# Where AI agents are showing real IT savings

DevFeed: [Where AI agents are showing real IT savings](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/where-ai-agents-are-showing-real-it-savings-63211.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.cio.com/article/4228524/where-ai-agents-are-showing-real-it-savings.html>)

Author: Grant Gross

Published: 2026-10-01T10:01:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [CIO](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/cio.md>)

Topics: [cloud cost management](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cloud-cost-management.md>), [self-service](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/self-service.md>), [AI for customer service automation](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai-for-customer-service-automation.md>)

Tags: [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [ai-agents](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai-agents.md>), [artificial-intelligence](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/artificial-intelligence.md>), [artificial-intelligence-budgeting-it-management-it-operations-roi-and-metrics](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/artificial-intelligence-budgeting-it-management-it-operations-roi-and-metrics.md>), [budgeting](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/budgeting.md>), [cloud-cost-optimization](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cloud-cost-optimization.md>), [coding-agents](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/coding-agents.md>), [it-management](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/it-management.md>), [it-operations](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/it-operations.md>), [roi-and-metrics](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/roi-and-metrics.md>), [self-service](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/self-service.md>), [tier-1](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tier-1.md>)

## AI overview

The article describes reported cost savings from AI agents used in software engineering, cloud cost optimization, and tier 1 IT support, while cautioning that monitoring, reopened tickets, and human review can reduce realized savings. It also notes that automating tier 1 work may remove an entry point for junior staff to gain experience.

## Source excerpt

Many IT leaders still struggle to find ROI when deploying AI agents at scale, but a few IT sweet spots are emerging as use cases that can provide CIOs tangible cost relief. Rhonda Baldwin, CIO at LaunchDarkly, says coding agents and service desk agents are helping the SaaS provider cut IT costs. "Coding agents increase engineering capacity without requiring a proportional increase in headcount," she says. "They also help us optimize cloud costs and reduce workflow consumption costs." In addition to coding and cloud cost optimization, IT leaders see tier 1 and 2 IT support as another promising area for agents to free up IT budget, although many have just begun to track savings from AI agents, and those that do use several different metrics. For Baldwin that includes cost avoidance, as coding agents have helped the company build internal tools rather than buying additional software, she notes. Here, the savings have been substantial, she says, with the company foregoing about $1 million in spending on two optimization projects and another $120,000 by building its own enterprise asset-management solution with AI coding tools. In addition, LaunchDarkly has saved about $50,000 in annualized savings by using agentic AI for tier 1 IT support. "This not only boosts employee productivity but also helps us avoid costs related to software, implementation, asset management, and having remote service technicians," she says. IT support and self-service resolution IT support is a strong use case for IT leaders looking for agent cost savings, says Gil Pekelman, CEO of AI agent provider Atera, whose company recently released a joint study with Forrester claiming significant ROI for its IT incident support agent. "The calculation is very straightforward," he notes. "We have a company that has 10,000 employees, and all IT support is offshored. If they're going to close that down now, they can immediately measure the savings there." Kevin Rooney, CIO at West Monroe Partners, reports si