Field Service Teams Using AI on Industry-Tailored Platforms Are 5X as Likely to Report Significant Gains in Technician Morale: Praxedo Study

Survey of 100 senior leaders finds 99% of AI adopters see a positive impact on technician burnout and morale, but only 23% say their field service platform is built for their industry, and 72% struggle to hire qualified technicians

CHICAGO, Oct. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Praxedo, a global provider of field service management (FSM) software, and Field Service Insights today released Managing Field Service Talent in the Age of AI, a research report based on a survey of 100 senior field service leaders across energy and utilities, heavy equipment, and telecommunications, nearly two-thirds of them at companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue. The findings show an industry that has embraced AI and is already seeing workforce benefits, but still runs much of its operations on technology leaders describe as “good enough” rather than good. Organizations whose platforms fit their industry are getting far more out of AI.

Read the full report here.

AI is now standard practice in field service. 88% of organizations have adopted AI to support technicians, either in specific areas (79%) or extensively (9%), and the remaining 12% are piloting it. No respondent said their organization has no plans to adopt AI. Among adopters, 99% report a positive impact on technician burnout and morale, citing less travel and paperwork, more even workload distribution, and more confident troubleshooting on the job. Most (80%) describe that impact as moderate, an early signal that the technology’s full workforce payoff is still ahead.

The bigger obstacle may be the systems AI runs on. Only 23% of leaders describe their FSM platform as tailored to their industry. 64% say it is merely adequate and still requires workarounds or spreadsheets, and 13% call it inadequate. Just 19% say their platform is very effective at configuring to their industry’s workflows, and only 23% say it is very effective at protecting technicians’ work-life balance, such as predictable end-of-day times.

That gap matters. Among organizations using AI, leaders who say their platform is tailored to their industry are five times as likely to report a significant positive impact on technician burnout and morale (48% vs. 9%). They are also far more likely to say scheduling and dispatch is very effective (70% vs. 26%) and that customers are very satisfied with self-service tools (30% vs. 4%), and seven of the nine organizations that have extensively adopted AI rate their platform as tailored to their industry.

That technology gap is landing on a workforce already under strain. 72% of leaders rate a shortage of qualified technicians and difficulty hiring as a significant challenge to productivity and retention, and 70% say the same about the loss of institutional knowledge as senior technicians retire. 62% cite junior technician frustration over a lack of real-time support on-site, and 51% point to burnout from poor scheduling or excessive travel. To help newer technicians take on complex work as veterans leave, leaders’ top priorities are a searchable knowledge base that captures senior expertise (57%) and systems that automatically assign work based on skill level and seniority (52%).

Field crews and back-office staff face distinct operational hurdles that directly impact daily productivity:

• Technicians Without the Full Picture: Only 6% of leaders say their technicians have no major frustrations with field technology. The top complaint is limited access to customer history and work order details on-site (43%), followed by excessive drive time from rigid routing (25%) and workarounds like emailing photos or filling out paper forms (24%).
  
  
• Dispatch Bottlenecks: In the back office, 47% of leaders say their dispatchers’ biggest frustration is constantly having to readjust routes manually and call customers because of system limitations. In comparison, 32% point to little or no real-time visibility into field progress once a job is scheduled.
  
  
• Customer Communication Gaps: Just 10% of leaders say customers are very satisfied with their self-service portals, apps and automated updates. Most (77%) say these tools are useful, but customers still call frequently for updates.
  

Leaders’ investment plans reflect those pressures. Over the next 12 months, the top field technology priority is improving mobile app functionality and the digital experience for field staff (40%), followed by AI-supported diagnostic tools to improve first-time fix rates (33%). Looking further out, 66% rank the ability to handle same-day or emergency jobs without disrupting the schedule as a high priority.

Respondents’ own words underscore the human stakes. “High-performing technicians spend more time on paperwork than on technical tasks,” said a vice president at an energy and utilities company with more than $10 billion in revenue. A telecommunications director described what AI has changed for newer hires: “For younger technicians, AI-assisted diagnostics and checklists have alleviated the fear of being alone on the job.” Tools are not the whole story: about one in eight leaders said the frustration most likely to drive their best technicians out is a lack of recognition, career growth or chances to use their skills. “Many technicians feel saturated with no visible growth path,” said a C-suite executive at a heavy equipment company.

“Field service has a talent problem, and technology is either part of the fix or part of the friction. Leaders are telling us AI is already making their technicians’ days better. But when nearly two-thirds of them still rely on workarounds and spreadsheets to make their core platform function, AI can only do so much. The organizations that hold on to their people will be the ones that give every technician the full picture before they arrive on site, take the paperwork off their plate, and put a retiring veteran’s know-how in a new hire’s hands.”

James Koursaris, General Manager, North America, Praxedo

The full report, including a strategic roadmap for FSM investment, is available for download at praxedo.com/field-service-management-report.

About the Survey
Field Service Insights surveyed 100 senior field service leaders on behalf of Praxedo in the first quarter of 2026. Respondents included C-suite executives (20%), vice presidents (26%), directors (32%) and department heads (22%) at energy and utilities (40%), heavy equipment (32%) and telecommunications (28%) organizations. 65% work at companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, including 26% at companies above $10 billion; the remaining 35% are at companies with $100 million to $1 billion.

About Praxedo
Praxedo is a global provider of cloud-based field service management software. Trusted daily by over 1,500 field service organizations and 65,000 users worldwide, Praxedo optimizes scheduling, digitizes work orders, and empowers mobile field technicians. Praxedo has been recognized by Gartner as a pioneer in field service management software since 2016. Learn more at www.praxedo.com.

About Field Service Insights
Field Service Insights, the research arm of the Field Service conference series by WBR Insights, delivers data and analysis on emerging trends, challenges, and technology architectures across the global field service and customer support sectors. Learn more at www.wbrinsights.com.

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Praxedo North America

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Email: justine.arscott@praxedo.com
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