Presentations by John Tocado — Field Service Next East 2026

Workshop Materials

Resorces for John's 2026 sessions.

Building a Knowledge Spine AI Fluency Workshop Customer First Contact Centers

Presentations

Building a Knowledge Spine: Voice to Text, Debriefs, and AI-Ready Knowledge Bases That Actually Get Used

Event: Field Service Next East 2026

When: Day 2 — Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Resources: Building a Knowledge Spine - Documents

Most service organizations say knowledge is their advantage, but their "knowledge base" is really a combination of PDFs, emails, and tribal tips stuck in technicians' heads. In this session, John Tocado, Principal Analyst, Systems Development at JLG Industries, shares how his team is building a practical "knowledge spine" that connects voice to text debriefs from the field, structured service content, and AI tools into one system techs actually rely on.

He'll cover how they capture job learnings in the flow of work without slowing engineers down, normalize messy notes into consistent, searchable artifacts, and plug that content into AI assistants, search, and diagnostic tools used across contact centers and service partners. You'll also hear how JLG uses training, recognition, and UX design to encourage technicians and agents to both contribute to and consume knowledge so the spine grows more valuable with every interaction

Key Takeaways:

Takeaway 1 — How to Develope practical methods to capture tribal knowledge via mobile, voice-to-text, and quick debriefs so technicians can contribute without extra admin work.
Takeaway 2 — How to transform raw notes, photos, and fault information into structured, AI-ready knowledge
Takeaway 3 — Creating tactics to incentivize ongoing knowledge sharing and usage

Workshops

Workshop F: Customer First Contact Centers — Streamlining Tech Support Without Losing the Human Touch

Event: Field Service Next East 2026

When: Day 1 — Monday, August 10, 2026 2:25 PM

Track: Track B — Data Orchestration & Customer Centric Service

Resources: Customer First Contact Centers

As customers demand faster resolutions and lower effort across every interaction, field service leaders are under pressure to redesign how contact centers and technical support operate together. This workshop explores how to engineer a “customer first” support journey that connects call center, remote diagnostics, and field service into one streamlined experience—without sacrificing empathy or the human touch.

Key Takeaways:

Takeaway 1 — Developing strategies to break down silos between contact centers and field service, and aligning KPI’s and support workflows that minimize customer effort.
Takeaway 2 — Utilizing AI and knowledge to streamline, not dehumanize.
Takeaway 3 — Creating a practical blueprint to shift your contact center and technical support from reactive firefighting to proactive customer support models.

Workshop K: AI Fluency Through Professional Learning Groups — Building Confident AI Users Without Leaving Anyone Behind

Event: Field Service Next East 2026

When: Day 1 — Monday, August 10, 2026 5:05 PM

Track: Track A — Workforce Evolution & Operational Excellence

Resources:

This workshop shows leaders how to launch Professional Learning Groups (PLGs) that build real AI fluency across teams by having people learn together at a shared screen, bring their own work challenges to live prompting sessions, and collectively discover the AI use cases that actually matter to their business — not just the ones that look good in a vendor demo.

Key Takeaways:

Takeaway 1 — Designing and launching a Professional Learning Group of 6–12 members with rotating facilitation, shared norms, and a regular meeting cadence that turns AI experimentation from a solo struggle into a supported team practice.
Takeaway 2 — Using structured "live prompting labs" and use-case discovery protocols where group members work directly in AI chat interfaces with real business problems — learning from each other's approaches, building prompt literacy, and surfacing high-value applications grounded in their actual workflows.
Takeaway 3 — Creating a practical PLG charter and first-quarter learning agenda that connects peer-driven AI exploration to measurable business outcomes — shifting your team from passive AI awareness to active, accountable capability building

Panels

Panel: Agentic AI in the Real World — Triage, Dispatch, and Knowledge Use Cases That Actually Pay Off

Event: Field Service Next East 2026

When: Day 1 — Monday, August 10, 2026 9:55 AM

Panelists:

John Tocado — Principal Analyst, Systems Development, JLG Industries
Shawn LaRocco — SVP & Head of Services & Solutions Delivery, Philips
Daniel Herrera — Director of Global Managed & Engineering Dispatch Services, Ciena

Resources: Agentic AI Panel

Agentic AI is moving beyond hype in field service, taking on real work across triage, dispatch, and knowledge that directly improves uptime and customer experience. This session will unpack concrete use cases where autonomous and semi autonomous AI agents classify incidents, recommend next best actions, and match the right technician, parts, and time window without breaking existing workflows. We’ll discuss what it takes to connect these agents to clean data, robust knowledge bases, and governance so they can be trusted by technicians, planners, and leaders. Attendees will leave with a practical view of where agentic AI delivers measurable ROI today, what pitfalls to avoid, and how to design a realistic roadmap from pilot to scaled deployment .

Key Takeaways:

Takeaway 1 — Exploring concrete agentic AI use cases in triage, scheduling, and support.
Takeaway 2 — Integrating AI into existing workflows without breaking them.
Takeaway 3 — Benchmark where you are on the agentic AI maturity curve.

Panel: Knowledge and Digital Transformation of Contact and Support Centers to Streamline Work Orders to Completion

Event: Field Service Next East 2026

When: Day 2 — Tuesday, August 11, 2026 4:10 PM

Panelists:

John Tocado — Principal Analyst, Systems Development, JLG Industries
Roger Bias — Sr. Global Field Operations & Process Improvement Manager, Catalina
Daniel Herrera — Director of Global Managed & Engineering Dispatch Services, Ciena
Steve Goulbourne — SVP, Service, Reiser

Resources: Digital Transformation Panel

In many organizations, contact and support centers still operate on legacy scripts, static FAQs, and disconnected ticket systems, forcing agents to chase information and hand work off multiple times before a job is done. This panel brings together leaders who are using AI powered knowledge bases, workflow automation, and integrated field service platforms to give agents a single view of the customer, asset, and work order—and to guide them step by step from diagnosis to dispatch to closure. Speakers will discuss how they curate and govern knowledge so answers stay trusted. Attendees will hear where digital transformation has truly reduced handle time, repeat calls, and fallout in the field—and where cultural and process change has been just as important as the tech.

Key Takeaways:

Takeaway 1 — to be providedIn many organizations, contact and support centers still operate on legacy scripts, static FAQs, and disconnected ticket systems, forcing agents to chase information and hand work off multiple times before a job is done. This panel brings together leaders who are using AI powered knowledge bases, workflow automation, and integrated field service platforms to give agents a single view of the customer, asset, and work order—and to guide them step by step from diagnosis to dispatch to closure. Speakers will discuss how they curate and govern knowledge so answers stay trusted. Attendees will hear where digital transformation has truly reduced handle time, repeat calls, and fallout in the field—and where cultural and process change has been just as important as the tech.
Takeaway 2 — Developing best-in-class change management practices—governance, training, and metrics—that build agent trust in new tools and ensure knowledge and digital capabilities actually get used in daily operations.