ServiceNow's new AI agents will happily volunteer for your dullest tasks

ServiceNow has for years used the example of employee onboarding to explain the power of its wares, pointing out that a lot of people around an organization are needed to get new hires on the payroll, registered with HR, equipped with a computer, and assigned appropriate permissions to access applications. If any of the people …

[ecofeco]

I guess?

SN has become the default standard, but its workflow and logic and interface leave a lot to be desired.

A lot.

Sadly, everything else, except for other simple yet obscure ticket systems, are no better,

Now it wants to branch out into CRM? God help us all.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I guess?

There's also the problem that the AI sets up an employee in another country and erroneously grants or removes something leaving the company liable. Or the company is accused of an "ism" and has to explain why HR behaved in a certain way and the AI can't justify its reasoning... because it doesn't reason.

In the end a simple human does the job just as easily without the intervention of an "AI" process.

Come to think of it who hires people in another country without knowing the laws and norms.... you always get local people involved... sounds lie a solution looking for a problem.

[ecofeco]

Re: I guess?

I agree with all points but the last. I've worked for foreign companies and have come close on a number of occasion to wondering if they should be reported to national law enforcement for some gray shenanigans.

Very gray shenanigans. I've also been let go for telling a couple of them flat out I cannot do a thing they want because it's against the law.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I guess?

I, as the AC you're replying to, haven't seen that so perhaps I've been lucky.... the only problems I've encountered are big US companies trying to apply US employment laws in Europe and watching as the local HR people curled their toes :-)

[ecofeco]

Re: I guess?

I would so love to see that in person.

[Wally Dug]

Re: I guess?

Yes, a great one is the mention of TUPE.

At first, the American company seemed to scoff and flat out reject it when our HR informed them about their obligations under TUPE law and then the meeting with the affected employees is quickly ended by our HR. And then our HR must have had a fun chat with the American HR and when the next consultation meeting is held shortly afterwards, the Americans' attitude is oh so different as they grit their teeth and say that they will cover all costs of redundancy as there are no positions for us.

Fortunately, we were kept on by the UK and to be honest, I have often wondered if our HR were just purposely putting the wind up the Americans who were blasé right from the off that they had won the contract and had no use of the UK workforce.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I guess?

Had the same from a major Indian IT outsourcer after a TUPE. If you are taken off a contract you have three months to find another role or you're out. First time they tried this someone explained to them that you have to put people on notice and then make them redundant. Someone made some bank. But 7 years later there are still people on the bench with no role just being paid as the company doesn't know how to get rid of them. Or rather there's no one on the UK side that knows how to do it properly.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I guess?

I had the same experience with a (nother?) major Indian IT outsourcer, except it was two months to find a new contract or you were out. But we were put on notice and I once got down to about two weeks left before some creative accounting took place to allow me to stay.

And although we could never prove it, UK-based UK staff were overlooked in favour of UK-based Indian staff.

[Joseba4242]

Re: I guess?

Why should am AI agent not be knowledgeable in local law?

You'd have different agents, trained on different material and law, for different countries. Just like human agents.

It is true that AI agents will have to be dealt with by HR as a new type of employe with similar issues - performance, bullying, discrimination, adherence to policies etc.

[An_Old_Dog]

My "Dullest Tasks"

... have nothing to do with ServiceNow, so their new feature doess nothing dor me.

[czechitout]

Are AI agents the new RPA, basically a sticking plaster on top of poorly integrated systems and broken processes?