See how AI copilots are transforming IT management, enhancing efficiency, and empowering IT professionals through innovative automation and solutions
Gil, can you start by sharing what inspired you to co-found Atera and how the journey has been so far in revolutionizing IT management?
My journey into the tech industry, which ultimately led me to the world of AI, began in China. During that time, I explored various technology projects. At one point, my friend (and now co-founder) Oshri and I ventured into the firewall hardware business, developing accompanying software to enhance its functionality.
However, while we were working on that, we became aware that there were no great all-in-one tools available to help IT professionals manage the daily challenges they faced. The work often required long nights and stressful calls with frustrated customers. That’s when we realized we were onto something much bigger than firewalls. We identified a significant gap in the IT management market, and we were eager to address it.
With that vision in mind, we sold our firewall business and used the profits to launch Atera in 2011, focusing on solving this pressing problem in IT management. Almost immediately, we gained traction, and customer conversions were strong. Within six months, it was evident that we had something special on our hands.
The launch of OpenAI further expanded our horizons, introducing new possibilities. We had already built a framework that aligned perfectly with this emerging technology. By harnessing the power of AI, we integrated it into our platform, automating routine tasks and optimizing IT operations. This pivotal decision elevated Atera to new heights, revolutionizing how IT teams work and providing them with the AI-powered tools they need to succeed.
In July, we officially launched our latest innovation: The AI Copilot. Powered by Action AI™, AI Copilot is an IT companion designed to streamline daily tasks by troubleshooting IT issues using real-time device diagnostics and AI-recommended actions, summarizing tickets instantly to speed up troubleshooting, provide proven AI solutions based on device diagnostics and ticket history, and so much more.
Atera is known as the first AI-powered IT management platform. What motivated you to integrate AI into IT management, and how has it transformed the industry?
When we first founded Atera, we recognized that AI had immense potential to transform how IT professionals operate – which is why we quickly secured several patents in the space. However, even we couldn’t have anticipated the rapid advancements in AI over the past few years.
The announcement of OpenAI was a pivotal moment for us. It opened the door to automating IT operations in a way that addressed the exhausting, time-consuming tasks that IT pros face daily, all while ensuring security and control. With capabilities like predictive maintenance, automated ticket routing, instant scripts, and self-healing systems, AI has become the backbone of modern IT operations rather than just an added feature.
This transformation isn’t going to replace IT professionals; it’s about empowering them. By handling repetitive tasks and offering deeper insights, AI provides IT pros with something they’ve long desired but rarely had: the gift of time. This newfound efficiency allows them to focus on more strategic initiatives, ultimately enhancing their roles and elevating the industry as a whole.
The concept of AI copilots is intriguing. How are these tools changing how IT professionals manage their daily tasks, and what benefits have they brought to the table?
You’ve picked a perfect time to ask this question. We officially launched our AI Copilot in July, and we’ve already seen incredible feedback from our customers. Our Copilot is built on our innovative Action AI™ framework, designed to enhance the skills of IT professionals and revolutionize IT management. We’re rolling out updates regularly to boost its capabilities even further.
The Atera AI Copilot supports IT professionals by automating routine tasks and generating responses, creating custom scripts, and even converting text to terminal commands, making day-to-day IT management more efficient and streamlined.
With Action AI™, customers are already reporting an impressive average of 11-13 hours saved per week, a 90% accuracy rate in diagnostics, and significantly faster ticket resolution. Both IT professionals and their end users are experiencing a noticeable improvement in service quality all around.
Given the ongoing IT talent shortage, how are AI-powered solutions like Atera helping teams manage their workloads more efficiently and effectively?
With AI and automation, IT technicians can work smarter, not harder, and maximize output by focusing on higher-priority tasks rather than getting bogged down by repetitive, time-consuming tasks.
Our advanced AI capabilities enable systems to automatically address and resolve low-risk problems, freeing up technicians to concentrate on more complex challenges. Features like auto-generating ticket summaries and suggesting responses streamline communication and reduce response times. Additionally, technicians can swiftly create custom scripts tailored to specific contexts, generate optimal Object Identifiers (OIDs), and simplify SNMP device monitoring—all in a matter of seconds.
By leveraging these tools, IT teams can drive their entire organization upwards with the power of AI, delivering better support to employees and customers, eliminating IT frustrations, and ensuring higher levels of satisfaction on both sides of the ticket.
There’s often concern about AI replacing jobs. How have IT professionals responded to the introduction of AI copilots, and what has been their impact on job roles within IT teams?
While there’s a lot of excitement about the potential of AI, many also express skepticism and worry that their roles may become obsolete, especially as AI becomes more advanced.
However, it’s crucial to recognize that AI isn’t here to replace human intelligence, creativity, or critical thinking. Although AI excels in rule-based and data-driven tasks, it doesn’t possess the nuanced understanding and emotional intelligence that humans do.
The real opportunity lies in using AI to enhance human capabilities and job descriptions by alleviating some of the busy work that slows teams down, not by replacing IT pros altogether. By automating mundane tasks, IT professionals can focus on higher-value activities that require creativity and adaptability and focus on growing their skillset. Instead of viewing AI as a competitor, it should be seen as a companion in the workplace, freeing up time from mundane tasks.
In terms of how customers have responded, we’re lucky to have a highly active and engaged community, so I’ll let the feedback speak for itself:
“Atera has led to faster solutions and happier clients and frees our technicians’ time to focus on behind-the-scenes projects that help our client’s environments run smoothly. With the help of AI scripting, our techs do not have to spend as much time doing the leg work with automation as they used to. The value of this is incalculable. Happy clients and more free time for our technicians lead to a better work-life balance and the ability for our small crew to grow without the added cost of employees or the stress of upset clients.” – Taylor Anderson, TNT Systems.
