Why autonomous AI agents are shifting IT from reactive support to strategic business enablement.
Gil, let’s begin by hearing about your personal journey—what originally inspired you to co-found Atera, and how has your vision for the company evolved over time?
Atera started from a simple but pressing realization: IT management was broken. Too many highly skilled professionals were spending their days reacting to issues instead of focusing on meaningful, strategic work. I wanted to change that by creating a platform that did more than make existing processes faster. It needed to fundamentally change the way IT teams worked. From the very beginning, our aim has been to provide IT professionals with not only better tools but also a pathway to higher-value work. That vision has since evolved into what we call Autonomous IT, where AI handles the repetitive tasks and humans focus on innovation, value creation, and long-term impact.
Atera’s IT Autopilot has been positioned as a turning point in IT operations. What makes this solution fundamentally different from traditional automation tools in the market?
Traditional automation is limited. It follows predefined scripts and can’t adapt to changing circumstances. IT Autopilot is fundamentally different because it’s built on agentic AI that operates autonomously rather than simply assisting technicians. Instead of relying on technician oversight, IT Autopilot engages directly with end users and fully resolves Tier 1 tickets such as password resets or computer reboots under strict, customizable guardrails.
This evolution moves IT support beyond task-based automation to a fully autonomous system that understands issues holistically, determines investigative approaches independently, and executes solutions without human intervention. The result is faster ticket resolution, lighter workloads for IT professionals, and a better experience for end users.
Unlike many tools on the market that rebrand automation as AI, IT Autopilot delivers genuine autonomy. It saves technicians hours each week by removing the most common and repetitive tasks while integrating seamlessly with Atera’s existing AI Copilot and RMM tools. This enables IT teams to redirect their focus from low-value Tier 1 issues to higher-impact problem-solving, project work, and innovation.
In what ways do you see agentic AI transforming the nature of IT work—not just today but over the next three to five years?
Right now, agentic AI is removing the burden of repetitive and low-impact work. Over the next few years, I expect it to help IT teams evolve from reactive problem-solvers to strategic architects of business systems. AI will manage much of the day-to-day execution, while humans will guide the strategic direction, provide oversight, and apply critical thinking to solve complex challenges. In this future, IT professionals will dedicate more time to innovation, optimization, and enabling the business, rather than clearing backlogs of tickets. The role of IT will continue to expand in scope and influence, deepening its strategic partnership with the broader organization and amplifying its impact on business growth.
Many IT departments are stuck in reactive workflows. How does IT Autopilot help reorient teams toward a more proactive and strategic model?
For years, IT teams have operated under intense pressure, often managing complex systems with limited resources. Rising ticket volumes and constant “do more with less” expectations have forced many departments into a reactive cycle that leaves little time for strategy or long-term improvement.
IT Autopilot helps teams break that cycle. By autonomously resolving Tier 1 tickets such as password resets or computer reboots, it removes a major source of daily interruptions and frees up hours of technician time each week. This allows IT professionals to redirect their focus toward higher-value priorities like infrastructure optimization, process innovation, and technology planning.
In doing so, IT Autopilot helps organizations transition from a reactive mindset to a proactive, forward-looking IT model. In this model, technology teams drive efficiency, innovation, and measurable business growth.
Security is often top of mind when introducing autonomous solutions. How does Atera ensure that IT Autopilot operates within safe and compliant boundaries?
At Atera, security and privacy aren’t just built in; they are built first. Every layer of IT Autopilot is designed to uphold the highest standards of data protection and operational integrity. We recognize that true autonomy can only exist when IT professionals can trust it completely, which is why safety and compliance guide every stage of development.
IT Autopilot operates within strict, pre-defined parameters to ensure agents act only within approved boundaries, eliminating the risk of unauthorized or unintended actions. It runs in a fully closed-loop environment where customer data never leaves the system and is never used to train AI models. Sensitive information remains private and fully contained at all times. Our models are trained exclusively on anonymized datasets, ensuring that no personal or proprietary data is ever exposed.
The result is a secure, self-contained system that delivers the benefits of autonomy, including faster resolutions, reduced workloads, and a more agile IT function, without compromising control, compliance, or privacy.
You recently partnered with Microsoft on the development of this platform. What role did that collaboration play in shaping the reliability and scale of the product?
Our collaboration with Microsoft was central to making IT Autopilot both secure and scalable. The guiding principles behind our autonomous AI agents align with global standards such as Microsoft’s Responsible AI Principles, the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, and the ISO/IEC 42001 AI Management System.
