Freshworks Inc. (NASDAQ: FRSH) today released the findings of its second annual “State of Workplace Technology” report, which found a 71% increase in the number of software applications on IT team’s work computers over the last year(1). To manage this spiraling complexity, the report found that IT pros - especially senior leaders and younger generations - are embracing AI to automate workflows and boost efficiency with 86% of IT pros reporting that their organizations are already using AI.AI is poised to save companies time and moneyWhile IT departments are expected to grow this year(2), it doesn’t mean they need to spend more. Freshworks found that companies in the U.S. could save $15,603 per IT employee each year using AI to eliminate time wasted on repetitive tasks. This means that an enterprise-sized company with at least 5,000 employees and an average of 200 IT professionals on staff could save a minimum of $3.1 million annually using AI. The survey also revealed: IT professionals are managing more software than ever and see an opportunity to simplify. The number of software applications on IT team’s work computers increased 71% over the last year. Despite this, IT professionals only use one third of the applications available to them daily (just eight out of 24), compared to half in 2022.IT teams put efficiency first. They rank ease of use and efficiency as top attributes of business software, ahead of feature suite, reliability and cost-effectiveness.AI eliminates repetitive tasks. IT pros agree AI frees up time otherwise spent on repetitive tasks (49%) and allows them to do more complex, meaningful work (45%). Moreover, IT pros estimate they could save more than five hours per week by using AI to complete repetitive tasks. “I’ve had a front-row seat to the mobile and cloud revolutions, and witnessed how both delivered powerful efficiencies that enabled IT teams to improve performance—without expanding costs,” said Dennis Woodside, Freshworks President. “We’re already seeing customers like Smartsheet and Sony Music Entertainment who plan to harness AI to substantially improve employee service, while saving on costs from legacy software accrued over time.” Senior IT leaders are bought into AIDirectors and above reporting higher use and organizational support for AI. Notable findings include: AI use is generally encouraged at work. Seven in ten (70%) IT directors and above say that use of AI is actively encouraged by their company, compared to 44% of team leads/managers and 21% of individual contributors.IT leaders are leading the way to adopt AI. More than nine in ten (91%) IT directors and above currently use AI to support their workload, compared to 66% of team leads/managers and 33% of individual contributors.There’s a youth AI movement. Newer generations are playing a pivotal role in AI adoption. Eight in ten (81%) of Millennial and 75% of Gen Z IT pros currently use AI to support their workload, compared to 57% of Gen X and 27% of Boomers. “Business leaders adopt software for good reasons—to improve operations—but over time may face an unintended consequence of accruing more applications than they need,” said Prasad Ramakrishnan, CIO at Freshworks. “Smart, simplified technology, paired with the power of AI, will do more to drive productivity and efficiency than legacy software has done in decades. IT leaders who embrace automation and technological agility to reduce complexity will be the ones whose teams come out ahead.”

Freshworks Inc., (NASDAQ: FRSH) today announced the appointment of Johanna Jackman as the company’s new Chief People Officer (CPO). Johanna joins the executive team and reports to Freshwork’s Chief Executive Officer Girish Mathrubootham and President Dennis Woodside. Jackman will be responsible for the company's global human resources strategy and operations, which oversees HR business partnerships, talent acquisition and employee development, facilities, compensation and benefits, corporate social responsibility programs, and diversity, equity and inclusion strategy.A global executive who focuses on driving business impact, Jackman has led people teams at Pure Storage, LinkedIn, Microsoft and most recently served as Chief People Officer at Airtable during a hyper growth phase, where she has played a crucial role scaling talent and culture to meet big business objectives.“JJ is a great addition to the Freshworks team,” said Mathrubootham. “Her successful track record at high-growth tech companies and her international expertise working with global teams make her the perfect fit to support our diverse employee base who drive the long-term success of our business.”Before Airtable, Jackman held the position of CHRO for several years at Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG) and served as a board member for the Pure Good Foundation, contributing to environmental impact and workforce development solutions for underserved communities. Prior to Pure Storage, she served as Vice President of HR at LinkedIn, where she helped create a talent platform that grew the employee base from 1,000 to 10,000. Jackman’s experience extends further back to her tenure at Microsoft, where she specialized in talent management and business partnership, holding key roles in the US, Europe, and Australia.“Freshworks has incredible potential to become a multi-billion dollar software company and I’m excited to join the leadership team to elevate its already strong company culture and include our current and future employees in the journey as we scale,” said Jackman. “This is a special place – a globally diverse organization which in itself provides a massive benefit to our employees and customers alike.”She holds a Bachelor of Business degree from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Additionally, she serves as a member of the board of directors at Grafana Labs, an open-source interactive data-visualization platform company.

Dubai: Freshworks Inc., (NASDAQ: FRSH) announced the launch of its AI-powered Customer Service Suite which brings together self-service bots, agent-led conversational messaging, and automated ticketing management in an all-in-one solution. Uniting Freshchat™, Freshdesk™, and the company’s generative artificial intelligence technology, Freddy AI, the Freshworks Customer Service Suite enables a modern customer support experience accessible to any company, with pricing that scales from small business to global enterprise.Ninety four percent of business leaders surveyed in Deloitte’s State of AI in the Enterprise, 5th Edition, agree that AI is critical to success over the next five years. However, many (42%) see implementing AI technologies a barrier to doing that. Freshworks Customer Service Suiteis easy-to-implement, easy-to-use, and easy-to-scale solution for companies looking to leverage AI to retain and delight their customers."At Freshworks, we've always been committed to delivering innovative solutions that anticipate the needs of our customers. The new Freshworks Customer Service Suite is firmly rooted in generative AI technology and empowers businesses to automate customer resolutions, supercharge agent productivity and make smart decisions quickly at a price point that every company wants,” said Freshworks’ Chief Product Officer Prakash Ramamurthy.The Freshworks Customer Service Suite follows the June launch of Freddy Self Service, Copilot, and Insights, which brought generative AI enhancements to a wide range of Freshworks products, and builds upon Freshworks’ generative AI enhancements released in March, which are already reducing agent time required on certain tasks by more than 80%.Using Freshworks’ Freddy AI capabilities with the Customer Service Suite, companies of all sizes can:Automate and personalized self-service across channels. Freddy Self Service AI-powered bots work across channels to help customers find answers fast. Ticket deflection happens faster and customers receive an overall better experience with personalized resolutions.Supercharge agent productivity and collaboration. Freddy Copilot equips agents with next-best-action suggestions, streamline workflows and enable them to deliver accurate and personalized service. Integration with an advanced ticketing system promotes seamless teamwork among departments.Leverage actionable Insights to make smarter decisions. Freddy Insights continuously analyzes data to surface key issues and generate reports using conversational prompts.The all-in-one Suite offers value for businesses seeking to elevate their customer support capabilities with more engaging customer experiences and improved agent productivity.Freshdesk customer, David Yabubik, Director of Customer Support at Restaurant 365, said, “We have big aspirations for the future and if we are ever going to hit the kind of revenue, service margins, and scale of support, we're going to need to get more efficient and automate our work. AI promises to do just that, with a potential game changer in the Freshworks Customer Service Suite.”Frank Servidio, Director of Service Operations at Ryan Specialty, said, “Our existing Freshdesk knowledge base automations combined with the new Freddy AI Self-Service capabilities will play very nicely with the Freshchat bots we are implementing. We’re expecting bots and automations will decrease tickets by at least 10 percent, probably more."