Support Engineers Face New Demands as AI Handles Routine Work
Customer support roles are shifting away from handling repetitive questions. As AI automation takes over routine tasks, support engineers must develop deeper technical skills and act as consultants to customers, according to a discussion featuring Kenneth Koh, Senior Manager of Developer Support Engineering at Airtable.
The change reflects a broader trend: companies are restructuring support teams to focus on complex problems that require human judgment. This means hiring managers need to identify candidates who can think strategically about customer needs, not just resolve tickets quickly.
What's Changing in Support Roles
Three areas are reshaping how support teams operate:
- AI is absorbing work on straightforward, repeatable issues, freeing support staff for higher-value work
- Support engineers are expected to become more technical and cross-functional, working closely with product and engineering teams
- Teams must be structured differently to handle this shift in responsibilities
For companies building AI for customer support, this evolution means the human side of support becomes more specialized. Support staff who once spent time on basic troubleshooting now spend it on strategy and problem-solving.
What Hiring Managers Should Look For
The profile of a strong support hire is changing. Technical depth matters more than speed at resolving tickets. Candidates should demonstrate the ability to work across departments and understand how their decisions affect product development.
This shift also means support roles are becoming more attractive to people who want technical growth. The work itself is becoming less transactional and more substantive.
The Business Case
For companies, this restructuring can improve customer retention and operational efficiency. When support becomes consultative rather than reactive, customers get better outcomes. Teams run leaner because AI agents and automation handle volume, while humans focus on what they do best: understanding context and solving novel problems.
The organizations moving fastest on this transition are already seeing the payoff in how customers perceive their support experience and how long those customers stay.
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