Atera’s research points to a surprising amount of workplace tension and even humor related to IT support tickets. How do you interpret that cultural dynamic, and what role can AI play in resolving it?
Our recent survey showed that IT ticketing is more than an operational challenge; it’s a cultural one. On the IT side, 63% of professionals admitted they’ve judged tickets as embarrassing, and over half said they’ve even shared the worst ones with coworkers for laughs. Nearly 60% also reported that a third or more of the tickets they receive are unnecessary, which adds to frustration and already heavy workloads. For employees, the experience can be equally uncomfortable: simple requests like repeated password resets often feel awkward to submit, while long wait times for help remain a major source of frustration.
This mismatch creates tension between IT and employees. Technicians feel overburdened by repetitive, low-value requests, while employees hesitate to ask for support or look for alternatives. Many have already started turning to publicly available AI tools like ChatGPT to troubleshoot issues on their own, which may feel convenient in the moment but introduces new security and compliance risks.
AI can help close this gap safely and effectively. By integrating trusted AI agents into IT workflows, organizations can reduce friction, lighten workloads, and foster a healthier, more collaborative relationship between IT teams and the rest of the organization. Employees get faster support without stepping outside company-approved systems, and IT teams regain valuable time to focus on higher-impact work.
The self-service component of IT Autopilot appears to benefit both IT teams and end users. How does it change the relationship between non-technical employees and their IT departments?
Self-service capabilities give employees immediate access to AI-powered support at any time, without needing to wait for a ticket to be processed. This constant 24/7 availability not only improves productivity but also empowers employees to resolve simple issues on their own. It helps them feel more confident tackling problems they might otherwise have avoided or tried to fix quietly to prevent prolonged downtime.
For IT teams, it redefines their role from reactive troubleshooters to strategic enablers. Instead of fielding a constant flow of basic requests, they can focus on initiatives that strengthen infrastructure, enhance user experience, and deliver long-term business value. The result is a more collaborative and connected dynamic, where IT is viewed as a proactive partner in progress rather than a help desk function.
With early adopters already reporting notable time and efficiency gains, what broader impact do you foresee this solution having across large-scale organizations?
The feedback from early adopters has been remarkable. One customer reduced ticket volumes by 15 percent and saved 48 technician hours per week within two months of deploying IT Autopilot. Another cut response times from several hours to almost instant. At scale, these kinds of results can transform how entire IT departments operate. Organizations can reallocate time and resources toward innovation, system improvements, and strategic projects, while employees benefit from faster, more reliable support.
Finally, as AI continues to advance rapidly, how is Atera planning to stay ahead of the curve and continue leading innovation in autonomous IT operations?
At Atera, staying ahead means never standing still. We’re constantly refining our platform based on real-world feedback from our global community of IT professionals, ensuring every improvement solves tangible challenges and drives measurable results. Our product roadmap is shaped by that dialogue. We test, learn, and iterate alongside our customers to make sure autonomy evolves in step with their needs.
We also invest heavily in research and partnerships to strengthen the intelligence behind our solutions. Our collaboration with Microsoft and ongoing experimentation with emerging AI frameworks enable us to deliver tools that are not only powerful but also secure, scalable, and easy to use. This commitment to continuous improvement keeps IT Autopilot advancing, from agentic capabilities that understand context to smarter self-service and proactive monitoring.
Atera, with its IT Autopilot vision, stands at the forefront of this evolution, enabling organizations to transition from static workflows to dynamic, self-improving operations.
Gil Pekelman
Co-founder and CEO, Atera
Gil Pekelman is the CEO and co-founder of Atera, the all-in-one IT management platform, powered by Action AI™. Prior to founding Atera, Gil held senior positions at Indigo NV (now a division of HP) and Exanet (acquired by DELL). He has a degree in Economics and Management (Cum Laude) and is the sole inventor of three patents.
- About Atera: Atera is leading the future of IT with the world’s first Autonomous IT platform, with a built-in, always-learning fleet of patented AI agents. At its core is IT Autopilot; an autonomous, context-aware AI agent that functions as a personal IT technician for every employee. IT Autopilot adapts to each user, integrates with tools and APIs, and operates within secure guardrails to deliver real-time, tailored support while resolving issues autonomously. Trusted by over 13,000 customers in 120+ countries, Atera helps organizations scale, boost service quality, and turn IT into a driver of lasting business growth.