Final week at Nexthink’s Masters of Expertise occasion in London, one theme got here via clearly in each dialog I had with digital office leaders, IT practitioners, and expertise innovators: The ways in which organizations use digital worker expertise administration (DEXM) options are increasing.
AI dominated the agenda — as anticipated. However the true story wasn’t concerning the newest fashions or options. It was about how organizations are struggling to operationalize AI, modernize assist, and handle expertise at scale — and the way DEXM options are evolving to fill these gaps. Probably the most mature organizations are now not utilizing DEXM simply to watch endpoints or troubleshoot points; they’re utilizing it to enhance how work really will get finished. Listed here are a couple of key themes that emerged from the occasion that each IT and digital office chief ought to perceive.
DEXM Is Rising As A Resolution For Managing The AI Expertise
AI conversations have shifted. The query is now not what AI can do however how one can make it work in your group.
Throughout classes and hallway conversations, leaders constantly raised the identical challenges: How can we drive adoption? Govern utilization? Measure ROI? Establish high-value use circumstances? Information staff towards the proper instruments?
These questions have gotten extra pressing as AI pricing fashions evolve towards consumption-based economics. Leaders can now not afford to purchase licenses and hope for adoption. They need to perceive utilization, conduct, and worth creation in actual time.
- DEXM options give leaders visibility into how AI is definitely used. Organizations are starting to make use of DEXM options to grasp adoption patterns, establish profitable use circumstances, and monitor the place worth is being created — and the place it isn’t. That is changing into important as AI shifts from experimentation to measurable enterprise affect.
- Expertise-led governance is changing restrictive controls. At Aon, leaders described utilizing DEXM insights to information staff towards accepted AI instruments somewhat than relying solely on blocking or proscribing entry. As Simon Sankey famous, governance ought to assist staff discover the proper instruments — not simply forestall the incorrect ones. That shift from management to enablement is crucial.
- The sign is shifting from tickets to conversations. As Nexthink Cofounder and CEO Pedro Bados put it, “the info is within the dialog, not the ticket.” With conversational AI brokers changing into a part of day by day work, organizations want new methods to seize expertise indicators. The significance of that is underscored by Forrester’s Digital Office And Worker Expertise Survey, 2026, which reveals an elevated use of generative AI instruments at work, with 53% of staff utilizing the instruments weekly.
DEXM should evolve accordingly, shifting from monitoring expertise expertise to understanding and optimizing AI-driven work.
The Most Modern Organizations Are Reimagining The Service Desk
For years, IT leaders have talked about proactive assist, automation, and self-healing. The organizations at Masters of Expertise confirmed that many are already shifting past these objectives and redefining what assist is.
- Automation is accelerating decision and redefining expectations. GSK shared {that a} Spark proof of idea achieved a 62% decision charge whereas decreasing decision time from 23 minutes to five minutes. GSK’s long-term imaginative and prescient isn’t quicker tickets. It’s eradicating friction earlier than staff expertise it.
- Proactive operations are decreasing demand, not simply dealing with it. The UK Ministry of Justice described utilizing DEXM-driven automation to cut back level-one demand whereas bettering effectivity throughout a extremely advanced surroundings. The purpose is steady discount of routine interactions, not incremental enchancment of response occasions.
- Help groups are shifting from ticket handlers to expertise builders. LexisNexis UK delivered one of the crucial compelling examples, decreasing reactive incidents per consumer by greater than 50% over 5 years whereas supporting 30% enterprise development with fewer IT sources. The important thing isn’t simply automation; it’s the working mannequin.
Help groups at the moment are analyzing patterns, constructing automations, designing self-healing workflows, and creating steady enchancment backlogs utilizing AI-driven insights. This can be a basically completely different imaginative and prescient of assist.
The service desk of the long run isn’t measured by how rapidly it closes tickets. It’s measured by how successfully it prevents disruption and allows uninterrupted work. Forrester’s report, Service Desk As A Product Crew, offers a sensible playbook on how one can shift to an experience-led service desk. The report highlights that coaching in empathy and problem-solving, together with entry to the proper instruments, ensures extremely efficient groups that ship significant DEX outcomes.
Mature DEX Applications Lengthen Past IT
A very powerful shift I noticed isn’t technical — it’s organizational. The organizations seeing the best worth from DEXM options are treating it as a shared functionality, not an IT device.
- DEX insights are being democratized throughout groups. On the UK Ministry of Justice, DEX leaders deliberately opened entry to expertise knowledge throughout software, gadget, safety, and enterprise groups, constructing role-based entry fashions and communities of apply to allow motion wherever experience exists.
- Possession of expertise is changing into cross-functional. As worker expertise turns into intertwined with AI, safety, operations, and enterprise outcomes, no single crew can personal it. Organizations are increasing accountability — and enabling collaboration to drive outcomes. As Rachael Smith, service proprietor for the UK Ministry of Justice, put it, “don’t gatekeep.”
That philosophy displays a broader pattern: DEXM is changing into a foundational functionality for managing work, not simply expertise. This aligns carefully with Forrester’s DEXOps mannequin, which emphasizes cross-functional alignment as a prerequisite for steady enchancment at scale.
A Reminder From The Neighborhood: DEX Is Constructed By Various Views
One of many highlights of the occasion for me wasn’t on stage — it was the Girls in DEX breakfast. DEX is a self-discipline that few folks plan to enter. Practitioners come from UX, IT, HR, service administration, engineering, and extra. That range isn’t unintentional; it’s important.
Enhancing digital worker expertise requires understanding folks, expertise, processes, and tradition. The range of backgrounds within the DEX neighborhood is considered one of its biggest strengths — and one of many causes the self-discipline continues to evolve.
Girls in DEX was based by Laura Reeves, Nexthink’s world senior shopper director, who acknowledged the necessity and has grown the neighborhood as a ardour undertaking. Study extra concerning the neighborhood and upcoming occasions by becoming a member of the Girls in DEX LinkedIn group.
The Backside Line: DEXM Options Are Increasing Past Their Authentic Objective
Throughout buyer tales, government conversations, and real-world examples, the course is obvious: DEXM is increasing. It’s increasing into AI adoption, governance, and ROI. It’s increasing into autonomous operations and assist transformation. And it’s increasing past IT into an enterprisewide functionality.
The organizations main this subsequent part aren’t asking how DEXM options can assist them monitor expertise. They’re asking how DEXM can assist them enhance work. That shift will outline the following part of the market.
What to do subsequent:
For those who’re a Forrester shopper, schedule a steerage session with me to evaluate your DEX maturity and outline a tailor-made DEXOps strategy. For those who’re earlier in your journey, begin by figuring out one cross-functional use case the place DEX insights can drive measurable outcomes — and construct from there.