by Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

Last week I had the opportunity to attend Field Service Medical just outside of San Diego, California. I haven’t attended this event before, and since this platform encompasses many industries, I am no expert in the medical space specifically. So, it was interesting to hear about some of the themes that don’t come up as often in my conversations.

I bet you won’t be shocked to hear AI was heavy on the agenda. Aquant and Hamilton did a session together where they discussed how Hamilton is using AI to improve time to competency of new hires. Their goal is to reduce their current 80% competency at six months to 80% at four months using Aquant’s technology. I thought this was an interesting, very real-world example of the practical impact AI can have today while we continue to determine how more advanced use cases will change the future of what field service looks like.

AI Observations

That session was followed by a panel on AI that started with some research from the Service Council’s 2025 State of AI & Service Technology, stating that 85% of service leaders plan to invest in AI in 2025 but that 80% of AI initiatives are failing to delivery meaningful ROI. As the panelists talked through why this is and how to navigate it, some of the themes that arose were:

• Data chaos – needing to put effort into readying data for AI
• The tenure of field teams having decreased in one organization from 17 years to 8 years and how this impacts the need for access to knowledge
• What AI committees look like (or don’t) in different companies and the role they can/should play
• How knowledge management & use is an area of low-hanging fruit for AI use
• The need to be patient in determining where and how to apply AI to service; not rushing into use cases that won’t deliver that meaningful ROI
• Remembering that when communicating change to technicians, put it into the terms of how it will benefit them
• The importance of remembering that your cohorts and the executive team don’t necessarily understand what (all) service does, so put it into terms they’ll understand and resonate with
• The opportunity of being your business or team’s AI “hype man” – resistance to change is to be expected, keeping a positive energy about the initiatives makes a difference
• An urge that “you think you’re not ready, but you are” explaining that laggards are laggards because they think their data “sucks” but it’s closer to where it needs to be than you may realize, and you shouldn’t let that allow you to get behind

Compliance Readiness

One of our Future of Field Service 2024 Stand Out 50 leaders, Alesia Sullivan, who is the Sr. Director of Global Technical Support Services at Luminex Corporation – A Diasorin Company, gave a keynote presentation on what service leaders need to consider around compliance. She spoke about the FDA’s guidance and the service and support teams’ responsibilities when it comes to the stages of service compliance. Her key takeaways included:

• Service is no longer just about servicing
  • Quality medical device servicing is essential to ensuring patient safety
  • All FSEs and support are responsible for quality documentation
  • Organizations must be audit ready at all times
• Document and Ask Questions
  • High quality data is required
  • Incomplete service device history impedes tracking and compliance root cause investigations
  • Follow the procedures and seek for improvements
• Service and Support can control the outcome
  • This is a race the FSE should not run alone, but the repair and documenting is in the employee’s control
  • When they reach challenges, they should reach out to a team for support
  • The document outcomes (and later the patient) can be better with their input

Women in Service

My highlight of the week was co-hosting a Women in Service lunch, alongside Alesia, sponsored by IFS. The timing of this being the week of International Women’s Day was entirely serendipitous but just right. We had a great group of women and a very open, honest conversation about some of the challenges we face, how we can navigate different situations, and how we need to continue to lift one another up. Some of the points of conversation that I found interesting:

• The women in the room that are also mothers agreed wholeheartedly on how unavoidable and difficult “mom guilt” is, especially with roles where frequent travel is required. We spoke about how unfortunate the state of parental leave is in the U.S. and the challenges this causes
• We also spoke about how we need to not only respect but honor that not all women are or want to be mothers. I shared that at a conference a year or so ago, a man said to me in an interview that “We need more women in service because they are nurturing,” which is NOT why we need more women in service. Another woman at lunch shared that she’s often called “mom” by the technicians in her organization and that, while they are using it as a term of endearment, it’s nonetheless uncomfortable and unprofessional
• Speaking of uncomfortable, we spoke about some of the situations we’ve been in that have been deeply uncomfortable but that are also often difficult to address. Being asked to take notes or perform administrative duties simply because you are the only woman in the group, and feeling like you want to address why that doesn’t feel right but also don’t want to be seen as “difficult” or not a team player
• We also commiserated about a common thread of our reaction to how we respond in these situations – often feeling shame or judging ourselves for not reacting “correctly,” even though in many instances these situations are very nuanced and delicate
• To try and workshop the above, we brainstormed different ways to respond to various scenarios, keeping in mind different personality types and levels of comfort with confrontation
• We spoke about how incredibly unfortunate it is that corporations are pulling back on DEI when so many of these situations (and more) still happen on a very regular basis
• We discussed the importance of mentors and sponsors and women shared examples of how they’ve been well supported, by both men and women, in ways that have helped them progress in their careers
• We analyzed the feelings of competition that can arise among women, and why, and how powerful it is when women stop feeling in competition with one another and instead realize each person’s unique value and focus on lifting one another up. Alesia recommended the book “She Wins, You Win”
• We spoke about the sense of responsibility to other women to “let the ladder down” as we progress in our careers, ensuring we help pave the way for hopefully an easier time for women in generations to come

This lunch really filled my cup – my only wish was that we’d have had more time together. But the way that each of us left the room feeling so seen, heard, and in community was a very positive thing. Big thanks to everyone who joined, and I hope to have more of these sessions in the future!