AI is making IT service management smarter, faster and more efficient. Automation, intelligent routing and predictive models are helping IT teams handle more with less friction. There’s real progress happening. But even as these systems improve, a more fundamental issue remains: most employees still don’t know where to go when they need help.
That challenge isn’t new. For years, IT has done the heavy lifting to digitize service delivery. Self-service portals, chatbots, knowledge bases — they’ve all been steps toward more streamlined support. But in most cases, these tools were designed with a single function in mind: resolving IT issues.
Today’s workforce doesn’t operate in clear categories. A frontline worker starting a shift might need to report a broken scanner, check their updated shift schedule, read a company announcement and review a new safety protocol — all before asking for tech support. And they’re doing this from their phone, often without a desk or corporate email address. If each task lives in a different system, the experience quickly becomes overwhelming.
This is where Enterprise Service Management (ESM) has gained traction. Extending ITSM practices into other departments like HR or facilities makes sense. It brings consistency, shared tooling and scalability. But too often, ESM still focuses on transactions rather than the full employee experience.
But support isn’t just about opening and closing tickets. It’s part of a bigger context where employees are navigating tasks, tools, policies, shifts and communication across departments. That environment requires more than a string of ticketing systems stitched together. It calls for a unified experience that understands how work actually happens.
This is especially true for the majority of the global workforce who are not sitting at a desk. Whether it’s a nurse during rounds or a factory worker in a loud, fast-paced environment, these employees don’t have time to dig through six different platforms. If a policy changes or a critical message needs to be shared, it can’t sit in an email inbox they never check.
And this is where IT can lead.
The principles behind service management, structured processes, service design and automation are incredibly valuable. But to shape the employee experience in a meaningful way, those principles have to extend beyond tickets. They need to support the moments where work actually gets done, across roles, departments and contexts.
The idea of a front door to the enterprise isn’t new, but it’s never quite been realized. Portals were a first attempt. In practice, they rarely caught on. They were too narrow, often managed by a single department, and didn’t reflect the full spectrum of employee needs. Most portals assumed employees knew which system to go to for which problem. Most of the time, they didn’t.
What’s needed now is a single space where employees start their day, stay informed and take action. One entry point for everything from time-off requests to tech support, shift changes to policy updates. The value of such an experience isn’t just convenience. It’s clarity. When employees can focus on the work, without navigating a maze of tools, productivity rises. So does engagement.
This shift doesn’t mean tossing out ITSM systems or past investments. It means building on them. ITSM becomes part of a broader, integrated approach that includes HR, communications and operations. It’s about serving employees as people; not just users of individual systems.
AI can support this evolution through automation, but, more important, by creating interactions that are faster, more helpful and more personalized. AI agents can guide employees through complex workflows, surface information in context and connect dots across departments. But AI can only be as effective as the systems it draws from. If those systems are fragmented, the experience will be, too.
This is why integration matters. Not just technical integration, but strategic alignment. When teams across the business build on a shared foundation, the experience for employees changes. It becomes simpler. It feels less like navigating departments and more like just getting things done.
Employee experience isn’t a soft side project anymore. It affects retention, engagement and productivity. It determines whether new hires feel supported or overwhelmed. And it plays a role in how fast companies can adapt and grow. It’s become a competitive edge, and a shared responsibility.
IT teams don’t need to carry this alone. But they can be instrumental in making it real. The key is to ask better questions: Are employees struggling with too many tools? Are we considering the needs of frontline workers? Do our systems reflect how people actually work?
The answers to those questions point the way forward. When IT, HR, communications and operations work together to simplify the employee experience, everyone benefits. People spend less time searching and more time doing. Teams move faster. And the business becomes more responsive in a world that doesn’t wait.
This isn’t the end of ITSM. It’s the next step forward. And for companies willing to take it, there’s a huge opportunity to improve how work gets done, and to improve how work feels for everyone involved.