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Last week, Prateek and I discussed the future of field service. Below is a near‑verbatim edit of our conversation, other than fillers removed and some punctuation added.
How Agentic AI Will Transform Field Service Operations
Oliver: Prateek, we've compared agentic AI's impact on enterprise software to how SaaS disrupted on‑premise systems in the agentic AI white paper: The Future of Field Service: AI Agents. What ways could we expect AI agents to transform field‑service operations in the next 24 months?
Prateek: The core concept, and what I genuinely and passionately believe in, is this combination of Humans + AI to reimagine and redefine field service. Agentic AI will help, is already helping and will continue to help with these mundane tasks, freeing people to focus on what’s uniquely human‑dependent.
The way to approach this is very clear in our heads. We can’t just build a "shiny product" and launch it. We must study the value chain, spot the choke points - dispatcher, field tech, developer - then drop specialized agents there.
There's a concept called Jobs to Be Done, by Clay Christensen. The concept is simple: let’s say you have to drill a hole in the wall and you need a drill bit for that. You can buy a cheap $10 thing, or you can buy a $1,000 thing. At the end of the day, the job is not to buy the drill but to drill the hole.
Focusing on that and identifying the best tools to get there - getting to the choke points in the value chain - we remove those using agents so humans can focus on what's uniquely human-dependent.
That world is near term and we'll get there very quickly with our network of agents. The industry is getting there, and having this mindset of service-oriented software is right. Gone are the days where people created a standard product that solves a problem, like SaaS and gave it to people, saying, “Figure out how to use it; you have to use it in this fashion.” Now it will be, “You have a pain point; let me bring an agent to solve that pain point for you.”. That will be unique to you, and we will configure the agent to do that. This combination of Humans + AI to reimagine field service is what I truly believe in, and there are ample use cases.
Whether you take the office persona, the field-tech persona, or the developer persona, there are choke points everywhere that we are already tackling - and we will keep building this network of agents to tackle these choke point.
Agentic AI transforms field service by handling mundane tasks, freeing humans for complex work. Focus on value chain choke points - dispatcher, field tech, customer, developer - then deploy agents strategically.
Where AI Creates Maximum Value in Field Service Teams
Oliver: It’d be interesting to know where you think the most value will be found across those personas?
Prateek: We'll find opportunities everywhere. The payoff depends on the goal - new revenue, cost reduction, or employee engagement. If the bottleneck is with field technicians, we work there; if dispatch costs are out of line, we solve that. Some customers love the tech side, others care about the office.
We can imagine where you wouldn't need a dispatcher sitting in the office clicking buttons, they can be doing much more valuable work. The developer landscape is still nascent, but low‑code and no‑code, paired with agents, will transform that area within field service very soon.
The key is: the value is specific to each company. We are asking each customer using our agents, "What are your priorities?".
AI value depends on your goal—new revenue, cost reduction, or employee engagement. Target bottlenecks whether field technicians, dispatch costs, or developer needs for maximum impact.
Citizen Developers and No-Code FSM Platforms
Oliver: Most field‑service organisations are tired of being dependent on vendors for every change. How will the citizen‑developer movement reshape FSM, and what capabilities must platforms provide to empower business users?
Prateek: My view is always, what does it mean for the customer? We have always believed that we should give the keys of the platform to our customers and let them run with it.
Our model is crawl, walk, run. We implement, then hand over the no‑code controls, then move customers to low‑code. Agents are the force multiplier that make that journey quicker and better. The key capability is training, so customers control their own destiny.
This no-code/low-code mix with agents is exciting; it's only going to get us faster toward re-imagining field service. Customers need ownership of the journey. They don't want to be stuck with a SaaS product, nor completely dependent on SIs. This is the best of both worlds: you start out of the box and then take control of the workflows you want. That's our goal- to help customers get there.
Citizen developer movement empowers business users with no-code controls and AI agents. Crawl, walk, run model: implement first, hand over controls, then advance to low-code capabilities.
AI Solutions for Workforce Knowledge Transfer Crisis
Oliver: The field‑service industry faces an aging workforce and severe labour shortages. What specific AI‑powered solutions will emerge to solve the knowledge‑transfer crisis before it cripples service organisations?
Prateek: Any productivity gain helps to be honest. Remote onboarding and collaboration exist already; agents will turbo‑charge them. At Zinier, we try and start with quick wins - automate simple office clicks - then scale. We can't expect agents to replace experienced techs overnight.
Your goal should be to get your organisation comfortable, stack the wins, then extend into knowledge sharing. We have lots of use cases. Mobile agents that walk you through a task are a good example. And the speed at which we achieved OCR rollout for Pangeaco showed how fast this can happen.
AI solves aging workforce knowledge transfer through remote onboarding, mobile task guidance, and automated simple tasks. Start with quick wins, stack successes, then scale knowledge sharing.
Event-Driven Platforms and the Future of FSM Software
Oliver: We at Zinier have predicted that event‑driven platforms will commoditise enterprise software. How will this shift change the FSM vendor landscape, and what should buyers prioritise to avoid obsolete investments?
Prateek: SaaS doesn't work in industrial settings; you can’t have a standard product. SaaS narrows in on a problem, solves it for one company, then repeats. Industrial companies aren’t savvy enough to handle hundreds of SaaS apps. They gravitate toward one or two solutions. SaaS alone won’t solve everything.
We have to look at why have large enterprise platforms, with substandard products, done well? It's because they enter a company, keep releasing solutions, and provide an umbrella platform.
The issue with that though, is that total vendor dependence doesn’t work; SIs aren’t product companies. Managing their custom work becomes hard. You need an easy, configurable bridge: a no-code/low-code platform. Flexibility is crucial.
Our aim is to provide flexibility, so as the business grows, the software adapts. Agents bring a Human + AI combo, automating mundane tasks so humans focus on what is truly human. Flexibility and customizability become stronger.
This ties back to Zinier’s why: technology equity in physical industries. With low code/no code and agents, imagine the world we can create. That’s exciting. Event-driven architecture is key, but it’s just a tool to realize the why. The mix of low code/no code with agents brings the vision to life.
FSM future requires flexible no-code/low-code bridge backed by AI agents. Avoid plain SaaS or fully custom extremes—flexibility beats architecture debates for heavy industry success.
Key Takeaway: Find Choke Points, Deploy AI Agents
Prateek’s message is straightforward: find the choke point, wrap an agent around it, free people for work only people can do. The next two years won’t revolve around a single killer product - it will be about the platform you operate on. Progress will come from stitching together small, high‑impact automations that scale.
Schedule a demo here to explore how AI agents can transform your field service delivery.
