JSM Feature Face Off: The 2025 Updates Our Experts Actually Rate

Earlier this month we hosted our final livestream of the year, a fast and fun Jira Service Management Feature Face Off with two of our own experts, Rick Earl and Brandon Davies. The goal was simple. Cut through a huge year of Jira Service Management releases, surface what truly matters, and leave you with a clean set of priorities for 2026.

For those who missed the session, here is the wrap-up.

Why 2025 Has Been a Defining Year for JSM

The livestream opened by setting the scene. 2025 has been one of the biggest and most transformative years for Jira Service Management. Two themes came through strongly.

The arrival of Atlassian’s new Service Collection

Service Collection marks the shift from JSM as an ITSM tool to a genuine enterprise service platform. New customers now buy JSM as part of the bundle. Existing customers will be rolled in during FY26, with many seeing changes from February.

This change matters because it brings Customer Service Management into the fold and signals JSM’s growing focus on supporting HR, Legal, Finance, Facilities and any team that handles service requests.

A wave of AI capability already in the box

Brandon noted that many teams still underestimate how much AI has quietly landed this year. Beyond Virtual Agent, there are now smarter triage suggestions, better request handling, stronger automation triggers and quality-of-life improvements that free teams from repetitive admin.

The pair agreed that most customers have more capability available today than they realise.

The Face Off: Rick vs Brandon

The format was simple. Each speaker arrived with their personal top three JSM updates of 2025. Neither saw the other’s list beforehand. We worked from number three up to number one to keep the surprises coming.

Below is what made the cut…

Rick’s top JSM updates of 2025

Rick deliberately skipped the obvious AI headlines and focused on features that quietly save admins hours.

3. New automation actions for external platforms
Rick started with the new automation actions for tools like Workato, Workday and Salesforce.
A lot of integrations that used to rely on hand built HTTP calls can now be done with native actions, which means less brittle scripting and easier maintenance when things change.

2. Cloud to cloud site copy for Assets
His second pick was the new cloud to cloud site copy options, especially for Assets data.
Refreshing a sandbox or copying Assets between sites used to be a manual rebuild. Now schemas and data can be copied between sites, which cuts out a lot of repetitive setup work.

1. Styling and structuring the JSM portal
Rick’s number one pick was the overhaul of JSM portal styling and structure.
Teams can now create multi page, multi help centre style portals, embed Confluence content and forms inline, and drive announcements from Confluence instead of maintaining long, clunky portal messages. In many cases, this also reduces the need for separate theming apps.

Brandon’s top JSM updates of 2025

Brandon’s list leaned into where automation and AI are heading inside the Atlassian ecosystem.

3. Advanced automation components
Brandon opened with enhanced automations using advanced components.
Lookup tables, dynamic lookup tables, multiple branches, smarter delays and new looping capabilities mean automation is starting to feel like a small programming language inside JSM. That lets teams bring more business logic into JSM and reduce reliance on external automation tools.

2. Virtual Agent improvements from the portal
His second pick was the improvement to Virtual Agent, especially the ability to call APIs and run automations directly from the portal.
Customers can now trigger things like password resets or billing checks themselves, which drives higher level one and level two deflection and a smoother self service experience.

1. Rovo agents for JSM
For number one, Brandon chose Rovo agents for JSM.
He shared practical examples the team has already tested, such as Rovo:

• Using Confluence pages that explain what teams do and routing requests accordingly
• Setting fields such as region automatically, based on the reporter’s company profile
• Working with Loom transcripts and automation to extract actions and either perform them or create tickets for humans to review

The pattern is clear. Rovo is becoming a powerful way to improve triage quality and reduce the time humans spend sorting work.

What to focus on in 2026

When asked what should be on everyone’s roadmap for 2026, both experts zoomed out.

Rick called for a mindset shift

With Virtual Agent, Rovo and automation taking on more of the repetitive triage and routing work, Rick argued that teams need to redesign roles so people focus on the things only humans can do.
That means using the platform to handle classification and prioritisation, and freeing people up for complex problem solving and higher value work.

Brandon pointed to Rovo and skills

Brandon focused on the pace of change around Rovo and Rovo skills.
Rovo and enhanced automation already span the wider Atlassian ecosystem, and skills are arriving that let vendors plug their own capabilities into your environment. Over time, he expects Rovo to gain richer actions and tighter integration with automation so it can do much more than simply return text.

Final Thoughts

The Feature Face Off gave one of the clearest snapshots of JSM’s evolution this year. From the expansion of Service Collection to the acceleration of AI and the maturing of core admin features, JSM is becoming a genuine enterprise service platform.

If you’d like help prioritising what to roll out first or want a quick review of your 2026 roadmap, the Elegance Group team would be happy to support - just reach out.

Thanks again to everyone who joined us live. Enjoy the summer break and we’ll see you in our next session in February.

You can watch the full replay here.