Global Services Director · Softcat plc Now booking — Q3 & Q4 2026 LinkedIn ↗
MARK BOYER_ Book to speak
The Human Operating Model — a thesis for the next service economy

The differentiator of service is human.

Software will define the service. AI will run it. And people will be why customers choose yours. Mark Boyer leads services at the UK's №1 VAR — a £550M portfolio, three hundred people — and argues the next decade belongs to whoever takes human behaviour as seriously as technology.

01 /Software defines the service 02 /Humans differentiate it 03 /Shift right
Read the manifesto Book Mark to speak
Mark Boyer
Mark Boyer Operator · Softcat plc
IT Oxygen Influencer 2025 HDI Top 25 Thought Leader 16,000+ readers on LinkedIn SITS · SDI Spark · itSMF UK · PropelX
01 — The thesis, in three moves

Shift left is finished.

The manifesto in full
MOVE_01

Software defines the service.

Provisioned in code, assured by telemetry, resolved by agents. The routine layer of service is being absorbed into software — and the operating model becomes a product you ship, not a diagram you laminate. AI lands or stalls right here.

MOVE_02

Humans differentiate it.

When every provider runs on the same models, competence is a commodity. What remains is trust, judgement, language, confidence — the feeling of being in good hands. Feelings are not a side effect of the service. They are the product.

MOVE_03

Shift right.

Thirty years of shifting work towards cheaper resolution optimised for cost, not for people. The new move is the opposite: deploy human brilliance at the moments of dread, judgement and consequence — and let software absorb the rest.

Not human as fallback. Human as differentiator. Ten principles
02 — Telemetry · the thinking comes from the work
portfolio
£550M

Services portfolio under accountability at Softcat — the UK's №1 VAR

people
~300

People across five service functions, UK-wide

nps · growth
68

Customer NPS — alongside 20% services growth — in year one

partners
80+

Delivery partners orchestrated through one operating model

The arguments on this site are not commentary. They are working notes — tested daily against thousands of customer environments, and revised when reality wins.

03 — The talks · four chapters of one thesis

The argument, made live.

The speaking page
/01

AI lands or stalls in the operating model.

64% of UK organisations say they are using AI. Only 24% have reached anything close to mature adoption. The gap is not technology. It is organisational design.

Boards · CIOs · TransformationKeynote · 40–50 minThe full brief /02

What "service" means when AI is in the room.

Smart glasses. Agents acting on a user's behalf. Ambient intelligence woven through every tool a workforce already pays for. Most IT functions are still writing acceptable use policies for ChatGPT.

Service · CX · Future of workKeynote · 40–50 minThe full brief /03

A profession built to manage change is the worst at handling its own.

ITSM has become brilliantly organised at describing yesterday. We mistake legibility to ourselves for value to our customers. Comfort bureaucracy for governance. Defensible work for distinctive work.

ITSM · Main stageAs seen at SITS 26Read in full /04

The language we use is the architecture of the experience we deliver.

Strip every acronym and framework reference out of your service catalogue, then show it to a customer. If they cannot tell you what they are buying, you have built a glossary for insiders.

Service design · CommercialKeynote · WorkshopThe full brief
SITS 26
Main stage · May 2026
SDI Spark 26
Keynote · March 2026
itSMF UK 2025
Keynote · 2025
PropelX London
2025
04 — The radar · an 18-month horizon, held in public

What hits service next.

The full radar
T+0 · Already here

Your next user is not a person. It is their agent.

Agents are a new class of customer. Catalogues, entitlements and contracts must become machine-readable — experience design now includes users who never see your interface.

T+12 months

The face becomes the endpoint.

AI glasses at consumer prices. Support turns ambient, and the distance between question and answer collapses. How do you write a BYOD policy for someone's face?

T+18 months

Competence becomes a commodity. Judgement becomes the market.

The floor rises for everyone at the same speed. Most AI strategies are a detailed plan to become average, faster — the ceiling stays human.

05 — From the audience

Letters from the room.

As masterful as ever. He owned that stage. Not just the brilliant material, but a genuine public speaking masterclass.

Audience reaction · SITS 26, main stage

By far the best speaker we saw — very relevant and inspirational.

Audience reaction · SDI Spark 26

By far the most engaging and thought-provoking talk I watched across both days of the conference.

Audience reaction · SDI Spark 26

Mark challenges the traditional model of IT support. The future of great service isn't just about better tools, it's about creating better experiences for customers and colleagues alike.

Simon Edwards · NEXTCIO 2025 Award Winner
06 — The writing

Notes from the work.

All writing
07 — The dispatch

Notes from the operating floor, as they happen.

One sharp argument at a time — what thousands of customer environments are actually saying about AI, operating models and the future of service. LinkedIn first; email edition coming.

Get the Dispatch
08 — The invitation

Put the argument on your stage.

Keynote, fireside, panel or workshop — get in touch and we will work out what would land best for your audience. Mark typically responds within 48 hours.

Get in touch
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