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  • 4 min read

Microsoft and ServiceNow at Knowledge 2024: Introducing generative AI innovation

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Microsoft is proud to partner with ServiceNow, a leader in digital workflows and generative AI, to create seamless and powerful experiences that empower every organization on the planet to achieve more.

We are in the midst of a major platform shift where AI has emerged as a transformative force that’s redefining productivity in the workplace. This evolution compels organizations to embrace new technologies that not only enhance efficiency but also foster innovation and champion responsible design. That’s why Microsoft is proud to partner with ServiceNow, a leader in digital workflows and generative AI, to create seamless and powerful experiences that empower every organization on the planet to achieve more.  

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Are you ready to put AI to work?

Innovation Unleashed: ServiceNow and the Microsoft Cloud

Collaboration and integration with ServiceNow at Knowledge 2024

I had the opportunity to celebrate the results of this partnership at Knowledge 2024, ServiceNow’s flagship event that brought together 20,000 global business leaders, IT professionals, partners, and developers. During this time, industry professionals from both Microsoft and ServiceNow discussed how we’re joining efforts to boost collaboration, increase efficiency, and streamline business processes by integrating generative AI solutions. It was an honor to also have Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella join the keynote, where he expressed gratitude for the progress we’ve made in this partnership and enthusiasm for future innovation.

Since 2019, as partners, Microsoft and ServiceNow have been jointly innovating to bring the best of the Microsoft Cloud and the ServiceNow platform to improve customer and employee experiences. We have delivered over 100 pre-built integrations that provide our mutual customers with the ability to confidently plan, scale, and manage cloud adoption and their digital transformation initiatives.

As an example of this commitment, we recently migrated our internal ServiceNow instances to Azure, introducing greater interoperability between our platforms. Our mutual customers can also procure ServiceNow on Azure through the Azure Marketplace, and streamline procurement against their existing Azure commitment. This strategic collaboration, which combines the power of ServiceNow’s business transformation capabilities with Azure’s cloud infrastructure, has ushered in a host of new and exciting solutions to accelerate cloud value, enhance employee experiences, and invent new AI use cases. It was a privilege to witness the unveiling of one of those solutions at Knowledge 2024—a new connection between the ServiceNow platform and Microsoft Copilot. With this integration, organizations can now access top-tier generative AI models within the natural flow of their work.

Why have one when you could have two powerful generative AI assistants?

Think about how helpful it would be if employees had access to round-the-clock support to fix problems and maximize productivity. This is the vision we’re realizing by combining ServiceNow and Microsoft AI assistants to enhance employee choice and flexibility. The resulting ServiceNow Now Assist and Microsoft Copilot integration allows generative AI experiences to coexist within the same ecosystem. The Now Platform is widely used for IT management, security operations, field service management, compliance, HR, and workflow automation. Now, both ServiceNow and Microsoft customers can benefit from intelligent support using natural language—inside the Now Platform or Microsoft 365.

This new integration lets users benefit from digital assistants on both platforms without leaving their workflows. For example, when a buyer initiates a purchase order for office supplies, Copilot generates the purchase order using simple prompts. It then hands it off to Now Assist to finalize within ServiceNow. The buyer can move quickly through the ordering process without switching platforms or programs. Whichever AI assistant knows the answer will respond, unlocking a newfound level of efficiency and eliminating context switching.

To explore other AI-based enhancements to the Now Platform, watch the demo below:  

Generative AI is a personal initiative that’s driving internal value

How are ServiceNow and Microsoft seeing value with generative AI? I had the opportunity to explore this question and more with Nalina Athyantha, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Field Marketing at ServiceNow. Responding to the recent announcement of the ServiceNow platform and Microsoft Copilot integration, Nalina and I were able to provide context for these new developments in the partnership and share more about where this alliance is headed. During our conversation, we discussed the importance of upleveling employee experiences by streamlining workflows and eliminating redundancies with AI. I was impressed to hear how ServiceNow itself is reaping the benefits of AI by embedding these capabilities into the systems their employees use daily. The organization has already observed a $10 million dollar reduction in costs with a notable increase in productivity. By enabling seamless AI-assisted experiences with Now Assist and Microsoft 365 applications, both ServiceNow and Microsoft are seeing the impact firsthand through the lens of our respective organizations. And we’re excited to extend that value to our shared customers, too.

Watch the video below to hear my entire conversation with Nalina:

We’re proud to be innovating alongside pioneers like ServiceNow

I want to extend a sincere thanks to ServiceNow on behalf of Microsoft for recognizing us as their 2024 Innovation Partner of the Year as well as the 2024 Build Partner of the Year. The latter award was particularly meaningful as it commends our joint effort in creating and delivering seamless user experiences on the Now Platform and Azure.

We believe that we can achieve more by collaborating with ServiceNow. That’s why we appreciated the chance to embrace the learning aspect of Knowledge 2024 and show others how they can benefit from integrating ServiceNow into their Microsoft ecosystem. Our team at Microsoft led two sessions during the event that helped attendees delve deeper into ServiceNow on Azure. Reenu Saluja, a Global Partner Technology Strategist within Microsoft’s Industry Partner Solution Organization, and Stephen Bidgood, an Advisory Solution Consultant at ServiceNow, walked participants through a live Q&A that provided a technical overview of AI, security, and modern work. This interactive format allowed for an engaging learning experience that was equally enriching on both sides. While I discussed the value of ServiceNow and the Microsoft Cloud, innovating together and exploring the integration opportunities.

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Microsoft team accepts the award as ServiceNow’s 2024 Innovation Partner of the Year and 2024 Build Partner of the Year.

The digital transformation journey continues

The ServiceNow Knowledge 2024 event highlighted how Microsoft and ServiceNow can help organizations of all sizes accelerate their cloud transformation with generative AI. We’re excited about the future of AI innovation that Microsoft and ServiceNow can enable together.

For a more in-depth look at the newly announced integration and to learn more about Microsoft and ServiceNow’s partnership, read our blog “Innovation Unleashed: ServiceNow and the Microsoft Cloud.”