There’s a growing trend in the IT industry that should have you concerned: people are letting AI act as their “technician.” Instead of escalating issues, running diagnostics, or evaluating the impact of a fix, they’re turning to an AI tool, pasting in the problem, and following whatever instructions come back.
At first glance, this looks efficient. Tickets close faster. Techs feel empowered. Leaders see productivity metrics tick upward. But when you zoom out, the picture changes. AI isn’t a technician, and building support and security services on AI-driven fixes is a dangerous business model. It’s not only risky for your clients, it’s risky for your company.
The Illusion of Productivity
AI can make your team feel faster. The firewall issue is resolved, the error message disappears, the client is happy in the moment. But that “fix” may come at a hidden cost.
AI doesn’t know your client’s business environment, their compliance requirements, or the security protocols you’ve built. It doesn’t understand context. It provides answers that usually work, not necessarily what’s safe or appropriate for your client’s network.
The danger is obvious: what looks like a quick solution could be a misstep that weakens security, bypasses documentation, or creates vulnerabilities no one notices until there’s a breach.
Why This Is a Business Problem, Not Just a Technical One
This isn’t just a “tech made a mistake” problem. This is a governance and liability problem.
The FTC, regulators, insurers, and even clients are now operating under the assumption that if you’re managing IT or security services, you are protecting their data. That assumption is the foundation of your client relationships. The moment it breaks, so does the trust—and potentially the contract.
If your support model quietly leans on AI without controls, you may be exposing your company to claims that you failed to follow reasonable security practices. Imagine explaining to a client (or worse, a regulator) that a major data breach happened because a technician pasted in instructions from ChatGPT and didn’t verify the outcome.
That’s not just embarrassing. That’s negligence.
AI Without Controls = A Liability You Can’t Afford
Decision-makers love efficiency. But efficiency without oversight is a recipe for risk. When your business allows AI to operate like a junior tech without controls, you’re creating:
- Untracked changes: Firewall rules, scripts, or configurations added without documentation or validation.
- Silent vulnerabilities: Shortcuts that resolve one issue but open the door to attackers.
- Compliance gaps: Fixes that conflict with regulatory requirements or industry best practices.
- Reputational risk: Clients who assume you’re protecting them, only to find out you relied on unverified AI instructions.
The FTC and other agencies won’t care that “AI said so.” They’ll look at whether your company took reasonable steps to protect client and employee data. If you can’t show controls, oversight, and documentation, you’ve got a problem that no productivity gains can offset.
A Poor Way of Doing Business
At its core, IT services are built on trust. Your clients expect that when you say, “We’ve got your back,” it means you’ve done the work to ensure their systems are secure and reliable.
Relying on AI for actual troubleshooting and security services without human oversight undermines that promise. It shifts your business from being a trusted partner to a company that takes shortcuts at the expense of client safety.
That’s not just poor technical practice. That’s poor business.
What Leaders Need to Do Now
If you’re leading an IT organization, here are three steps you need to consider immediately:
- Define clear boundaries for AI. Make it clear where AI can assist (research, brainstorming, training) and where it cannot replace human judgment (security configurations, system changes, client-facing fixes).
- Implement oversight. Require documentation, peer review, and sign-off on any AI-driven fix before it’s applied to a client environment. If you can’t prove the change is safe and compliant, don’t apply it.
- Audit your processes. Take a hard look at how your team is currently using AI. Are fixes being tracked? Are changes documented? Are security protocols being followed? If not, you’ve got blind spots that need to be closed.
Leveraging AI as your “support tech” may feel like innovation, but it’s actually a shortcut that can backfire in dangerous ways.
AI doesn’t understand your clients, your protocols, or your liability. It can’t weigh business risk, and it won’t stand in front of a regulator when questions are asked. That responsibility falls on you.
If you want to protect your clients, your company, and your reputation, you need to treat AI as a tool, not a technician. Without the right controls, leaning on AI for support services isn’t just risky. It’s a poor way of doing business—and it may open bigger risks than you’re prepared to carry.
