Founded two decades ago, Santa Clara-based software giant ServiceNow is a leader in enterprise workflow technology, changing how businesses manage tasks and streamline operations. Fred Luddy, the company’s founder, identified inefficiencies in enterprise task management and sought to create a unified platform that connects the silos of people, processes, and systems.
In September, the company released Xanadu, a range of new features in its latest Now Platform update. Among these innovations are ServiceNow AI agents, designed to enhance productivity round the clock across departments, including IT, customer service, HR, and procurement, which the company claims are grounded in reasoning abilities based on enterprise data.
These are now released in partnership with Microsoft, which enables them to work on Microsoft 365 Copilot and all the existing Microsoft applications.
Speaking with AIM, Sumeet Mathur, SVP and MD of ServiceNow India Technology & Business Centre, explained why everyone wants to partner with ServiceNow instead of competing with them. For context, most Indian IT companies, the big techs of the world, and even companies like Databricks and Snowflake have partnered with the company in recent years.
“Our one-platform approach gives us a significant edge over competitors who rely on acquisitions to piece together solutions,” Mathur explained. ServiceNow stands out with its commitment to providing a single platform, data model, and architecture. This strategy ensures an integrated and seamless user experience across an enterprise’s various functions.
ServiceNow’s biannual platform releases, named after cities, symbolise the company’s steady innovation. “We’ve gone from Aspen to Xanadu, with Yokohama and Zurich on the horizon,” Mathur added.
The AI Edge
ServiceNow has been actively working in AI for over a decade, making the transition to GenAI an incremental step rather than a leap. Three years ago, ServiceNow acquired Element AI, which laid the foundation for its advancements in LLMs. “Our GenAI offerings are persona-focused,” Mathur explained, emphasising tailored solutions for employees, agents, and developers.
For example, employee-centric tools like AI Search and chatbots empower users to solve issues themselves, reducing the need to open tickets. On the agent side, GenAI-driven tools enhance productivity by summarising case notes and providing next-step recommendations.
Developers, too, benefit from innovations like low-code and image-to-flow capabilities. “In Xanadu, we introduced mechanisms that allow customers and partners to build net-new GenAI capabilities on our platform, enabling them to solve use cases beyond our out-of-the-box offerings,” Mathur noted.
This is after ServiceNow, in partnership with Hugging Face, released StarCoder 2, its own AI coding platform, trained on a larger dataset (7.5 terabytes) than its predecessors and on 619 programming languages. StarCoder 2 comes in three sizes – 3-billion, 7-billion and 15-billion-parameter models.
The text-to-code LLM is trained on ServiceNow’s proprietary source code and thus generates output that is significantly more efficient, scalable, and suited for real-world environments compared to other open-source LLMs.
“This is how we tailor LLMs for ServiceNow’s work. Additionally, we provide a low-code, no-code platform that empowers customers and partners to build their own applications. Since we serve diverse enterprises, it’s impractical to anticipate every use case for every industry or domain,” said Mathur.
The Competitive Edge
ServiceNow’s platform has evolved to cater to industry-specific needs, with solutions tailored to sectors such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and telecommunications.
When asked about competition, Mathur provided a nuanced perspective. Companies like Snowflake and Salesforce, often perceived as competitors, are in fact collaborators in some areas. “We announced a partnership with Snowflake that allows zero-copy integration of data,” Mathur revealed. This enables customers to use Snowflake’s data lake capabilities seamlessly within ServiceNow workflows, enhancing efficiency and preserving data integrity.
However, direct competitors like Atlassian and Zendesk are tackled differently. “Because we operate at a platform layer with products across IT, asset management, security, and more, our breadth and depth give us a unique positioning,” he explained.
ServiceNow’s integrated approach contrasts with point solutions, making it a preferred choice for enterprises seeking end-to-end workflow management.
Mathur said that ServiceNow is focused on where the enterprise understands the value and large-scale enterprise – the Fortune 500s of the world. “We play in the upper echelon of the enterprise segment and not in an SME space. So, we won’t compete there; we are not going to go after a $5,000 deal.”
Indian AI Adoption
India plays a pivotal role in the company’s global operations. Having completed 10 years, the centre is instrumental in driving innovation and addressing the specific needs of regional and global customers. Mathur highlighted the significance of India’s talent pool in enabling ServiceNow’s rapid development cycles.
The company is committed to fostering AI advancements within India. “India’s vibrant technology landscape is ripe for GenAI adoption,” Mathur observed, emphasising the role of local enterprises in driving global shifts.
Furthermore, ServiceNow’s AI Accelerator Program was launched primarily to empower startups and developers in India. It seeks to nurture innovative use cases and scalable AI-driven applications, further solidifying ServiceNow’s position as a catalyst for tech revamp in the region.
As ServiceNow moves forward, its focus remains on empowering enterprises with transformative technologies. With the upcoming Yokohama and Zurich releases, the company is poised to deliver even more innovations. Mathur’s parting thought encapsulates ServiceNow’s ethos: “We’re not just building tools; we’re shaping the future of work by connecting people, processes, and technology in ways that truly matter.”
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