The energy at ServiceNow’s Knowledge25 matched the company’s ambitious direction! ServiceNow is repositioning itself as more than just an IT service platform – aiming to be the orchestration layer for the modern enterprise. Over the past two days, I’ve seen a clear focus on platform extensibility, AI-driven automation, and a push into new functional territories like CRM and ERP.
Here are my key takeaways from Knowledge25.
Click here to download “ServiceNow Knowledge25: Big Moves, Bold Bets, and What’s Next” as a PDF.
AI Everywhere: Agents and Control Towers
ServiceNow goes all in on AI Agents – and makes it easy to adopt.
Like Google, Salesforce, and AWS, ServiceNow is betting big on agents. But with a key advantage: it’s already the enterprise layer where workflows live. Its AI Agents don’t just automate tasks; they amplify what’s already working, layer in intelligence, and collaborate with other agents across systems. ServiceNow becomes the orchestration hub, just as it already is for processes and change.
ServiceNow’s AI Control Tower is a critical accelerator for AI at scale. It enforces policies, ensures compliance with internal and regulatory standards, and provides the guardrails needed to deploy AI responsibly and confidently.
The bigger move? Removing friction. Most employees don’t know what agents can do – so they don’t ask. ServiceNow solves this with hundreds of prebuilt agents across finance, risk, IT, service, CRM, and more. No guesswork. Just plug and go.
Sitting Above Silos: ServiceNow’s Architectural Advantage
ServiceNow is finally highlighting its architectural edge.
It’s one of the few platforms that can sit above all systems of record – pulling in data as needed, delivering workflows to employees and customers, and pushing updates back into core systems. While most Asia Pacific customers use ServiceNow mainly for IT help desk and service requests, its potential extends much further. Virtually anything done in ERP, CRM, SCM, or HRM systems can be delivered through ServiceNow, often with far greater agility. Workflow changes that once took weeks or months can now happen instantly.
ServiceNow is leaning into this capability more forcefully than ever, positioning itself as the platform that can finally keep pace with constant business change.
Stepping into the Ring: ServiceNow’s CRM & ERP Ambitions
ServiceNow is expanding into CRM and ERP workflows – putting itself in competition with some of the industry’s biggest players.
ServiceNow is boldly targeting CRM as a growth area, despite Salesforce’s dominance, by addressing gaps traditional CRMs miss. Customer workflows extend far beyond sales and service, spanning fulfillment, delivery, supply chain, and compliance. A simple quoting process, for instance, often pulls data from multiple systems. ServiceNow covers the full scope, positioning itself as the platform that orchestrates end-to-end customer workflows from a fundamentally different angle.
Its Core Business Suite – an AI-powered solution that transforms core processes like HR, procurement, finance, and legal – also challenges traditional ERP providers, With AI-driven automation for tasks like case management, it simplifies workflows and streamlines operations across departments.
Closing the Skills Gap: ServiceNow University
To support its vision, ServiceNow is investing heavily in education.
The refreshed ServiceNow University aims to certify 3 million professionals by 2030. This is critical to build both demand (business leaders who ask for ServiceNow) and supply (professionals who can implement and extend the platform).
But the skills shortage is a now problem, not a 2030 problem. ServiceNow must go beyond online learning and push harder on in-person classes, tutorials, and train-the-trainer programs across Asia Pacific. Major cloud providers like AWS broke through when large enterprises started training their entire workforces – not just on usage, but on development. ServiceNow needs similar scale and commitment to hit the mainstream.
Asia Pacific: ServiceNow’s Next Growth Frontier
ServiceNow’s potential is massive – and its opportunities even bigger.
In Asia Pacific, many implementations are partner-led, but most partners are currently focused on the platform’s legacy IT capabilities. To unlock growth, ServiceNow needs to empower its partners to engage beyond IT and connect with business leaders.
Despite broader challenges like shrinking tech budgets, fragmented decision-making, and decentralised tech ownership, ServiceNow has a clear path forward. By upskilling partners, simplifying its narrative, and adapting quickly, it’s well-positioned to continue its growth and surpass the hurdles many other software vendors face.
