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Last week, Team Rezolve.ai was at the prestigious HDI conference, Support World Live 2022 in Las Vegas - an event that aims to reunite the global technical support and IT service management industry. Over the last 2 and a half years, this was our second in-person conference. Indeed, it was a great experience. While MS Teams and equivalent products have helped us remain productive through the pandemic – there is something about in-person interaction that cannot be replaced by technology.

The discussions are more free-wheeling and spontaneous, we can read each other’s ‘mind’ better – and there is a more robust ‘human’ connection. Less structure = more creative discussions, most of the time. You end up with ideas and discussions far away from where you started – and often, you love the destination you reach. Most of all, solid peer-to-peer relationships are created that open channels for future conversations.

Quick Numbers: Rezolve.ai welcomed more than 250 visitors to our booth. I strongly believe that we had at least 100+ engaging conversations. As I reflected on these conversations on my way back home on the flight and later on – I made some notes about the patterns I saw.

Here Are The Top Five Noteworthy Points/Learnings From My Side

1. Looking to add AI-powered automation
   
   This point got to be the first on the list by all accounts. Based on our conversation, I can easily say that most service desk leaders are looking to add AI components to their service desks within the next six months or so. The momentum towards AI-led automation has truly converted into a tsunami. This is excellent news for companies like Rezolve.ai.
   
   
2. Focus on Microsoft Teams
   
   The majority of service desk leaders are excited about the possibility of using MS Teams (or Slack) as a channel for service delivery. There was a wide acceptance of the inevitability of using MS Teams as a primary channel for support.
   
   
3. Hunger for change
   
   Broadly speaking – many people were unsatisfied with the service desk solutions. Here are some quotes from people I talked to about their current service desk.
   
   

• ‘My current system does not have good analytics, and our request for updates has not really worked.’
  
  
• ‘Shoots too many emails, and I cannot stop those.’
  
  
• ‘The virtual assistant (VA) that they introduced is too difficult to set-up’
  
  
• ‘Nothing has really changed in the last three years’
  
  
• ‘Support is terrible’
  
  

To be fair, I did meet with a few people who were happy with their current solution. Among the few things that I heard; what people liked 

• ‘Easy to configure’
  
  
• ‘Integrations are so easy to do’
  
  

Overall, among unhappy people, I clearly saw an appetite for change. They were no longer willing to wait for another year for their current system to upgrade. 

4. Attrition issue

Many of the service desk leaders are dealing with this topic right now, and therefore it was on top of their minds. They talked about the cost of hiring, raising costs, and working from home. Service desk leaders were talking about their strategies to deal with attrition and how they would try and automate L0 or L1 kinds of tasks. I think the current “Great Resignation’ is shaping the strategies of the future of service desks.

5. Watching ROI

Not surprisingly, service desk leaders were talking about the cost of their current systems – and more specifically, about the ROI. Many of the people I met clearly have budgets and returns on their mind – and the focus on this area seems very clear this time around.

What Did I Not Hear A Lot?

Interestingly – what was missing from the discussion was RPA. From almost 100 conversations, only one or two mentioned using RPA, and there too, it was clear that RPA was being experimented upon. This surprised me slightly, as I assumed RPA would have made deeper inroads by now in service desks – but it appears it has not.

If you attended HDI Support World Live 2022 – what was your experience? What were your learnings or insights? Please feel free to share.