ServiceNow Knowledge 23

BY STEPHANIE BALL

Hosting more people than the Grammys, ServiceNow’s Knowledge 23 kicked off in Las Vegas. The company’s biggest event ever, over 15,000 graced the Venetian’s conference center and with everyone from former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern to music group One Republic in attendance, it is no doubt the rockstar event of the tech season.

Ever ‘hungry’ for success, ServiceNow has brought a host of new platform expansions to the fore, doubling the Now product offering since 2019 and bringing in “a new generation” for the “humble” firm.

Throwing in every trending enterprise tech bar digitalizing the kitchen sink, fresh K23 announcements included new finance and supply chain workflows, new generative AI capabilities, a one million talent growth promise by 2024 with a “RiseUp” learning initiative, non-profit services with servicenow.org and a new Microsoft partnership.

In a media exclusive briefing, Now CEO Bill McDermott shared: “My dream is to make ServiceNow the defining software company of the 21st Century. I’m on fire - right before my eyes this puppy is about to become a big dog. We are that single platform that bypasses the complexity of operating systems and databases and application platforms that are breaking your heart, not because they are bad, but because they were good in a different era.

“We’re now walking into a new frontier of the exponential enterprise. With GenAI, you reinvent relationships and experiences, putting people in the best position to be successful. AI is going to create jobs, because companies are going to perform so much better. We can tie all these enterprise processes together on a platform that makes them all better – no one has to lose for us to win.”

Feeding into AI hype, chief product officer CJ Desai announced that AI will be featuring across the Now ecosystem, in everything from talent nurturing to supply chain workflows. New OpenAI and domain-specific LLMs were unveiled along with Now Assist for Virtual Agent, Now’s latest GenAI solution for creating conversational experiences for intelligent self-service.

Welcoming CEO Jensen Huang on stage, a partnership with NVIDIA was revealed, to develop custom LLMs for workflow automation and features for applying GenAI to use cases across IT departments, customer service teams, employees and developers.

With so many developments for the growing firm, it’s certainly time to wonder if ServiceNow is setting itself up to take on the larger ERP vendors.

Talking with Dave Kanter, global lead of the Accenture ServiceNow Business Group, the firm just announced as ServiceNow’s worldwide partner of the year, he said: “What’s really changed over the last eight to 12 months is that many of our clients now see ServiceNow as an enterprise platform. These bigger companies, they tend to line up to functions; Workday is HR, SAP and Oracle are finance and supply chain

– and they’re optimized for doing that function. ServiceNow spans these functions, linking them within the organization for better operability.”

Back in the expo hall, a ten-foot, bright green YES rotated on a podium front and center. Attendees enjoyed green ServiceNow M&Ms courtesy of Mars and sources to be left unnamed divulged that the lowcode alcohol mixing machines certainly crafted cocktails on the strong side. But the highlight on most people’s minds? It’s One Republic’s lead singer asking the packed-out venue to “service him now”.