ServiceNow bets on unified AI to untangle enterprise complexity

ServiceNow has opened its Knowledge 2025 conference with a brand new AI platform. The ambition is clear: to give businesses a single, coherent way to get all their different AI tools and intelligent agents working together, right across the company.

This isn’t just a fresh lick of paint; we’re talking deep-rooted new features and much cosier relationships with the likes of NVIDIA, Microsoft, Google, and Oracle. The aim? To finally help businesses orchestrate their operations with genuine intelligence, and it seems some big names like Adobe, Aptiv, the NHL, Visa, and Wells Fargo are already seeing it pay off.

Most business leaders you speak with today will tell you they’re wrestling with a tangled mess of complexity. We’ve got systems that don’t talk to each other, data all over the shop, often no real game plan for AI, and that constant pressure to do more with less.

ServiceNow believes AI innovation is the answer here, a way to fundamentally change how businesses run – making them more resilient, more efficient, and helping them get a handle on costs, all while chipping away at that mountain of tech debt and operational guesswork.

However, the company rightly points out that just throwing AI at the problem won’t cut it. You need a clear vision and a real commitment to using ‘agentic AI’ – think smart, autonomous AI helpers – all underpinned by a platform built for what’s next.

For the companies already diving in, these AI agents are apparently delivering the goods, boosting productivity in all sorts of ways. And it’s hitting the bottom line: ServiceNow’s own research, the Enterprise AI Maturity Index, shows that 55% of organisations using this kind of agentic AI have seen their gross margins improve. That’s a hefty jump compared to the mere 22% for those not yet on board.

Bill McDermott, Chairman and CEO of ServiceNow, commented: “ServiceNow is igniting a new era of enterprise transformation with the ServiceNow AI Platform. We’re unleashing the full power of AI, across any industry, any agent, any workflow.

“For decades, CEOs have wanted technology to accelerate the speed of business transformation. With this next generation architecture, we finally have the foundation to run the integrated enterprise in real time. We are the only ones who can orchestrate AI, data, and workflows on a single platform.”

It’s not just talk; some big names are already putting ServiceNow’s agentic AI through its paces:

• Adobe is using it to speed up automation in IT and workplace services. Think AI agents handling common but time-consuming requests like password resets. The upshot? Fewer support tickets, quicker fixes, and happier, more productive staff. They’re also looking to add ServiceNow’s Workflow Data Fabric and RaptorDB to chew through their data even faster.
• Aptiv, known for its work in critical industries, is teaming up with ServiceNow. Their new partnership aims to blend ServiceNow’s AI smarts with Aptiv’s edge intelligence to boost automation and keep things running smoothly when it really matters.
• The NHL is, in their words, “going all in on ServiceNow AI.” The goal is to streamline how they operate, making life easier for employees needing quick solutions and helping arena technicians give fans an even better game day.
• Wells Fargo has rolled out ServiceNow AI with RaptorDB to automate tricky workflows and process huge amounts of data in real-time. This, they hope, will lead to smarter, AI-driven decisions right across the bank.
• Visa is set to bring in ServiceNow Disputes Management – a system they built together. It uses AI agents on the ServiceNow platform to help resolve payment disputes. And it seems they like what they see, as Visa plans to use ServiceNow’s AI to run its own managed dispute services.

So, what’s under the bonnet of this reimagined ServiceNow AI Platform? It’s built to bring together intelligence, data, and the actual doing – the orchestration. The idea is to help companies move beyond a few scattered AI experiments to making AI a core part of how they operate.

A big piece of this puzzle is what they call a “smart, conversational AI Engagement Layer.” This lets people get complex tasks done across different systems by tapping into ServiceNow’s Knowledge Graph, Workflow Data Fabric, and AI Agent Fabric. These clever bits are designed to connect smoothly with all sorts of enterprise data systems and AI frameworks.

This launch is clearly just the start of a whole wave of new stuff. We’re seeing expanded partnerships, literally thousands of ready-made AI agents, and the introduction of the ServiceNow AI Control Tower.

Alongside the main platform, ServiceNow is adding some additional firepower:

• AI Control Tower: Think of it as a central dashboard for managing everything AI – whether it’s ServiceNow’s own AI, or tools from other providers. It’s about keeping an eye on things, making sure it’s secure, and getting real value from every AI agent, model, and workflow, all in one place. The goal is better teamwork, solid oversight, and automation that actually scales.
• AI Agent Fabric: This is the communication network for a company’s AI ecosystem. It’s about getting AI agents – no matter who built them (ServiceNow, partners, or your own tech teams) – to work together smoothly across different tools, teams, and even vendors like Microsoft, NVIDIA, Google, and Oracle. They can share information, coordinate jobs, and generally get things done more effectively together.
• Next-generation CRM: They’re also beefing up their Customer Relationship Management offering with more AI. The plan is to bring sales, order fulfilment, and customer service onto one platform. This means businesses can shift from just reacting to customer problems to proactively engaging with them at every stage, from quoting a price right through to renewal.
• Apriel Nemotron 15B: This new reasoning LLM is built with NVIDIA. It’s designed to power intelligent AI agents that can think and act at scale, promising high accuracy, quick responses, lower running costs, and generally faster, smarter AI for everyone.

And it’s not just about the tech; ServiceNow is also doubling down on people with the launch of ServiceNow University. This is their bid to give organisations the tools to upskill their workforce, helping them not just unlock individual potential but also drive real business change.

At the end of the day, even the smartest AI needs smart people to make the most of it.

See also: UAE to teach its children AI

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