Each year, we ask readers to tell us what IT service management (ITSM) topics they want covered in the year ahead. We did it again at the end of 2025, and we now have both a guide for our own content planning and a snapshot of what could reasonably be called the 2026 ITSM trends. Before anyone asks, the poll ran too early to capture any interest in ITIL (Version 5).
The 2026 poll is based on 130 responses, which is lower than last year, but we really tried. Below, I’ll share the results, look at how things have changed (or not) over six years, throw in some opinions, and link to existing ITSM.tools content that might still help.
How the Poll Was Conducted
We ran a Google Forms poll in late December 2025, asking respondents to pick their five most important ITSM topics for 2026 in the context of needing help. There was also a free-form “Other” option to catch anything we’d missed.
One thing worth saying upfront: we’re not telling anyone which 2026 ITSM trends to focus on. The poll results simply reflect what the ITSM community says it needs help with. Make of them what you will.
2026 ITSM Trends: The Big Picture
Here’s a quick snapshot of the 2026 poll results, and for some of you, it might be all you need:
The top five 2026 ITSM trends:
- ITIL/ITSM “advanced” capabilities (43%)
- AI governance (37%)
- Value demonstration (31%)
- IT asset management (ITAM), including software asset management (SAM) (28%)
- Enterprise service management (ESM) (28%) – joint fourth with ITAM
What’s Changed Since 2025?
For reference, the top five for 2025 were:
- Governance (including AI governance) (37%)
- Generative AI (GenAI) (35%)
- ITIL/ITSM “advanced” capabilities (31%)
- Value demonstration (28%)
- People (including attitude, behavior, and culture) (27%)
A quick comparison with the 2026 ITSM trends:
- ITIL/ITSM “advanced” capabilities jumped from third to first (31% to 43%). I’m pleased to see it, but let’s see if organizations actually follow through in 2026.
- AI governance, now separated out from general governance, dropped from the top spot but still sits comfortably in the top two (static at 37%).
- Value demonstration climbed a place from fourth to third (28% to 31%).
- ITAM is the surprise mover, jumping from 15th place (17%) to joint fourth (28%). Whether that’s because we’ve been publishing more ITAM content and people are thinking about it more, or whether it reflects a genuine shift in priorities, I honestly can’t say. Probably a bit of both.
- The biggest faller is GenAI, dropping from second place all the way down to 21st (35% to just 11%). Content on traditional AI and AI chatbots was also among the least popular choices.
Six Years of ITSM Trends: 2021 to 2026
When you look at the 2026 ITSM trends poll results on their own, they feel quite different from previous years. But zoom out to the six-year view and 2026 is actually still pretty similar to 2025 in its overall makeup. The exceptions are a noticeable increase in interest around ITAM and agentic AI, and a drop in interest in People and Employee Experience, now sitting at 19% and 25% respectively.
That worries me. The industry has spent years saying people are at the heart of good service management, and now the moment AI arrives, interest in people-focused topics falls off a cliff. I hope the reality on the ground doesn’t match what the data suggests.
Existing Content That Might Help
The 2026 ITSM trends poll is designed to guide what we cover next, but it also gives us a chance to resurface content that’s already out there. Here are some articles relevant to the top three areas.
ITIL/ITSM “Advanced” Capabilities
We have a lot of content in this space, depending on how broadly you define “advanced” capabilities. I’m including ITAM here too, because it fits. A few examples:
- ITIL Capacity and Performance Management: A Complete Guide for Reliable IT Services
- How to Build a CMDB for SMBs: A Best Practice Guide to Configuration Management
- CMDB vs. Asset Management – What’s the Difference?
- ITIL 4 Relationship Management: Guide to Building Strategic IT-Business Partnerships
- Technicians Hold the Access: Why IT Service Desks Are the New Cybersecurity Target
- Security Patch Management: Trends and Predictions
- ITIL 4 Service Design Explained: From Planning to Delivery
- IBM Licensing Audit Guide – What ITSM Pros Need to Know
- IBM Internal Audits – The Benefits
- 2026 ITAM Outlook: Focused AI, Strong Governance, and the End of Tool Sprawl
- Workforce and Talent Management in ITIL 4: A Practical Guide for IT Leaders
There are more where these came from, but this gives you a starting point for the top 2026 ITSM trend.
AI Governance
We don’t have much on AI governance yet. It’s briefly covered here, but we need to do better:
We’re hopeful we’ll get at least one article based on the 2025 PeopleCert work on AI governance in service management. Watch this space, and if you feel you could contribute on AI governance, please submit your suggestion via our editorial guidelines.
Value Demonstration
While writing up these results, I realized something about our top three for 2026. They’re not just seen as important in modern IT organizations – there’s also very little free help available on any of them. It makes sense that people are asking for more content here.
On value demonstration specifically, we need to do a much better job of getting useful content out there. Here’s what we do have, with particular thanks to David Billouz:
- From Configuration to Value: How the VMDB Transforms the CMDB into a Value Management Engine
- Cooperation vs. Collaboration in ITSM: The Hidden Risk That Limits Business Value
- ITIL 4 Continual Improvement: How to Drive Ongoing Value and Better IT Services
- IT Service Desk Benchmarks – Where’s the Value?
What’s Next for ITSM.tools Content
Our content planning isn’t limited to whatever trends the 2026 ITSM trends poll threw up. If there’s an ITSM topic you need help with in 2026, get in touch. And if you think you can help our readers, submit an article idea.
Thanks for reading our content in 2025. We’ll do our best to make 2026 just as useful.
Further Reading
Sophie Danby
Sophie is a freelance ITSM marketing consultant, helping ITSM solution vendors to develop and implement effective marketing strategies.
She covers both traditional areas of marketing (such as advertising, trade shows, and events) and digital marketing (such as video, social media, and email marketing). She is also a trained editor.
