Example Co. · IT Service Desk · 2026-10-19 to 2026-10-24
That is 0.9–1.5 full-time people of capacity, worth $97K–166K a year at $62/hour loaded labor cost. 64% of the low estimate comes from 3 tasks agents can run end to end; the rest from AI helping people work faster.
| Task | Recommendation | Team h/wk | Back h/wk | $ / year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Password resets and account unlocks 280× a week · 6 people · ServiceNow, Active Directory Users and Computers | Automate Self-service reset with identity verification; agent closes the matching ticket. With: Copilot Studio, Power Automate | 31.9 | 12.8–19.1 | $36K–55K |
| Provision software and access requests 130× a week · 6 people · ServiceNow, Microsoft Edge Takes 7–12 min on average depending on the person; worth checking whether the steps could be standardized. | Automate Approved requests trigger an agent that applies the group or license and updates the ticket. With: Copilot Studio, Power Automate | 19.8 | 7.9–11.9 | $23K–34K |
| Status update emails to users 367× a week · 6 people · Microsoft Outlook, ServiceNow | AI assist AI drafts the update from the ticket history; analyst edits and sends. With: Microsoft 365 Copilot | 38.1 | 5.7–11.4 | $16K–33K |
| Triage and route incoming tickets 286× a week · 6 people · ServiceNow | AI assist AI drafts category, priority and assignment for each new ticket; analyst confirms. With: Microsoft 365 Copilot | 24.3 | 3.6–7.3 | $10K–21K |
| Search and write knowledge articles 136× a week · 6 people · Confluence Takes 4–7 min on average depending on the person; worth checking whether the steps could be standardized. | AI assist AI answers from the knowledge base in place and drafts new articles from closed tickets. With: Microsoft 365 Copilot | 12.8 | 1.9–3.8 | $5K–11K |
| New-hire device setup 12× a week · 5 people · Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Excel Takes 26–55 min on average depending on the person; worth checking whether the steps could be standardized. | AI assist Agent pre-stages enrollment and tracks the checklist from the HR start date. With: Microsoft 365 Copilot | 6.9 | 1.0–2.1 | $3K–6K |
| Remote troubleshooting sessions 83× a week · 6 people · Device Manager, Event Viewer, Quick Assist | Keep human Keep with people; AI can suggest likely fixes from similar past tickets. | 19.8 | 0.0–1.0 | $0–$3K |
| Specialist tasks (done by fewer than 5 people) Pooled so no individual's time can be identified. |
| 2.6 | 1.0–1.6 | $3K–4K |
These are "swivel chair" steps: people carrying information from one system to another. Connecting the systems directly usually removes the step entirely. The biggest: ServiceNow → Active Directory Users and Computers, about 261 times a week.
| From → to | Mostly during | Times / week | Copy-paste |
|---|---|---|---|
| ServiceNow → Active Directory Users and Computers | Password resets and account unlocks, Search and write knowledge articles | 261 | 72% |
| ServiceNow → Microsoft Entra admin center | Provision software and access requests | 90 | 58% |
| ServiceNow → Microsoft 365 admin center | Provision software and access requests | 12 | 92% |
The rest were retyped by hand. Detected from a value seen in one app reappearing in a field being edited in another; the values themselves are never stored.
Possible entry errors: 8% of values retyped from ServiceNow into Active Directory Users and Computers were one character off from the source.
What the team's leads estimated at the start, next to what was measured. Differences of 8 points or more are worth a conversation: they usually mean hidden work, or work that has quietly moved elsewhere. This time: Remote troubleshooting sessions, Status update emails to users.
| Task | Estimated share | Measured share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remote troubleshooting sessions | 25% | 13% | less than expected |
| Password resets and account unlocks | 20% | 20% | |
| Provision software and access requests | 20% | 13% | |
| Triage and route incoming tickets | 15% | 16% | |
| Status update emails to users | 10% | 24% | more than expected |
Measured shares are of tracked work; meetings and chat are not tracked.
How the work actually flows → · Where AI agents fit →
HourBack observed 6 people for about 1 week(s). Results are team totals only; groups smaller than 5 are never reported, and no individual data is available to anyone at the company. Chat, meetings and personal apps were not captured, so total hours are lower than paid hours. Ranges are first-year estimates after review time, exceptions and adoption; the low end is the planning number. Dollar values use $62/hour for IT Service Desk Analyst (loaded hourly cost, provided by sample figures). Yearly values assume 46 working weeks.