ServiceNow got its start primarily as an IT service management (ITSM) platform vendor for trouble tickets. But over the years, the company has steadily expanded to handle all manner of IT operations. And in the last year, ServiceNow has put its focus on infusing all of its services with the power of generative AI.
ServiceNow reported its first-quarter fiscal 2024 financial results on April 24, with revenue coming in at $2.6 billion for a 24% year-over-year gain. During the earnings call, ServiceNow's chairman and CEO, Bill McDermott, emphasized the company's commitment to innovation and growth, particularly in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), even as macroeconomic pressures remain high.
"Contrary to some opinions out there, we are witnessing the biggest enterprise software market opportunity in a generation," McDermott said. "Business leaders are waking up to the fact that they have a fresh choice now; they can radically simplify the tech stack."
Generative AI Fuels Business Transformation
A primary theme for ServiceNow in 2024 is using generative AI to enable business transformation.
"Companies are leaning into genAI as a powerful deflationary force to drive productivity," McDermott said. "AI is a catalyst for business transformation."
He noted that over the past 15 years, enterprises have experienced a massive decentralization of technology governance. As every department became an IT buyer, the result was too many systems, too many apps, low data quality, and high vulnerability to cybersecurity risk. That's where process optimization comes into play.
According to McDermott, process optimization is the top genAI use case in the global economy today.
"Every business workflow in every enterprise will be engineered with genAI at its core," he said.
Washington Platform Advances IT Operations with Now Assist AI
During the quarter, ServiceNow announced its Washington platform update.
Among the new capabilities in the platform update is new functionality for sales and order management. McDermott said that this functionality unites the sales order lifecycle across front-, middle-, and back-office teams on the ServiceNow platform.
In addition, the Now Assist for IT Operations Management (ITOM) AI tool made its debut. The tool applies generative AI capabilities to help speed up issue resolution in ServiceNow's ITOM solution.
ServiceNow is also staying at the forefront of building innovative enterprise genAI applications. One example cited by McDermott is Now Assist AI for Telecommunications Service Management (TSM). He noted the service also benefits from NVIDIA AI capabilities and will help boost agent productivity.
"Everything is going genAI — it's just a question of how quickly you get there," McDermott said. " So, I believe that a lot of the business operating spend will be moved to genAI technology use cases that serve the business."
About the author
Sean Michael Kerner is an IT consultant, technology enthusiast and tinkerer. He consults to industry and media organizations on technology issues.
