SolarWinds launches AI engine to transform IT operations

SolarWinds has unveiled SolarWinds AI, a generative AI engine poised to revolutionise IT operations and support technology professionals in navigating the intricacies of contemporary digital environments. SolarWinds AI was conceived using the company's new AI by Design framework, which underscores the importance of privacy, security, and reliability in advanced AI technologies.

The inaugural integration of SolarWinds AI will be featured in SolarWinds Service Desk, the company's flagship IT service management (ITSM) solution. This integration aims to significantly enhance IT outcomes, service delivery, and employee satisfaction. The generative AI capability embedded in the Service Desk is tailored to optimise agent workflows, allowing IT teams to resolve tickets expediently. As a result, downtime and system outages will be markedly reduced, offering employees a superior operational experience across the board.

Empowered by large language models (LLMs) and proprietary algorithms, the AI within the Service Desk is designed to provide instant summaries of complex ticket histories, propose suggested responses for agents, and supply real-time recommendations for issue resolution. SolarWinds plans to expand the application of its AI technology across its full range of observability and IT management solutions, extending its benefits to DevOps, SecOps, and database teams, among others.

Krishna Sai, Senior Vice President of Engineering at SolarWinds, stated, "In creating SolarWinds AI, we leveraged our long history of engaging with the IT community to build an AI system that could act as a valued partner to IT pros in their everyday lives and reimagine the productivity, efficiency, and innovation they’re capable of. We believe that our new AI by Design framework sets a model for how the broader industry should approach AI, built on our belief that privacy, security, and trust must be inherent to any AI system."

The AI by Design framework follows four fundamental principles to develop a secure and effective AI ecosystem:

• First, Privacy and Security are paramount. SolarWinds AI incorporates multiple protective measures such as role-based access control (RBAC), multi-factor authentication (MFA), privileged access management (PAM), and anonymisation techniques to safeguard personal data. Significantly, sensitive customer data does not traverse external large language models, and the AI adapts based on usage patterns without compromising data privacy.
• Second, Accountability and Fairness are ensured by actively involving humans in the training and testing phases to supervise AI decision-making processes. This approach is designed to mitigate biases and incorporates robust feedback mechanisms to constantly refine the AI’s performance.
• Third, Transparency and Trust are fostered through a well-defined explainability pipeline, which clarifies the reasoning behind AI-generated actions. This facility aims to align AI outputs with customer needs and demystifies AI decision-making processes.
• Lastly, Simplicity and Accessibility are integral, with SolarWinds AI designed to fit seamlessly within the company's intuitive product interfaces. This integration ensures the continuity of established workflows, user behaviours, and practices.

Building on the success of its Secure by Design initiative, SolarWinds is now advancing AI by Design as an industry-leading model for the development and implementation of AI technologies.