ServiceNow and OpenAI are taking their partnership a step further — and it’s a sign of where enterprise AI is heading next.
Instead of treating AI like a separate add-on or a side experiment, ServiceNow is working to bake OpenAI’s capabilities directly into its platform. As CEO Bill McDermott put it, the point is “direct integration” — bringing strong AI right into the workflows companies already run inside ServiceNow, rather than forcing them to stitch together a bunch of tools on their own.
That matters because a lot of businesses are moving past the “AI pilot project” phase. Now they’re asking the obvious follow-up: Okay, but what does this actually do for my business? McDermott framed it in simple terms — companies want AI that improves margins, drives revenue, and helps teams run more efficiently. Not someday. Now.
One of the more interesting parts of this expanded collaboration is how hands-on it’s supposed to be. It’s not just a licensing deal where ServiceNow flips a switch and calls it a day. ServiceNow engineers and OpenAI technical advisors are working together to build custom solutions that are designed for real enterprise use — the kind that can be deployed quickly instead of dragging out for years. McDermott even emphasized that these implementations can happen “in days and weeks, not years.”
Another big theme here is what happens when AI spreads across an organization and starts acting less like a feature — and more like a workforce. McDermott talked about the rise of “digital agents” and predicted that over the next couple of years, companies will be dealing with massive numbers of them. His estimate: 1.2 million agents.
That kind of scale brings a new problem with it: identity and security. Businesses already need to manage access for employees, contractors, and partners — now they also need to manage “non-human identities,” meaning AI agents that are taking actions inside corporate systems. ServiceNow is positioning itself as the platform that can handle that whole mix in one place, across workflows that run through an entire company.
And while this partnership is clearly aimed at helping U.S. customers right now — since America is still ServiceNow’s biggest market — the company is also seeing momentum internationally. McDermott highlighted Europe and Asia as areas where adoption is accelerating.
Stepping back, the bigger takeaway is this: enterprise AI is starting to look less like a race where every big company builds everything in-house, and more like a future where foundational AI providers and enterprise software platforms work together. The companies that win won’t just be the ones with the smartest models. They’ll be the ones who can plug AI into real business processes, deliver results quickly, and do it securely at scale.
In other words: AI isn’t the headline anymore — execution is.
This analysis is based on reporting from CNBC.
Image courtesy of ServiceNow.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
