Every day, service and support professionals across the Bay Area go above and beyond — solving the tough tickets, mentoring teammates, and keeping the business running when it matters most. Now is the time to make sure that work gets seen.

Nominations for the 2027 HDI Global Service & Support Awards are officially open through the HDI San Francisco Bay Area Local Chapter, and we want to hear about the people on your team who deserve the spotlight.

What We're Recognizing

SFHDI is actively recruiting nominations in four categories this year:

• Best Service and Support Analyst
• Best Service and Support Technician
• Best Team Lead (New!!)
• Best Service and Support Manager

These sit within a larger national program — the full HDI Global Service & Support Awards list also includes categories like Best Team Lead, Best Use of AI, Best Change Initiative, and several team-level awards (Best Service and Support Organization, Best Service and Support Culture, Best Service Improvement Initiative, and Best Customer Experience). If your organization's story fits one of those instead, the same nomination portal covers all of them.

Why Nominate

• It's free. No HDI membership required for you or your nominee.
• There's no limit. Nominate as many people as you'd like, across as many categories as fit.
• It's quick. The nomination form takes just a few minutes — pull from a recent performance review, a kudos email, or a story about a win your team is proud of.
• The recognition compounds. Analyst, Technician, and Team Lead nominations go through SFHDI's local judging process, which includes a short recorded interview. Local Chapter winners then advance to District-level judging, and District honorees become National Finalists. Manager and LCO of the Year nominations are bonus categories for our chapter — they skip the local interview and go straight to national-level judging, with input from Local Chapter Officers.
• The stage is big. National winners across all categories are announced live at HDI's Service & Support World conference, April 25–29, 2027, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

How It Works

1. Visit the HDI Awards nomination page and select the category that fits your nominee.
2. Complete the short nomination form — no HDI membership required.
3. If your nominee is up for Analyst, Technician or Team Lead, SFHDI will follow up to schedule a brief recorded interview.
4. Sit back and cheer them on as they move through local, district, and national judging.

Key Dates

• Nomination deadline: November 4, 2026
• Local Chapter Celebration and Announcement of Winners: December 9, 2026
• National winners announced: HDI Service & Support World, April 25–29, 2027, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

Let's Make 2027 the Year

Great service and support happens because of great people. Help us celebrate them — submit your nomination before November 4, 2026, and give your team the recognition they've earned, from the Bay Area to the national stage.

With appreciation, HDI San Francisco Bay Area Local Chapter Board

Cybersecurity doesn't start in the SOC. It often starts with the service desk..

Cybersecurity doesn't start in the SOC. It often starts with the service desk.

Every day, service desk teams handle password resets, MFA problems, account recovery, suspicious requests, access issues, and users who may be the target of phishing or social engineering. These interactions give support teams a unique view into what is happening across an organization—and sometimes, they see the first signs of a security problem.

Join SFHDI on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, from 3:00–5:00 p.m. at Netflix in Los Gatos for Cybersecurity from the Service Desk Inward, a conversation about the growing role service desk teams play in protecting their organizations.

What we'll explore

We'll bring together perspectives from IT service management, cybersecurity, identity and access management, and enterprise technology to look at how these functions can work together more effectively.

Topics will include:

• How the service desk can serve as an early-warning security sensor
• What support teams may see before the security team does
• Social engineering and phishing attacks
• MFA-related attacks and account compromise
• Identity verification and secure account recovery
• Escalation paths that connect service desk and security teams
• Balancing security requirements with the customer experience

The Service Desk as a Security Sensor

The program will begin with a short presentation, “The Service Desk as a Security Sensor."

We'll look at how everyday service desk interactions can reveal potential security threats—and how support teams can recognize and respond to those signals while still providing a positive customer experience.

The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion featuring leaders who bring different perspectives to the intersection of service and security.

Join us in Los Gatos

This is more than a presentation. It's an opportunity to hear how other organizations are approaching the relationship between service desk and security teams—and to share your own experiences with peers.

Come for the conversation. Stay for the connections.

👉 Register here:  [Register for Cybersecurity from the Service Desk Inward]

Space is limited, so we encourage you to register early.

Our recent SFHDI Awards Celebration was a great reminder of what makes this community special—recognizing the people and teams who are doing meaningful work in support and service management.

Congratulations again to all of our award recipients, including John Cook from Simpson Strong-Tie, our local Analyst of the Year. It was great to celebrate the impact happening across our community.

And one theme continues to surface in those conversations:
AI is no longer theoretical—it’s actively being explored and applied in real support environments.

That’s exactly where we’re heading next.

Join Us April 16

AI in Action: Real Stories from Support Operations
📍 Fenwick, Mountain View
⏰ 4:00–6:00 PM

We’re bringing back our Round Table Forum, focused on the practical use of AI in IT support and service operations.

This session will feature:

• Brief introductions from table leaders sharing how they are exploring AI
• Facilitated roundtable discussions with peers
• Open conversation about what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next

We’re also excited to have Dan Turchin, CEO of PeopleReign, serving as facilitator—helping guide the conversation and connect insights across the room.

Why Attend

This is not a presentation—it’s a conversation with your peers.

