By Sarah Nicastro, Founder and Editor in Chief, Future of Field Service

We talk often about how rapidly and immensely the service landscape is changing, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet. As AI weaves its way into more industries, businesses, and workflows, the soft skills we’ve been saying need more focus for the last 10 years become absolutely crucial.

I’ve written a couple of articles recently about the way AI can make an impact on service operations and I find those examples mostly really exciting. I say mostly because I fear what will happen in the instances equal emphasis, effort, and care isn’t put into the humans still doing what AI can’t.

Service businesses still struggle to put ample investment in building, nurturing, and expanding soft skills – despite most preaching their importance. Why is this? Because any intangible is harder to measure and, therefore, harder to quantify an ROI on.

My hope is that this thinking shifts quickly and the examples I’ve seen of companies putting action behind the statement that soft skills are important rapidly multiply. Because I believe soft skills aren’t still important in the AI era, but more important. I also think that the importance will compound in the coming months and years as AI becomes more widespread in service.

So, if you’re reading this, take a moment to get honest with yourself about just how well your organization invests in the development of soft skills among its teams. If you aren’t brimming with confidence that it’s top-notch, advocate to change that fact expeditiously.

At last week’s Field Service Next Europe, there was ample talk of soft skills in reference to what customers value, what enables service success, and what’s required for the future of service to look bright. In my opinion, the following five soft skills top the list of utmost importance to nurture among service teams.

#1: Communication

Expected? Boring? Sure. But the root of more friction, frustration, and quite frankly cost than anyone would like to admit. No matter how important we know or say it is, how effectively it’s honed doesn’t seem to change. AI will only magnify the communication deficiencies that already exist in most organizations.

And in service, frontline employees with poor communication skills are even more troublesome because that will impact their effectiveness, their employee experience, and customer satisfaction. Communication skills are key for using AI effectively, but more importantly, they underpin any healthy relationship – employee to employee, employee to leader, employee to customer. The fact that communication skills are the foundational layer of soft skills may be why they get overlooked – it’s expected anyone can do it – but this is a major mistake.

#2: Curiosity

I believe that, in many ways, curiosity is a superpower – and that superpower will be turbocharged in the AI era. Curiosity motivates individuals to figure things out, to solve problems. On the panel I moderated at last week’s event, I asked the closing question, “if you could change one thing in your organization that you feel would help it achieve service growth, what would it be?”

One of the panelists, Chiara Maiello with Syntegon, quickly responded, “I’d increase curiosity. I’d get employees asking more and better questions.”

Curiosity reveals things, it uncovers things – problems to be fixed, emotions to be addressed, needs to be met.

There’s a risk with AI that people will fall more into auto-pilot; curiosity is the antidote.

#3: Trust

Trust is built by investing in relationships and I’ve heard many service leaders speak about the high degrees of trust the frontline builds with customers, the loyalty that creates, and the impact it has on the business.

Many people are naturally skeptical of AI, or the digital landscape in general. As such, the trust built with customers becomes even more important moving forward.

Erik Lapre of VMI Group said on another panel last week that, “trust has and always will be most important in service, and even more so in a high-tech landscape.”

Trust is equally important with employees, and leaders need to keep in mind that – whether warranted or not – many fear AI’s impact on their roles. It’s important to prioritize making time to have conversations, invest in relationships, and keep trust intact.

#4: Authenticity

What’s one thing AI can’t do? Be YOU! Or anyone.

Individuality, personality, authenticity, relatability – these traits are only going to increase in value. They are the perfect compliment to AI’s ability to improve efficiency, reduce manual and menial tasks, and remove time consuming administrative burden.

Authenticity keeps humanity alive – in the workplace, between employee and leader, and in customer interactions.

#5: Connectedness

At IFS Unleashed, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian described community as a “trojan horse” in the AI era. He said spoke about how in a sea of “AI slop,” community will shine.

I think this is well worth pondering, both in how it relates to your teams and to your customers.

From a team perspective, the reality we know is that many frontline employees already feel isolated. Finding ways to create connectedness among them, and to the organization, is crucial to not only satisfaction and retention, but wellbeing.

From a customer perspective, it’s worth considering whether there might be an opportunity in your industry to be a conduit for customers to connect, collaborate, or rally around. Maybe that doesn’t apply, but maybe it could.

Regardless, we all have a responsibility moving forward to create points of connection rather than letting them deteriorate.

What’s your view on soft skills in the AI era? What would you add to the list? I’d love to hear from you.