The rise of the AI Coach: Why every IT team needs one

As organizations push forward with digital transformation, AI is quickly becoming commonplace in the IT service ecosystem. But if there's one thing I keep noticing in our client conversations, it's this: AI may be powerful, but it's only as useful as the human structure around it. That structure is missing a key player —the AI Coach.

In this blog post, I want to share why this role is becoming critical, what it looks like, and how you can start thinking about introducing it into your teams. We’ll connect the dots to recent insights from Atlassian and Forrester, which confirm what many of us in the field already suspect: AI needs humans more than we think.

The promise (and problem) of AI in ITSM

Atlassian recently partnered with Forrester to examine the value of AI in Jira Service Management. Their 2024 Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study highlighted some impressive results:

• A 30% reduction in ticket handling time.
• Up to 55 minutes saved per incident for IT operations teams.
• Increased customer satisfaction from faster, more accurate service.

Much of this is enabled by features like the Virtual Service Agent and Atlassian Intelligence, built on Generative AI. But these outcomes don’t just happen because the tools are smart. They happen because people shape how those tools are introduced, configured, and trained.

This is the crux of the problem: Many organizations assume simply turning on AI features will deliver transformational outcomes. Without proper oversight, governance, and continuous optimization, these tools can be misunderstood, misused, or underutilized. Teams may not trust the outputs. Knowledge bases may be outdated or incomplete. AI may respond accurately but not helpfully.

This gap between potential and reality is exactly where the AI Coach comes in.

What is an AI Coach?

The AI Coach is not a classic job title (yet), but it’s becoming essential in organizations serious about adopting AI responsibly and effectively. Think of this person as a cross between a knowledge manager, product owner, and automation strategist.

They are responsible for:

• Training the AI using high-quality knowledge articles and process documentation.
• Monitoring outcomes and adjusting AI responses to match changing needs.
• Collaborating with service agents and knowledge authors to improve the content AI uses.
• Designing intent flows and conversation patterns in tools like virtual agents.
• Ensuring governance and compliance around how AI is used and what it communicates.

This person doesn't just ensure the AI "works"—they ensure it fits into human workflows and adds value without introducing risk.

Who could take on this role today?

You may not need to hire a brand-new person right away. In many organizations, the AI Coach's responsibilities can be integrated into existing roles such as:

• Knowledge Manager.
• Service Desk Lead.
• Automation Engineer.
• Digital Workplace Specialist.
• ITSM Process Owner.
• Platform Owner for Jira or Confluence.
• Change or Release Manager.
• AI Product Owner or Conversational Designer.

What’s important is recognizing the need for someone to own the “AI experience,” not just the technology.

Why you need one now

Teams today are under increasing pressure to scale, automate, and improve service velocity. AI can support this, but without an AI Coach:

• You risk AI becoming another underused feature.
• Your teams might distrust or bypass the tools.
• Your customers might receive inconsistent or unhelpful responses.

We often see organisations focus on deploying AI capabilities quickly without considering the ongoing role of improvement, governance, and care. An AI Coach helps you bridge that gap.

How to start building this capability

You don’t need to hire a new full-time role tomorrow. Many of our clients at Eficode start by identifying someone in their team who already acts as a knowledge lead, process owner, or automation enthusiast.

Here’s a simple maturity model you can use:

1. Ad-hoc: AI features are on but unmanaged. Teams are experimenting.
2. Emerging: Someone begins tracking AI usage and making small improvements.
3. Structured: The AI Coach role is recognized and formalized.
4. Optimized: AI is continuously tuned based on feedback, and knowledge is curated for machine and human use.

Now’s the time to act if you’re somewhere between 1 and 2.

Closing thoughts

The TEI study from Forrester and Atlassian validates what we’re seeing in the field: The ROI of AI in ITSM is real. But the most successful organizations aren’t just switching on automation and walking away: They’re creating new roles, habits, and thinking.

At Eficode, we believe the future of high-velocity service management isn’t AI replacing people—it’s people evolving to get the most out of AI. The AI Coach is a perfect example of this shift.

We'd be happy to share more if you’re ready to explore what this could look like in your organization. After all, the best technology makes humans more capable, not less necessary.