Whether you are:

• Actively implementing AI

• Piloting tools like Copilot

• Or just starting to explore

You’ll walk away with practical ideas, real-world perspectives, and new connections.

👉 Register here:
https://www.sfhdi.org/events/2026-april-practical-ai

Growing People While Modernizing Service

The latest issue of HDI SupportWorld highlights an important theme for service and support leaders: moving forward requires investing in both people and technology. As AI and automation continue to change how support is delivered, strong leadership, professional development, and human expertise remain just as important.

One article explores the value of mentorship in leadership. Rocky McGuire shares how reaching out to someone he admired professionally ultimately led to a mentoring relationship that helped shape his career. It is a great reminder that mentors do not always appear on their own. Sometimes we have to make the first move, ask for guidance, and build relationships with people who can challenge us and help us grow.

The newsletter also looks at modernizing service and support. Mike Hanson emphasizes that modernization should not simply mean replacing people with AI. Instead, organizations can use AI and self-service for routine tasks while allowing support professionals to focus on more complex work that requires experience, problem-solving, and human interaction. The goal is not fewer people—it is using people's talents where they can provide the most value.

Finally, HDI is encouraging service and support professionals to share what they have learned. The Call for Speakers for HDI Service & Support World opens September 8, with proposals due October 2. First-time speakers are encouraged to participate, with coaching and mentoring opportunities available to help them take that first step.

This issue is a good reminder that the future of service management is not just about new technology. It is about developing people, sharing knowledge, building relationships, and being willing to grow.

AI is changing how IT teams work — but it hasn't changed what makes a great leader. In this episode of Bytes & Banter, host Rocky sits down with N.J. Robinson, founder and president of Hi-Tech Leadership and two-time HDI Top 25 Thought Leader, to talk about leading with authenticity, integrity, and human connection as AI reshapes the workplace.

N.J. shares his "Four Shifts" framework for making the leap from technical expert to strategic leader — Identity, Value Creation, Behaviors, and Competencies — and makes a compelling case for "followership" as an overlooked but essential leadership skill.

In this episode:

• Why AI raises the bar for leadership instead of lowering it
• Why your organization's values shouldn't bend to fit new technology
• The risk of losing creativity and critical thinking in an AI-first workplace
• N.J.'s Four Shifts framework for becoming a strategic leader
• Why learning to follow well is essential preparation for leading well  

Listen, Watch, and Join the Conversation

▶️ Watch this episode on YouTube

Catch the full video here of Episode 37: AI Won’t Replace Leadership: The Human Skills That Matter More Than Ever

From Asset Management to AI: Practical Lessons for Better IT Service

This week’s HDI SupportWorld reminds us that improving IT service doesn’t always require a complicated approach. Sometimes the best lessons come from trying something new, focusing on the basics, and learning from others.

Matt Beran takes a creative look at Hardware Asset Management through his experience building video games about asset management. His experience reinforces some of the fundamentals of good HAM: reliable data, cleaner audits, and fewer surprises. It’s a great reminder that strong processes and accurate information are still at the heart of effective IT management.

Rachel Mulry shifts the conversation to AI and encourages organizations to find the right balance when developing an AI strategy. Rather than rushing to adopt AI simply because it is available, organizations should first look at workforce readiness, data quality, and the actual problem they are trying to solve. Successful AI adoption should be intentional, measurable, and tied to real business needs.

Finally, HDI and ICMI are bringing the community together for a September Idea Exchange focused on real-world AI. The “AI Show & Tell: Real-World Hack Swap” will give support professionals an opportunity to share the prompts, workflows, automations, tips, and tricks they are already using.

Across all three topics, there’s a common theme: start with the problem, get the fundamentals right, and learn from each other. Whether we’re talking about asset management or artificial intelligence, technology delivers the most value when it helps us work smarter and provide better service.

HDI SupportWorld: Finding the Right Balance Between AI, Automation, and Human Expertise

This week’s HDI SupportWorld explores how service and support teams can prepare for a future where AI and automation take on more routine work—without losing sight of the value people bring.

In “When AI Does the Talking, What Are Humans For?”, Doug Tedder argues that as AI handles tasks like password resets, status checks, and other routine transactions, the role of the service desk must evolve. While AI can provide answers quickly, people still bring judgment, critical thinking, confidence, and trust. The opportunity for support professionals is to work alongside AI while strengthening the uniquely human skills that technology cannot easily replace.

Matt Beran takes a different angle in “Automation Is Still Better Than AI.” He reminds organizations not to overlook traditional automation in the rush toward AI. For predictable, rules-based work, automation can often provide a more reliable and efficient solution. His approach is simple: let AI identify patterns, let people determine the right action, and use automation to execute it consistently.

The newsletter also highlights the upcoming HDI & ICMI Idea Exchange, focused on continuous learning in a rapidly changing workplace. The August 21 session will feature an interactive, drama-based learning experience designed to help teams explore common workplace challenges while building skills for the future.

Together, these stories offer an important reminder: the future of service isn't about choosing between people and technology. It's about using AI, automation, and human expertise together to create better service experiences.