The launch of the ‘Ask Intel’ virtual assistant, which is powered by Copilot Studio, is part of the semiconductor giant’s transition to what it’s calling a ‘digital-first experience’ that came after it restructured its support organization into a ‘strategic, leaner’ operation last year.
Intel is embracing Microsoft’s Copilot Studio platform to power a new AI-based virtual assistant for customer and partner support after the chipmaker scaled back the use of phones and social media platforms for addressing product issues.
The move was announced last week on LinkedIn by Boji Tony, Intel’s vice president and general manager of sales enablement and support. It’s part of the semiconductor giant’s transition to what it’s calling a “digital-first experience” that came after it restructured its support organization into a “strategic, leaner” operation last year.
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Called “Ask Intel,” the virtual assistant uses agentic AI capabilities to open support cases, check warranty coverage and, when needed, connect with human agents for customers and partners who need help with Intel products, according to Tony’s LinkedIn post.
The assistant is available now in English and German, with more languages and features expected to come later this year, he added.
“The goal is simple: less time navigating support, more time doing what you do best,” Tony wrote in his LinkedIn post, claiming that the virtual assistant is “one of the first of its kind in the semiconductor industry.”
Kent Tibbils, vice president of marketing at Fremont, Calif.-based distributor ASI, told CRN that it makes sense for Intel to embrace AI like other companies have in this area, “especially it if can help improve efficiency and response time.”
“As long as there’s still that escalation path to an eventual person,” he said.
Intel Plans To Make ‘Ask Intel’ Central To Support
An Intel spokesperson told CRN that the launch of Ask Intel aligns with changes to the support organization last year, but the effort stems from the first virtual assistant it released in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic to better support customers and partners.
“Ask Intel represents the next phase of this evolution, and underscores Intel’s commitment to elevating the customer and partner experience,” the company representative said in an emailed statement last Friday.
“The Ask Intel platform will continue to expand its services and capabilities in alignment with ecosystem demand and ongoing investments in advanced technology capabilities,” the representative added.
Other planned updates for Ask Intel this year include tailored content for developers and partners, the ability to autonomously create warranty cases and identify required driver updates as well additional content resources, according to Intel. The company also plans “deeper integration with Intel.com to make Ask Intel central” to the support experience.
The Intel spokesperson said that early partner response to Ask Intel “has been positive,” noting that “preliminary performance metrics show increased customer satisfaction and issue resolution rates, compared to previous quarters.”
“These results signal strong momentum and reinforce the platform’s ability to manage routine inquiries, enabling human support teams to focus on the more complex, high-value interactions,” the representative added.
Last December, Intel announced to members of the Intel Partner Alliance program that it was moving the company’s customer support operations to a “digital-first support experience” that takes advantage of AI-powered tools and self-service capabilities.
In addition to the introduction of Ask Intel, this transition involved the removal of inbound public phone numbers for support issues in “most countries,” with the company directing customers and partners to start cases online at support.intel.com.
This was effective in mid-December.
There are exceptions to Intel’s rollback of phone-based support. For example, phone access in the U.S. and Australia has been “limited to English-language voicemail for warranty claims, with agent callbacks as needed,” according to the company. In China, Intel is maintaining full phone support while providing some level of phone support for countries where it’s required by local regulations.
Intel said it has also ended direct support services on social media platforms, including X and Chinese messaging platform WeChat. However, the company said that it will “continue off-domain, community-led engagement and technical support on GitHub and Reddit.”
The company said the support changes won’t impact customers and partners who receive Intel Premier Support through their existing channels.
Support Changes Follow 2025 Sales And Marketing Reorganizations
These changes were made after Intel’s Sales and Marketing Group (SMG) restructured the company’s support operations last summer. And it’s part of a broader push by the chipmaker to embrace AI for a variety of functions.
In a June 2025 memo to SMG employees, John Kalvin, the head of Intel’s global operations and support organization, said the support division was “reassessing its global footprint to identify efficiency and savings, where possible,” and “refocusing” its resources on “core services aligned with Intel’s focus on strategic and core product lines.”
“This will result in a strategic, leaner support organization,” wrote Kalvin, Intel’s former global channel chief who was expected to leave the company early this year.
A few months later, Intel CRO Greg Ernst told SMG employees that the company planned to combine Kalvin’s global operations and support team with the strategy and development office to support “sales enablement in areas like AI, new tools, centralizing customer data and improving execution across our ecosystem.”
SMG has increasingly embraced AI for other functions within the division, including marketing and operations, over the past several months.
When Kalvin announced the support reorganization last June, he said in the same memo that the global operations division had entered into a managed services partnership with global consulting firm Accenture. He said the move that would “empower SMG with modern tools, data and agentic AI capabilities.”
“We’ve made great strides, but we must move faster to remain competitive. Our customers are telling us our decision-making is too slow, our programs are too complex and our competitors are outpacing us,” Kalvin wrote as a preface to the changes. “In SMG, we’re addressing these challenges head-on by taking decisive actions aligned to our culture—speed, boldness and focus—to fundamentally transform how we operate.”
Around the same time, Intel told marketing employees within SMG that it would outsource many of their jobs to Accenture as part of a partnership to “leverage AI-driven technologies with the goals of moving faster, simplifying processes and reflecting best practices, while also managing our spending,” The Oregonian reported.
The Intel spokesperson told CRN that the company’s support efforts, including Ask Intel, are separate from its managed services program with Accenture.
