Hype about AI grows as consumers become familiar with virtual assistants using conversational platforms. I&O leaders responsible for the IT service desk are keen to exploit this to optimize IT support, but neither the technology nor the workplace is ready to depend on virtual agents now.

Impacts

• Business users' experience with virtual assistants for personal tasks puts pressure on I&O leaders to meet growing expectations for the IT service desk.
• Many business users will avoid engaging with virtual support agents, making it challenging for I&O leaders to encourage unwilling users to engage with alternatives to human contact.
• Virtual support agents without access to a rich source of knowledge cannot provide intelligent responses, forcing I&O leaders to establish or improve knowledge management initiatives.
• Current implementations of AI on IT service desks are limited to simple chatbot transactions, so I&O leaders have no fully proven cases of virtual support agents to optimize IT support.