Atera claims to enhance team output by up to 10x. Could you provide specific examples or case studies that highlight this dramatic improvement?
As I mentioned previously, customers are already reporting an impressive average of 11-13 hours saved per week, a 90% accuracy rate in diagnostics, and significantly faster ticket resolution.
We also have a very engaged customer community. So don’t just take our word for it, take theirs:
- “Atera’s Open AI-powered script generator has been a game changer for my team. Instead of referring to a search engine and wasting time finding the right script to run, we just describe the problem and receive a script in seconds to review and run on devices remotely. It has dramatically improved resolution time. ” – John Merrick, SWNS Media Group
- “Thanks to Atera’s AI we have experienced a remarkable decrease in the number of open tickets. Previously dealing with a staggering 80 tickets daily, we now handle a mere 35-40 tickets.” – Raymond Maronga, Innovate IT
- “One of the great things with using AI and Atera is the amount of time it has saved me. I have been slowly adding routers to our monitoring, using AI to provide the OID’s is a great time saver. I no longer have to go to the manufacturer’s site to get the information and then manually copy it in.” – Derek Daly, DataSol
What are some of the most common tasks that AI copilots are automating in IT management, and how do these automations contribute to overall organizational efficiency?
Some of the most common tasks that Atera’s Copilot can automate include:
- Troubleshoot IT issues using real-time device diagnostics and AI-recommended actions
- Summarize tickets instantly to speed up troubleshooting
- Provide proven AI solutions based on device diagnostics and ticket history
- Generate knowledge-base articles directly from your ticket resolutions
- Easily create customs and context-specific scripts in just seconds
- Insert a description and receive tailored OID recommendations
- Convert words into precise terminal commands instantly
These are some of the most repetitive, time-consuming tasks that IT pros face daily. By eliminating these manual, arduous activities, Atera enables IT teams to focus on more high-value activities, maximize output, and, ultimately, improve customer satisfaction by drastically reducing response times.
With the increasing adoption of AI in IT, what challenges or hurdles have you encountered, and how have you addressed them?
The conversation around AI adoption is quite nuanced, particularly within corporate environments. Organizations are navigating the challenge of fostering innovation and leveraging AI’s numerous advantages for productivity and efficiency while also addressing concerns related to data privacy, bias, emerging regulations, and more.
We recognize these concerns and understand where they’re coming from. That’s why our discussions often center around demonstrating how responsible AI practices, paired with insights from cybersecurity experts, can facilitate the effective deployment of generative AI tools without introducing unnecessary risks. We’ve also come up with our own responsible AI policies.
For instance, with our partnership with Microsoft Azure OpenAI, we ensured that prompts (inputs), completions (outputs), and training data remain confidential and are not shared with other customers or used to enhance OpenAI models. This approach allows us to harness generative AI confidently to improve efficiency and performance while maintaining ethical standards and safeguarding data privacy and security.
As AI continues to evolve, what are the next big advancements in AI integration within IT management, and how is Atera positioning itself for the future?
I’ve mentioned the AI Copilot, which is truly a game-changer for technicians, but our vision goes even further. We’re excited to introduce our upcoming AI Autopilot, designed to empower IT and positively impact the entire organization.
The AI Autopilot serves as a virtual Tier-1 technician, handling those common routine tasks—like password resets, software installations, and slow connectivity issues—that often consume a technician’s valuable time. By enabling employees to resolve around 50% of their own IT issues in just seconds, we aim to significantly reduce frustration and downtime, resulting in notable cost savings and enhanced efficiency.
Looking ahead, how do you envision the role of AI in IT management evolving over the next five years? What should IT professionals be preparing for in this rapidly changing landscape?
Looking ahead, AI in IT management is poised to play an increasingly transformative role over the next five years. We can expect AI to evolve from automating routine tasks to becoming a proactive force, anticipating and resolving issues before they even arise.
AI will also drive greater personalization and context-aware solutions. IT management platforms will be able to understand not only the technical aspects but also the business objectives of the organization, recommending strategies to improve both operational efficiency and business outcomes. AI will integrate more deeply with cybersecurity, offering real-time threat detection and response, making IT environments more resilient to ever-evolving threats.
For IT professionals, the shift toward AI-driven automation means a need to adapt and focus on higher-level, strategic responsibilities. They’ll need to prepare for a world where routine tasks are handled by AI, freeing up their time to focus on innovation, system architecture, and leveraging data analytics to drive business value. Developing AI fluency, particularly in understanding how to work alongside these intelligent systems and customize AI solutions to meet specific needs, will be crucial.
The overarching message is that AI in IT management is not about replacing human workers; it’s about empowering them to unlock their full potential. IT professionals should prepare by developing their skills in AI technologies, staying informed about industry trends, and being open to collaboration with AI tools.
The most successful IT professionals will be those who embrace continuous learning and evolve from problem solvers to strategic thinkers, using AI not just as a tool, but as a partner in driving IT and organizational success.
Gil Pekelman,
CEO and Founder, 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 transforming IT management with our all-in-one Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM), Helpdesk, Ticketing, and automation platform, now powered by Action AI™. Designed to streamline and scale operations, Atera empowers IT teams to slash SLA times, efficiently manage and protect infrastructure, improve service quality, and drive organizational growth. With powerful patch management, reporting and analytics, real-time diagnostics, and more, Atera supports seamless operations across the enterprise—serving over 12,000 customers in 120+ countries, all with per-tech pricing and unlimited devices.
