Serval raises $47 million to bring AI agent to IT service management | TechCrunch

"In broad strokes, Serval is using agentic AI models to automate IT service management, but the company has a unique approach that takes advantage of agentic AI's powers while avoiding many of its pitfalls. One agent is used to code internal automations for everyday tasks like authorizing software or provisioning a device. The founders see it as a kind of vibe-coding tool, overseen by an IT manager, but doing most of the work on its own."

"Serval CEO Jake Stauch says the key was to make the process of building a tool as simple as possible. "We don't want them to feel the marginal cost of building these automations," Stauch told TechCrunch. "We want to make it easier to automate something forever than do it manually once." Splitting the task into two agents - one to build tools and one to use them - also gives managers a way to keep an eye on permissions."

Serval uses agentic AI models to automate IT service management by splitting responsibilities between a builder agent and a help-desk agent. The builder agent codes internal automations for tasks like authorizing software and provisioning devices, overseen by an IT manager. The help-desk agent handles user requests by invoking those tools under predefined rules. Managers set permission rules when automations are created, reducing the risk of unauthorized actions. The approach aims to minimize the marginal cost of building automations so teams prefer automating tasks permanently rather than performing them manually. Enterprise customers include major AI companies, reflecting early market traction.

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