Artificial Intelligence: Microsoft Copilot: The AI and Automation Opportunity for ITSM

By Stephen Mann

Nowadays, it isn’t easy to talk about IT service management (ITSM) without referencing artificial intelligence (AI). Even board-level conversations include AI thanks to the media hype and personal adoption success of generative AI capabilities such as ChatGPT. This is driving top-down interest and demand. However, the AI and automation opportunity for ITSM also ties in with the need for the “better, faster, cheaper” ITSM operations and outcomes required for the business imperatives that increasingly leverage technology.

The use of automation within ITSM is, of course, nothing new. For example, ITSM tools have long offered workflow automation to improve ITSM efficiency and effectiveness. But now, AI capabilities and AI working with traditional automation capabilities (what some might call “intelligent automation”) offer a wealth of additional ITSM improvement opportunities.

This blog shares some of the AI and ITSM opportunities available with Microsoft Copilot capabilities.

What’s Microsoft Copilot?

You can skip this short section if you know what Microsoft Copilot is. If not, here’s the elevator pitch.

Importantly, Microsoft Copilot isn’t a “product” in itself (although some people might use this name to refer to Copilot in Bing). Instead, a Copilot is an application that uses AI to assist with tasks and to make people’s lives easier.

Microsoft has already released Copilots across its core products and services, including the aforementioned Copilot in Bing, Copilot Studio in Power Platform, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Dynamics 365 Copilot, and Microsoft Security Copilot. However, the intention is for developers to create their own Copilots using a Microsoft AI development framework. This includes plugin support to augment Microsoft’s AI capabilities through access to real-time, third-party data and information.

Using Copilots for ITSM

ITSM-focused Copilots can be created by ITSM tool vendors, ITSM tool vendor partners, and customers (in a similar fashion to the existing extension of ITSM capabilities seen in service management platforms through new line-of-business-focused apps and workflows).

There’s a wide spectrum of opportunities for Copilot assistance in IT service delivery and support that includes:

Automated ticket triage and resolution (for incidents and service requests) – Copilot can use machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) to categorize, prioritize, and route incoming tickets to the most appropriate teams. They can also be used to automatically generate solutions for common IT issues reported in tickets and undertake repetitive service request tasks such as password resets, user account management, or software installations.
Real-time suggestions for incident resolution and other virtual assistant capabilities for IT support staff – individual IT staff capabilities are augmented when using Copilot. For example, through incident matching or accessing end-user data and information to help diagnose the end-user’s issue.
Copilot-powered self-service – Copilot-based chatbots or virtual assistants/agents can provide immediate assistance to end-users 24/7, meaning that IT support is provided even when the IT service desk is closed. They will handle routine end-user queries, troubleshoot basic IT issues, and guide end-users through common support processes, providing automation-based capabilities as needed.
Knowledge management enablement – Copilot can pull and aggregate information from various sources to assist in creating and updating knowledge articles. For example, analyzing resolved tickets to automatically update existing knowledge articles when appropriate.
Change management risk and impact assessment – not only can Copilot automate change workflow progression, but they can also use historical data and insights to undertake change-related risk and impact assessments automatically and offer change strategy recommendations.
Proactive problem management – Copilot capabilities can assist in identifying the underlying problems causing repeat incidents through ticket analysis. They can also help identify the root causes based on internal and external data and information sources.
Predictive analytics – Copilot can analyze patterns in incident tickets and event data to predict and address probable future issues or outages. They can, therefore, inform a predictive maintenance program as needed. Besides understanding what’s happening in the IT infrastructure, Copilot can also be used for demand management prediction, resource planning, and IT decision-making.
Ticket summarization, reporting, and communications – Copilot capabilities can, for example, be employed in “reply suggesters” that speed up service desk agent responses (even if agents already use templates or similar efficiency aids). Or Copilot can be used to create monthly or ad hoc ITSM reports based on the available data and information.
Major incident response coordination – in the event of a major incident, a Copilot can assist in coordinating the required response efforts, including ensuring that all stakeholders are kept informed.
End-user satisfaction and sentiment analysis – Copilot can analyze feedback from end-users to identify areas for improvement in IT services or be used in real-time to understand how an end-user feels about their in-flight IT support interaction based on the language they use, offering guidance where needed.

These are just examples of how Microsoft Copilot can improve ITSM operations and outcomes. There are already more, and these will be added to as ITSM tool vendors and customers better understand the potential of Copilot.

The many benefits of ITSM Copilot

The ITSM use of Copilot brings with it multiple benefits. Not only will they make lives easier for both IT staff and the people they serve, but they will also speed up tasks and processes (improving employee productivity) and improve experiences and outcomes for everyone. Plus, thanks to their learning nature, the Copilot capabilities will also improve over time.

Read Provance’s view of AI in ITSM in AI’s Potential Role in IT Service Management

Stephen Mann is Principal Analyst and Content Director at the ITSM-focused industry analyst firm ITSM.tools. Also an independent IT and IT service management marketing content creator, and a frequent blogger, writer, and presenter on the challenges and opportunities for IT service management professionals.