ServiceNow + OpenAI: Powering Agentic AI in Enterprise Workflows

2026 kicks off with what might be the most important enterprise-AI partnership of the year. On January 20, ServiceNow and OpenAI announced the start of a three-year collaboration. Before we dive into what this means and the benefits companies can expect, let’s follow the agenda.

First up: ServiceNow’s AI journey, from automation, to copilots, to AI agents (key milestones). Let’s take a quick chronological look at how ServiceNow evolved from automation to copilots and now AI agents.

• May 3, 2018 — ServiceNow doubles down on AI/NLU by agreeing to acquire Parlo (natural language understanding for “workforce solutions”).
• May 9, 2018 — ServiceNow launches Virtual Agent, bringing conversational self-service into the Now Platform (and explicitly links the next step to stronger NLU).
• Oct 23, 2019 — ServiceNow moves to smarter “find answers fast” experiences by acquiring Attivio (cognitive search).
• Nov 30, 2020 — ServiceNow deepens its AI talent and capability stack by announcing the acquisition of Element AI.
• May 16, 2023 — ServiceNow formally enters the genAI era with Generative AI Controller + Now Assist for Search announcements.
• Jun 13, 2023 — ServiceNow introduces Now Assist for Virtual Agent, bringing genAI into conversational self-service.
• Sept 20, 2023 (GA Sept 29, 2023) — ServiceNow launches Now Assist across workflows (ITSM, CSM, HRSD, Creator) as part of the Vancouver release.
• Mar 10, 2025 — ServiceNow announces it will acquire Moveworks to extend agentic AI to more employees and entry points.
• Sept 10, 2025 — ServiceNow unveils the Zurich platform release, positioning the platform around “agentic” capabilities (including Build Agent messaging).
• Dec 15, 2025 — ServiceNow announces it completed the Moveworks acquisition.

To understand why this partnership is such a big deal, we first need a quick look at OpenAI—where it started, how it evolved, and why enterprises are paying close attention.

OpenAI was founded in December 2015 as a nonprofit research lab with a mission to make advanced AI benefit all of humanity.

• In 2019, OpenAI created OpenAI LP, a capped-profit subsidiary that is still governed by the nonprofit so it can scale compute and talent.
• On November 30, 2022, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, which made conversational AI mainstream for everyday work.
• On March 14, 2023, OpenAI released GPT-4, marking a major capability step forward.
• On August 28, 2023, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Enterprise with enterprise-grade security and privacy positioning.

So what does this collaboration actually mean inside ServiceNow? It’s not “AI on top” of workflows. It’s OpenAI becoming a preferred intelligence layer that can understand context, support decisions, and help execute work directly inside the Now Platform, under enterprise governance.

In practice, ServiceNow positions OpenAI models as a preferred capability for enterprise customers, making it easier to bring frontier model intelligence into workflow experiences without having to build everything from scratch. ServiceNow’s AI Control Tower is referenced as the place where orchestration and governance come together, so AI-driven work stays controlled and auditable. And for admins and builders, OpenAI can be connected through ServiceNow’s model-provider layer (including Generative AI Controller) and used across workflows and Virtual Agent experiences via configured provider credentials.

ServiceNow also points to what’s next: deeper native voice and speech experiences powered by OpenAI models, and broader automation possibilities where AI can help translate unstructured inputs into workflow actions across more environments.

Let’s take a look at what top ServiceNow and Open AI voices are saying about this collaboration.

“Deep collaboration between OpenAI technical advisors and ServiceNow engineers gives direct access to frontier models and capabilities, unlocking custom AI solutions aligned to your unique roadmap. By combining OpenAI’s latest reasoning models with ServiceNow’s workflow expertise, we’re engineering AI that takes end-to-end action in complex business environments.” — Amit Zavery, President, CPO & COO, ServiceNow

“This is not about purely model novelty or ephemeral demos. It’s about hardening frontier intelligence into business outcome-driven execution.” — John Aisien, Senior VP, ServiceNow

“ServiceNow is helping enterprises bring agentic AI into workflows that are secure, scalable, and designed to deliver measurable outcomes, so customers can work with AI like a true teammate.” — Brad Lightcap, COO, OpenAI

From Sequal Consultancy perspective, the real value will show up first in high-volume workflows where speed, consistency, and governance matter most - think incident and request handling, knowledge-driven self-service, case summarization and handover, and workflow automation that removes repetitive coordination. The winning approach is pragmatic: start with one or two use cases that already have clear owners, measurable pain, and decent data quality, then design guardrails (roles, approvals, auditability) before scaling.

Don’t chase “AI everywhere.” Build trust through outcomes, and expand only when the platform, people, and governance are ready.

As next steps, here’s a quick readiness check:

• Do you have clean knowledge and a usable service catalog?
• Are your core workflows standardized and followed?
• Can you define success metrics such as resolution time, deflection rate, cost per ticket, or customer satisfaction?
• Do you know which data is sensitive and how it should be masked or restricted?
• Is ownership clear who approves AI-driven actions, and who monitors quality?
• Do you have a plan for change management and adoption, not just the technical setup?

If you want to turn this collaboration into real results, Sequal Consultancy can help you pick the right first use case, set the governance model, and build an implementation path that scales.

Reach out to Jaap Brinkman to discuss your ServiceNow AI roadmap and identify the fastest, safest way to start.