Dive Brief:
- ServiceNow wants to make it easier for enterprises to integrate and develop AI agents as it releases a series of tools and enhancements aimed at mitigating adoption roadblocks, the vendor said Wednesday.
- The longtime enterprise automation proponent released ServiceNow Studio, a centralized spot for no-code, low-code and pro-code developers to manage and develop agentic applications. The studio provides automated reviews, approvals and application changes enabled by ServiceNow Workflow Data Fabric.
- As part of its Yokohama release, the vendor also moved a series of agentic capabilities into general availability, including thousands of pre-built agents, such as its security operations and proactive network test and repair AI agents.
Dive Insight:
Enterprise vendors are readying their portfolios to meet enterprise interest in AI agents — and address decision-makers' concerns.
IT leaders are enthusiastic about the technology, with nearly 85% of more than 1,000 IT decision-makers saying they trust AI agents to complete tasks better than or equivalent to that of human workers, a SnapLogic report published last month found.
While workers are receptive to agentic tools, they also have concerns. Employees question the technology’s accuracy and quality of work. Around 2 in 5 workers admit to feeling uncomfortable submitting AI-generated work, according to a Pegasystems survey.
As enterprises focus on excelling in the prep phase, the workforce and tech stack are top of mind. Meanwhile, vendors are positioning themselves to step in and lighten the load.
Cloud hyperscalers, software giants and AI all-stars have all rolled out tools in recent months to address AI agent development and governance hurdles.
Acquisitions are also helping vendors advance strategies. Earlier this week, ServiceNow said it signed an agreement to acquire AI startup Moveworks for around $2.85 billion. ServiceNow expects the deal to close in the later half of this year and characterized it as “another giant leap forward” in its shift to agents, according to the announcement.
Cross-industry early adopters are beginning to emerge with help from vendors. EY and Rolls-Royce are among ServiceNow’s initial wave of agent users. Microsoft paraded The Estée Lauder Companies and Carnival subsidiary Holland America Line as examples of enterprises gaining early benefits from using its agentic tools.
More than 2 in 5 enterprises plan to build 100-plus AI agent prototypes this year despite looming concerns about security and governance, a Tray.ai survey found. Respondents in the survey of more than 1,000 U.S.-based enterprise tech pros said their implementation efforts mostly centered on the IT service desk, data processing and code development. Many were prioritizing cost reductions.
