewhat agree that AI will significantly improve the performance of service employees. Only 15 percent strongly or somewhat disagree with this, and 14 percent remain undecided in their response.
However, in the United States, 66 percent strongly or somewhat agree that AI will lead to employees in service jobs needing different skills than before. 19 percent do not or only somewhat believe this will be necessary and another 15 percent are unsure about how AI will impact IT service team member skills.
This is according to the third part of the “OTRS Spotlight: IT Service Management 2024“ study, for which the software company OTRS Group surveyed 600 IT managers and employees internationally, 100 of them in the United States.
Use case: AI chatbots – Working or not?
One of the applications that IT teams predict will have a notable impact on IT service are AI-supported chatbots. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed in the U.S. expect:
- better quality in customer service (64 percent),
- greater efficiency thanks to fewer routine tasks (64 percent),
- less waiting time for customers and faster responses (62 percent), and
- a reduced workload for employees (61 percent).
Additionally, 47 percent anticipate the use of chatbots to result in cost savings.
Internationally, most believe that the overall impact of AI chatbots is that they will significantly improve IT service (62 percent). Another 34 percent shared that AI chatbots are rather an additional element in the service spectrum but will not significantly change IT service delivery. Only a few (3 percent) anticipate that AI-based chatbots make IT service worse.
Despite limits: No AI chatbots are not a solution either
Given the expected benefits, companies are racing to implement AI-chatbots. 44 percent have already looked into it and are planning to use them. Another 39 percent already do so. Only 14 percent do not (yet) see a need for its use right now, and two percent have no ambitions in this direction whatsoever.
While expectations appear high and usage seems to be inevitable, AI’s role has limits. Collectively, only 27 percent shared that customers can fully rely on chatbots for IT service requests. Another 66 percent claim that chatbots work for some issues, but in many cases human support will still be necessary. Only seven percent do not believe they work at all without human support.
“Anytime new technologies start to gain acceptance, there is a burst of excitement. People try out what’s possible and have high expectations for the benefits these new opportunities will bring,” Andreas Bender, Vice President Consulting of OTRS Group, explains. “It simply takes time until these expectations can be fulfilled. With each attempt at using AI, such as in the example of chatbots, capabilities are improved, and human support teams become more skilled at wielding the tool to their – and their customers’ – advantage.”
Only half of United States professionals view seamless human/AI workflows as possible
Despite the overall positive view on chatbot usage, there remains some uncertainty around the topic of AI in general.
For instance, almost half of the U.S. respondents (44 percent) believe that the interplay between human skills (such as empathy, creativity and innovation) and the use of AI is a long process. Just as many believe the two naturally go hand-in-hand (44 percent). Only eleven percent view these as opposites that cannot be brought together and another one percent do not know how they relate.
In addition, there is a considerable amount of fear about the impact AI may have on service jobs. A significant number (44 percent) strongly or somewhat agree that AI will replace many service jobs. Another 20 percent are unsure and neither agree nor disagree with that. The remaining 26 percent are optimistic and strongly or somewhat disagree that many service jobs will be replaced by AI.
Andreas Bender adds: “It’s natural for people to worry about the unknown. Despite all of the hype about what’s possible with AI, it’s not yet fully understood and integrated into business processes. As this becomes more and more normal to service teams – and those in any industry – the fear will subside.”
New skills for IT service employees
Another impact of AI that many survey participants anticipate is that human workers will start to grow their own skill sets. 63 percent of U.S. respondents strongly or somewhat agree that AI will lead employees in service jobs to need more soft skills, such as communication skills, than hard skills, such as technical knowledge. Others strongly or somewhat disagree with this (23 percent) and still others are undecided (14 percent).
Along with this, according to the survey respondents, service workers will presumably also have more opportunity to work on relationship building, either internally with other teams or externally with customers. Internationally, a full 78 percent believe that the increased use of AI will have a very or rather positive effect on building and fostering interpersonal relationships. Another 16 percent remain neutral on the topic. Only seven percent think an increased use of AI will affect interpersonal relationship building very negatively or rather negatively.
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About the ‘OTRS Spotlight: IT Service Management 2024’ Study
The data used is based on an online survey conducted by Pollfish Inc. on behalf of OTRS AG, in which 600 employees in IT service management or IT support in Germany, the United States of America, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia and Hungary participated between April 4, 2024, and May 2, 2024.
Additional results of the third part of the study are available for download as an infographic here.
The results of the first two parts of the study are available here:
- Part 1: AI Hype in ITSM: High Potential, High Workload for IT Teams, New Data Reveals
- Part 2: IT Teams in the AI Jungle: More Tasks, More Responsibility
About OTRS Group
OTRS Group is the manufacturer and the world’s largest provider of the enterprise service management suite OTRS. It offers companies industry-independent software solutions for structured communication in customer service, IT service management and security management. In addition to the core product OTRS, the security solution STORM ensures efficient cybersecurity incident management and transparent documentation in accordance with standards such as ISO 27001.
Among its customers are Lufthansa, Porsche, BSI (Federal Office for Security in Information Technology), Helios Kliniken, Haribo and TUI Cruises. The company consists of OTRS AG and its five subsidiaries OTRS Inc. (USA), OTRS S.A. de C.V. (Mexico), OTRS Asia Pte. Ltd. (Singapore), OTRS do Brasil Soluções Ltda. (Brazil) and OTRS Magyarország Kft. (Hungary). OTRS AG is listed on the basic board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
For more information, see www.otrs.com.