Late last year, my colleagues and I authored a report on the future of AI computing titled Change The Interface; Change The World. We predicted how AI-powered interfaces and agents will change everyday life and work. This transformation has begun, and we can see its impact on IT operations. Agentic AI — AI systems capable of autonomous decision-making and adaptation — is leading this transformation. As vendors race to integrate AI-driven solutions, let’s explore how agentic AI is revolutionizing service management, why it matters now, and what the future holds for service management automation.

The Power Of Agentic AI In Service Management

Traditional IT support often relies on reactive approaches — waiting for an issue to arise before addressing it. This results in downtime, increased costs, and frustrated users. Agentic AI changes this by enabling autonomous issue resolution, bringing the benefits of AIOps and observability to all service delivery. These AI-driven systems continuously monitor IT environments, analyze patterns, and proactively resolve problems before they occur.

For example, AI-powered service desks can diagnose system errors, apply fixes, and learn from past incidents to improve problem-solving capabilities. This automation significantly reduces the need for human intervention, allowing IT teams to focus on higher-value tasks and projects. Faster response times, improved system uptime, and cost savings make agentic AI an essential component of adaptive and resilient service management.

Beyond troubleshooting, agentic AI also enhances service management through intelligent automation of workflows. Tasks such as software provisioning, access management, and service request fulfillment can be assembled and executed autonomously, minimizing bottlenecks and improving operational efficiency. With AI at the helm, service management is shifting from a reactive to a proactive and self-sustaining model.

Enhancing User Experiences

Service management isn’t just about keeping IT systems running — it’s also about optimizing user experiences. Agentic AI is playing a pivotal role in transforming service management by personalizing interactions and automating repetitive processes.

One of the most impactful applications is in employee onboarding. New hires often face delays in accessing necessary systems, leading to productivity losses. AI-driven automation streamlines this process by handling paperwork, granting system access, and ensuring that compliance requirements are met without manual intervention. This reduces onboarding time from days to hours, allowing employees to be productive from day one.

Beyond onboarding, AI-powered service desks analyze user behavior to deliver personalized support. By understanding patterns in service requests and user preferences, AI can provide tailored solutions, anticipate needs, and enhance overall engagement. Whether it’s an IT support chatbot that instantly resolves queries or an AI-driven recommendation system that proactively suggests best practices, agentic AI ensures a seamless and efficient user experience.

As organizations increasingly prioritize digital transformation, AI agents are becoming a strategic necessity. Automating HR, finance, and customer service processes through agentic AI reduces operational overhead and enhances overall business agility.

The Competitive Landscape: AI Acquisitions And Future Trends

With the undeniable potential of agentic AI in service management, major players in the tech industry are racing to build and acquire AI-driven capabilities. For example, ServiceNow has invested about $3 billion in AI startups alone (Moveworks and Cuein) to layer their reasoning systems into its platforms. These acquisitions complement ServiceNow’s already significant investments into AI agents and its own self-developed agentic capabilities. This significant monetary commitment signals a larger industry shift toward AI-first service management strategies.

Further evidence comes from investments into data layers and knowledge graphs. Vendors such as Atlassian and ServiceNow have been investing in integrated, “AI-understandable” data layers to ensure that their AI’s decision-making can bridge multiple technology ecosystems through their respective teamwork graph and Workflow Data Fabric. “Good” (complete and accurate) data is essential for good agentic systems.

The future of service management will be defined by AI systems that can intuitively automate tasks and continuously learn, adapt, and improve. Additionally, AI-driven predictive analytics will enable IT teams to prevent outages and security threats before they happen, further improving service reliability.

Organizations that invest in agentic AI today will gain a significant advantage in efficiency, cost savings, and user satisfaction. As AI technology evolves, businesses that fail to adapt risk falling behind in the rapidly accelerating service management race. IT operations has struggled in the past to fully embrace automation. Agentic AI makes automation seamless and easier to adopt.

The Agentic AI Race Is On

The service management landscape is no longer just about automation — it’s about intelligence, adaptability, and autonomy. Agentic AI is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in service management, enabling businesses to operate with unprecedented efficiency. From proactive issue resolution to personalized user experiences, the race to AI-driven service management is in full swing.

Companies that embrace this transformation will be at the forefront of innovation, while those that hesitate risk being left behind. The question is no longer whether AI will dominate service management but how quickly organizations can implement and leverage its full potential.

The race has begun — is your organization ready?

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