At Refresh Europe 2025, the message was unambiguous: the complexity of enterprise IT is stifling productiveness, and simplification is not optionally available; it’s a strategic crucial. Speaker after speaker emphasised that the fashionable CIO is not only a custodian of infrastructure. They’re additionally architects of the worker expertise, now judged not by SLAs, however by the moments that matter—the final mile interactions the place customers kind their perceptions of IT.
This final mile, whether or not it’s a password reset or a seamless onboarding journey, is the place IT both builds belief or loses it. Staff don’t keep in mind programs; they keep in mind how programs make them really feel. The convention made it clear: companies can’t afford to frustrate customers with fragmented instruments and convoluted processes. With over a thousand instruments in use in some enterprises, the operational burden is huge. But satirically, including extra programs within the title of productiveness typically results in diminished returns and elevated safety threat.
Freshworks and its companions supplied a roadmap for change: simplify aggressively, cut back software sprawl, and middle IT round intuitive, responsive, and empathetic service experiences.
Freshworks’ Deal with AI & Simplification in ITSM
Freshworks drove residence its imaginative and prescient of remodeling ITSM by way of automated, intuitive worker experiences powered by its Freddy AI. Constructed into Freshservice, Freddy helps seamless ticket summarization, multilingual help, data article era, and recommended subsequent greatest actions.
However how does this examine to trade friends? The competitiveness of ITSM at present hinges on seamless AI integration and out-of-the-box governance. Freshworks is clearly catching up in AI capabilities, particularly with no-code Freddy brokers. Its distinct benefit lies in packaging sturdy, rapid-deployment options at a decrease entry price and focusing on the mid-market, whereas market leaders goal at large-enterprise complexity.
Expertise-Led ITSM: XLAs vs. Conventional SLAs
A key shift highlighted at Refresh Europe was the pivot from Service-Degree Agreements (SLAs) to Expertise-Degree Agreements (XLAs), shifting past uptime to measure how customers really feel about IT interactions after which embedding steady suggestions loops.
Main distributors are racing to align with this pattern. Freshworks is firmly in step, integrating multilingual Freddy brokers, experience-level triggers, and unified HR/IT onboarding, all enabled by its latest acquisition of Device42 and embedding of Freddy into Freshservice. They might not be main right here, however they’re strategically aggressive, aligning with the broader trade shift towards emotional metrics.
ITSM Automation
The market’s leaders are converging ITSM with enterprise-wide workflows, embracing hyper automation, human-in-the-loop approval, identification governance, safety orchestration, and HR/procurement automation. Automation by way of AI considerably enhances effectivity throughout numerous enterprise features. HR processes profit from automated onboarding, offboarding, and communication workflows, decreasing inefficiencies and compliance dangers whereas offering personalised experiences for brand spanking new hires. In buyer assist, AI brokers deal with routine and sophisticated queries throughout a number of channels, releasing human brokers to give attention to high-value duties and bettering buyer satisfaction. Moreover, purpose-built AI options for smaller companies simplify operations and speed up progress, showcasing the transformative influence of automation in streamlining processes and driving scalability. All this demonstrates that AI automation is not restricted to IT.
By simplifying deployment and avoiding over-customization, Freshworks positions itself as a lean, agile different to heavyweight platforms like ServiceNow or BMC Helix. They’re not the innovation leaders, however their method neatly balances AI automation with low operational overhead, aiming to outpace competitors in usability.
Is Freshworks Main or Following?
Freshworks is extremely aggressive, significantly for mid-market corporations searching for AI-driven service administration at an enterprise degree of pace and price. With subtle Freddy brokers, Device42-powered ITAM, and a push towards XLAs, it matches many trade developments head-on. But, in sheer breadth, cross-functional orchestration, international identification governance, and large-enterprise complexity, Freshworks mirrors these progressive developments, however with a pointy mid-market focus, avoiding the bloat related to mega-platforms.
On this race, Freshworks isn’t the quickest or most feature-heavy, however it’s the strategically streamlined product providing clever AI, fashionable experiences, and speedy deployment. They’re catching up quick, particularly in experience-led and AI-first service, and are poised to overhaul legacy incumbents in agility and worth. Freshworks ought to proceed to strengthen hyper-automation past IT, including deeper analytics round AI ROI, governance, and identification. It also needs to spotlight XLA success metrics to totally declare the experience-led mantle.
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