Home › Insights › AI readiness in TOPdesk
TOPdesk Robin and AI readiness: keep knowledge items current
Reading time about 7 minutes
In a press release of 17 September 2026, TOPdesk announced its AI assistant, TOPdesk Robin. According to TOPdesk, customers can use it from October 2026. Robin helps operators on the call card and answers callers' questions in the new SelfServicePortal. Alongside Robin, TOPdesk announced the AI readiness dashboard, which indicates how far your knowledge base lets you use the AI features. Robin takes its answers from your own knowledge items, and the documentation states that AI results are only as good as the knowledge behind them.
AI features that use your knowledge items
The features in the table take their answers from the knowledge base or add to it. According to the page on AI features, the Essential package has none, and Excellent includes everything in Engaged.
| Feature | Which knowledge | Package |
|---|---|---|
| TOPdesk Robin for operators | Your organisation's knowledge base. A suggested response lists the knowledge items used as sources. | Excellent |
| AI answer assistant | Only the knowledge base, internal and public knowledge items. | Excellent |
| TOPdesk Robin for end users | Knowledge items published to the SelfServicePortal and available to the caller. | Excellent |
| AI search in the SelfServicePortal | Only knowledge items, summarised with references. | Engaged and Excellent |
| AI knowledge item generation | Creates a knowledge item from a solved call, in the new version of the knowledge base. | Engaged and Excellent |
Robin for operators opens with the Ask Robin button on the call card. In the panel you ask a question in the chat, have the call summarised or a response suggested, or generate a knowledge item. According to the documentation, Robin never sends anything to the caller automatically. Every result is a draft for the operator to review, and TOPdesk warns that Robin can make mistakes.
In the SelfServicePortal, a caller selects AI mode after a search. Robin replies in the language of the question and asks a clarifying question if it lacks information. If Robin cannot help, the caller can submit a request from the conversation, with a proposed subject and details.
AI triage, the summary and translation work with the text of the call itself. Where AI fits into the process and where rules work better is covered in Smart workflows in TOPdesk.
What the AI readiness dashboard measures
The dashboard is under TOPdesk menu > Reporting Hub (Beta) > AI readiness dashboard. TOPdesk administrators can also find the AI readiness widget on the home page, with the See more about my score button. The widget and the dashboard both require write permission for knowledge management settings. According to a TOPdesk product update (17 September 2026), the dashboard is included in all packages, Essential among them, and needs no setup.
The maximum score is 8 points. Each of the four categories scores 0 points (Critical), 1 point (Needs attention) or 2 points (On track). TOPdesk groups the total into tiers, from Early stage at 1 or 2 points to Agentic ready at 7 or 8, and the AI growth path section recommends next steps. According to the documentation, the Reporting Hub is a beta version, currently only available in English.
| Category | What counts | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge volume | The total number of knowledge items. | 0 under 100, 1 between 100 and 300, 2 above 300. |
| Knowledge utilization | The percentage of calls with knowledge linked, over the last 30 days. | 0 below 5%, 1 between 5% and 20%, 2 above 20%. |
| Self-service deflection | Whether callers find answers themselves, measured as the percentage of views in the portal over the last 90 days. | 0 below 20%, 1 between 20% and 40%, 2 above 40%. |
| Knowledge freshness | Knowledge changed in the last 90 days. | 0 below 20%, 1 between 20% and 60%, 2 above 60%. |
What to do with your knowledge items per category
The score shows where to start. Edit a knowledge item when its content needs improving, and link a knowledge item when it really resolved the call. A recent change date alone does not mean the solution is right.
Knowledge volume
The number is not a goal in itself. Start with the questions the service desk gets most often, and check whether each has a knowledge item. AI knowledge item generation creates a knowledge item from a solved call; TOPdesk strongly advises reviewing the text and editing it where necessary. In an Ask Us Anything about knowledge management (recap of 3 September 2026), TOPdesk suggested an approach to structure: one knowledge item per problem or topic, the full solution in the text rather than only a reference to an attachment, and text from images written out. TOPdesk explicitly says it is not a required format.
Knowledge utilization
Make it a habit for operators to link each call to the knowledge item that resolved it. If you include an answer from the AI answer assistant, TOPdesk links its sources to the call when you save, as the KI suggestion widget does. With Robin for operators enabled, the answer assistant is no longer separately available on the call card. Since release 1.0.10 of 6 October 2026, however, the suggestion widget can be used alongside Robin (release notes). After saving, the Links tab shows which knowledge items are linked.
Self-service deflection
According to the documentation, a knowledge item is visible in the Operator Section by default. Callers only see it after you make it available in the SelfServicePortal on the Availability tab, and in the new Knowledge Base Explorer the folder's visibility also counts. Check which knowledge items callers should find, and keep items meant for operators out of the portal. Write the title and text in the caller's words. TOPdesk gave the same advice in the Ask Us Anything, preferably in question-and-answer form.
Requests that callers submit from a conversation with Robin go to the default operator group set in Module Settings > Self-Service Portal > Call Management, Processing block. If the group sees the same question repeatedly, write a knowledge item for it or check whether the existing one shows in the portal.
Knowledge freshness
According to the documentation, outdated knowledge can mislead AI as much as missing knowledge. We recommend reviewing knowledge items every quarter, a rhythm that matches the 90-day period in the score.
A selection on the last change date, via TOPdesk menu > New > Selections > Knowledge Management > Knowledge Item, shows which items have not been edited for a long time (documentation). An event can send an email when a knowledge item has gone unedited for longer than a period you set; setting up and testing an event is covered in Events and actions in TOPdesk. The Knowledge management dashboard in the Reporting Hub shows the change dates of active knowledge items and the top 10 knowledge items needing improvement, based on thumbs up and down ratings. The Manager of the KI filter limits the reports to the knowledge items of the manager you choose. Archive a knowledge item that no longer applies but you want to keep.
Switching on AI features
All AI features are disabled by default. An application manager with write permission to the settings page enables them under Functional Settings > AI Settings, and according to the documentation, an enabled feature becomes available to all operators without restriction. Robin for operators has its own toggle. Turning it on also enables AI knowledge item generation, the summary and the answer assistant, within the Robin panel.
Robin for end users and AI search only work in the new SelfServicePortal; testing the switch is covered in Testing and switching on the new TOPdesk SelfServicePortal. AI search is ready to use the day after you enable it. How TOPdesk rolls out new features in phases, within five weeks of release, is covered in Keeping up with TOPdesk releases.
TOPdesk recommends reading the AI policy before you enable a feature. You open it from the AI Settings page. In the Robin press release, TOPdesk writes that by default, customer data remains within the customer's region and is not used to train external AI models. What to establish yourself before an AI feature works with calls is covered in AI automation within ITSM.
Setting up a knowledge base falls under our TOPdesk consultancy, as do preparing the migration to the new Knowledge Base Explorer and revising the folder structure. Key users and administrators can attend a theme session on the knowledge base.