When: Wednesday 13 May (before show opens). Arrive 8.30am for a 8.45am start. Session ends at 9.30am, when the show opens.
Where: Service Desk & IT Support Show – Excel London
Why: Free breakfast, limited seats

Beyond the Buzz: Navigating the operational reality of AI in ITSM

AI capabilities in ITSM platforms today range from features that work out of the box to those requiring serious implementation overheads and financial costs. Without a structured way to evaluate them, it’s easy to underinvest in simple capabilities that deliver fast ROI and overcommit to complex AI initiatives without a clear value case.

This session introduces the AI Capability Spectrum, a framework that maps ITSM AI capabilities across three layers (plug and play, configurable, and custom engineered) against two axes: complexity and perceived business value. We’ll also look at how emerging integration standards like MCP are redrawing the complexity boundary, making outcomes that previously required heavy custom work achievable through configuration alone.

Attendees will walk away with:

1. Understanding the AI capability spectrum. A practical model for evaluating AI capabilities across three distinct layers, with a primer on how to assess complexity vs. perceived value.

2. Not all AI complexity is worth it. Match the AI capabilities to the problem, not the ambition. The highest-impact AI can often come from the least complex capabilities. Knowing where the easy wins sit prevents costly misallocation.

3. The 4 starter steps for AI-data readiness. A few quick steps to clean up existing ITSM data, as AI is only as effective as the quality and relevance of the data it learns from.