The importance of simplifying IT: enterprise capability without the complexity
This is a guest blogpost by Ian Tickle, SVP and GM International at Freshworks.
Most IT leaders aren’t looking to be dazzled by the latest AI trends. What they really want is straightforward: uncomplicated technology that works – and delivers for them at speed.
Across sectors, transformation leaders are grappling with complex AI platforms that promise everything but take months to implement. Worse, the payoff often arrives too late, or not at all. This is especially frustrating in customer and employee experience (CX and EX), where the whole point is to remove friction – not introduce more of it.
In fact, up to 70% of digital transformation initiatives fail, often because employees don’t adopt the systems they’re given. A sophisticated solution is worthless if no one uses it.
Today, simplicity isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the competitive edge. The real winners aren’t vendors with the flashiest demos – they’re the ones that make it easier for people to get their jobs done, and easier for customers to complete their transactions, with less stress and fewer workarounds.
Time to value: why outcomes now matter more than features
There’s a clear shift in the tech world: outcomes now matter more than features. Technology leaders want to know not just what a tool can do, but how quickly it will deliver value. That’s why “time to value” has become more important than ever.
The sticking point isn’t usually technical – it’s human. Clunky rollouts, overcomplicated interfaces, and unnecessary features all stall adoption. If it takes weeks of onboarding just to answer a simple customer query or update a record, you’ve lost the battle before it starts.
This is where people-first AI can make a real impact – not as a black box, but as a helpful, invisible layer that simplifies and supports. Increasingly, we’re seeing the next evolution of this: intelligent agents that don’t just assist, but take action on behalf of users to get work done. Whether that’s resolving routine service tickets end-to-end or completing HR tasks without human intervention, this new generation of AI works alongside people to drive outcomes faster – not in six months, but from day one.
The most effective deployments aren’t showpieces. They’re practical, modular, and easy to configure – designed to accelerate business value, reduce complexity, and let teams focus on what matters most. Enterprise capability, without enterprise complexity.
Simplicity in practice
Across industries, simplicity has proven to deliver high impact with low lift.
The public sector – especially the NHS – has been under more pressure than ever to deliver efficiencies, with the Health Foundation warning that without achieving the government’s annual productivity growth target of 2%, the NHS could face a financial deficit reaching £13 billion by 2028. With the help of an intuitive employee self-service portal Freshservice, Princess Alexandra NHS Trust was able streamline triage and significantly cut resolution times, freeing up frontline staff to focus on patients rather than IT admin.
For industries such as retail, scaling customer service ahead of peak trading periods means that getting agents up to speed quickly is crucial. For example, by deploying our Freddy AI Agent, Hobbycraft was able to boost customer satisfaction by 25%, achieved 82% first-contact resolution, and let AI handle nearly a third of all inquiries.
In both cases, the right choice wasn’t the most complex solution – it was the one that made exceptional service simple.
What this means for CIOs
CIOs today are under intense pressure to justify every technology investment. It’s no longer enough for a tool to be powerful on paper: it has to deliver clear, measurable impact quickly, often within weeks. That means usability and adoption are just as important as features and scale.
We’re seeing successful CIOs take a more pragmatic approach: starting not with the tech specs, but with the employees who will actually use the tool. Will it slot into their day-to-day workflows without steep learning curves? Can teams onboard without extensive training or constant support from IT? Does it eliminate manual work or just add another layer?
The goal isn’t to cut corners: it’s to reduce the burden on both users and IT. When tools are easy to deploy, intuitive to use, and simple to maintain, they free up time and budget that can be redirected toward strategic priorities.
For CIOs, that means looking for solutions that deliver results quickly, without months of implementation, and have low dependence on IT teams to deploy and run them. CIOs also need to ensure clear ownership lines are drawn, enabling departments such as HR, customer service or finance to take control without needing technical expertise. Finally, resilience and scalability are paramount: simplicity doesn’t mean basic – it means fewer moving parts, fewer break points, and easier troubleshooting. By removing friction, simplifying workflows, and empowering end users, CIOs can turn simplicity into a lasting driver of impact.
A final thought: ask better questions
The takeaway for any CIO or IT leader evaluating CX or EX technology is simple: ask different questions. Instead of focusing solely on what a system can do, shift the conversation to how it delivers value. Ask how quickly it will show measurable results, how easily your teams will adopt it, how well it integrates with the tools you already use, and what the ultimate end benefit to any customer will be.
These are the questions that separate costly experiments from long-term success stories. Ultimately, software shouldn’t stand in the way of exceptional service. The most effective technology fades into the background, empowering your people to do their best work, not complicating it. When systems are designed with simplicity in mind, the results are clear: faster time to value, happier teams, and better business outcomes.