For IT professionals in 2025, their job is anything but simple. A key element to any functional organization, their responsibilities range from addressing end-user tickets submitted for technical issues to managing the entire network and all the hardware, software, and applications that organizations rely upon for daily operations. Spread exceedingly thin between a multitude of tasks, IT teams are increasingly overburdened (and often underappreciated), leading to growing levels of burnout.

According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill. These results are not surprising, given that AI and automation can play a significant role in unburdening IT professionals with critical but repetitive and highly process-oriented and time-consuming tasks. However, as the results of this survey indicate, there are certain factors holding many IT teams back from fully embracing the promises of AI and automation.

Everyday Stresses for IT Teams

Although IT pros play an essential role in maintaining system stability and preserving business continuity, their teams are usually very small and tasked with a continuously growing list of responsibilities. At the top of this list is end-user requests, which takes up more than half of their time on average. In the survey, 58% of IT professionals reported they spend half or more of their work week resolving end-user requests, leaving minimal time for other key responsibilities. Even when these employees work longer hours than expected, they're still struggling to keep pace with the onslaught of tickets in addition to their many other responsibilities.

Barriers to AI and Automation Adoption

With the digital landscape constantly changing and introducing new technologies and IT tools to manage them, it is imperative for IT professionals to have time in their daily routine to develop new skills. This is especially true for many AI and automation tools, for which there are very few available resources, certification programs, etc. guiding the path forward. Instead, the burden is on IT professionals to educate themselves in these technologies and figure out the most useful tools and use cases for their organization. This is a task many IT professionals are very eager to take on — one in three respondents named AI or machine learning as the area where they would most like to upskill.

However, finding this time is proving extremely difficult, or in some cases impossible, for many IT teams. The 2025 IT Trends Report noted that 78% of IT professionals said that their work stressors are preventing them from upskilling. Additionally, nearly half (44%) of respondents noted that the burden of their work outweighs their ability to be proactive and/or productive.

Having the support of their leadership team also impacts whether or not IT professionals can advance their skills in AI and automation. The survey results found that 84% of IT professionals agree that leadership is good or excellent at supporting IT initiatives, but one of the most significant areas where IT professionals feel leadership could better support IT is in AI and automation adoption. In fact, 34% said their organization still doesn't have a solid policy in place for the use of AI, and 36% are not confident they would be allowed to experiment with new technology.

On the other hand, 24% of IT technicians with at least 10 years of tenure noted they are concerned leadership is using AI/automation without fully understanding the risks. This could indicate that instead of focusing on upskilling in these areas, IT professionals are spending more of their time ensuring that the experimentation with AI and automation by others in the organization won't put the business at risk. They're acting as guardrails for others, rather than getting to experience the benefits of AI and automation themselves.  

The Chicken or the Egg?

The survey results paint a pretty clear picture of the challenges IT professionals are up against. And when it comes to AI and automation, they're in a Catch-22. The overall burden of IT responsibilities is preventing IT professionals from spending time researching AI and automation solutions — but implementing the right AI and automation solutions will drastically help alleviate many of their day-to-day tasks, freeing up the time necessary to upskill in these areas.

Business and technology leaders must step in to help IT navigate this unique, once-in-a-generation sea change in technology. More work is needed to better equip IT professionals to support advancements in technology as the pace of development continues at break-neck speeds. At the time the survey was conducted, respondents reported healthy budgets and upbeat forecasts. Leverage this budget wisely — stabilize the tools already in use by IT, removing complexity and adding visibility wherever possible. This could include consolidation, since tool sprawl is a major contributor to IT stress, and adding more team members if at all possible. Many IT teams are understaffed, and maybe leadership thinks they have enough personnel to limp by, but it likely won't be enough to allow room for growth and learning. Business leaders can also help by trusting their tenured IT team members and empower them to make decisions that will help streamline their own operations and effectively manage day-to-day tasks.

The more time that can be won back for IT professionals, the more they can work with AI and automation to even further alleviate the burden. Look for tools that are easy to integrate into the existing tech stack but make a big difference in time savings. Network configuration management, SaaS monitoring and management, and automated inventory, discovery and mapping of network devices are just a few examples of the types of tools readily available today that can help transform IT functions and give IT teams the help they deserve. And diving into this process now will pay dividends, as AI will continue to evolve organizations in ways we haven't yet begun to discover. Empowering IT professionals to experiment and innovate with AI beyond simply replacing existing tasks can unlock new ways of changing businesses, specifically because of their unique perspectives on the technology and systems that make their organization work.