Bridging ITSM and Engineering Teams towards Coordinated AI Adoption

With organisations researching or piloting AI possibilities, the majority of ITSM professionals (62%) still find the AI integration difficult (SDI, 2024). Emotional resistance and coordination gaps are among the challenges. Other roles within the organisations are facing similar challenges. Most notably, the engineering teams and their managers, who have had to navigate the uncertainties in their work and professional identity.

When Matej (Engineering Manager) and Irene (Mental Fitness Coach) met during a conference last year, their passion for mentoring developed into a collaborative journey centered around this complex challenge. Seeing the rollercoasters of emotions through the AI adoption process in his department, Matej with mentoring from Irene, delivered a series of Hopes & Fears workshops with his teams and peers. We discovered a powerful finding that helped reframe the resistance: engineers are grieving the craft they built their careers on, what initially seemed like resistance was an identity crisis. In this dialogue-style talk, we unpack what happened next from both sides of engineering and mental fitness:
– How recognising the roots of their hopes and fears gave the team a shared language.
– How good mentoring from the leader helped people move from fear to action.
– How engineers redefined themselves, as problem solvers, AI orchestrators and champions.

By presenting this case study, we aim to build bridges between servicedesk/ITSM professionals and engineers. At the heart of the AI adoption challenge is the empowerment of the humans in working together as partners and collaborators. We hope to engage in clarifying discussion and encourage cross-team collaboration towards coordinated AI strategies, boosting adoption, and contributing to building resilient organisations.