Field service is 95% on board with AI but these legacy issues need attention

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Almost all (95%) field service organizations now use AI , and 85% plan to increase investments over the next two years, according to Salesforce's State of Field Service research, a survey of over 2,300 field service professionals across nine countries. Here are other key findings from the research:

The research suggested AI adoption has reached critical mass in field service organizations, with clear business objectives and a leadership commitment to improve business financial metrics across the board.

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But there's also more work to do for services leaders who want to exploit AI effectively.

The top business goals for AI adoption in field service are increasing customer satisfaction (35%), improving mobile worker productivity (31%), improving safety outcomes (27%), shifting from reactive to proactive and predictive maintenance (26%), and increasing revenues (25%).

More than half of field service organizations (54%) use AI tools for customer communication, and 51% use the tech to help mobile workers on the go. The ability to enhance contextual understanding of the job to be done and awareness of customer expectations and immediate requirements helps explain why AI-powered field service solutions are becoming indispensable. Speed to value is the most important driver of customer loyalty and advocacy.

The report found that 85% of field service leaders measure the ROI on their AI investments , with key benefits including higher mobile worker productivity (43%), improved customer satisfaction (40%), and fewer safety incidents (34%). Field service organizations are also seeing increased revenue from field operations (39%), possibly due to faster response times for customers (39%).

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The biggest positive impact of using AI was felt in mobile worker scheduling and dispatch. Revenue per job has increased by 57% in organizations that use AI for scheduling and dispatch. The higher revenues are due to increased mobile worker productivity (57%) and lower labor costs (49%). Based on current adoption trajectories, it is likely that 100% of field service organizations will use AI by 2027. However, the research also suggests there is a struggle for adoption.

The dissatisfaction among field service professionals is less about AI technology and more about how organizations prepare the workforce for AI . Companies are not training their employees, so some staff members leave.