ServiceNow, Microsoft expand strategic alliance, combining genAI capabilities to enhance choice, flexibility

CJ Desai, president and chief operating officer at ServiceNow.

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ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) have announced an expanded strategic alliance, combining their industry-leading generative AI capabilities to enhance employee choice and flexibility. The new ServiceNow Now Assist and Microsoft Copilot integration brings the power of two generative AI assistants into one seamless enterprise experience, making it easier than ever to create value for enterprise workers and for employees to unlock new productivity avenues.

Now Assist and Microsoft Copilot will intuitively interact to meet employees where they are so they can execute common productivity tasks. This is made possible by integrating the intelligence of Now Assist with ServiceNow’s AI-powered workflows with Microsoft Copilot to create a more holistic, connected experience, allowing employees to get the help they need from the most relevant generative AI assistant, regardless of which platform they are in.

“We strongly believe that the next shift in generative AI will result from the collaboration of industry leaders putting AI to work for their customers. We’re on our way to bringing the best of both worlds with the combined power of Now Assist and Microsoft Copilot to transform how work happens,” said CJ Desai, president and chief operating officer at ServiceNow. “Today’s news marks a new chapter in the way businesses will operate. With Microsoft as our partner, we’re enabling a smarter way to work, where generative AI assistants can cohabitate and interact to unlock new levels of productivity.”

“At Microsoft, we are committed to helping our customers adapt and thrive in this new age of AI,” said Rajesh Jha, executive vice-president of Experiences + Devices at Microsoft. “Fundamental shifts are transforming productivity for every individual, organisation and industry, which is why our work with ServiceNow is so valuable. The seamless integration of our AI-powered assistants will help usher in improved levels of employee and IT productivity, reduce context switching and ensure easier execution of everyday work tasks, adding to the value of our customers’ technology investments.”

The simultaneous presence of ServiceNow and Microsoft’s AI assistants within Microsoft 365 can help quickly eliminate friction for employees.

Specifically, Copilot will be able to hand-off employee requests to Now Assist in Microsoft Teams. Whether it’s requesting or resolving a customer’s support issue, or even getting connected to a live agent for support on a complex problem, Now Assist will provide employees with responses to questions as well as recommend actions and next steps in a conversational manner. These actions combine Now Assist’s domain knowledge of the enterprise and awareness of the user’s context and organisational data from Microsoft 365 chats, e-mail, calendar and files.

Future capabilities will also enable such experiences as allowing employees to engage Copilot for Microsoft 365 from ServiceNow to create documents, such as a presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint, based on ServiceNow prompts, empowering AI-driven digital business.

ServiceNow and Microsoft have been strategic partners since 2019, helping customers work better and achieve more. Today’s news of ServiceNow and Microsoft’s expanded partnership represents the next phase of innovation for their customers and how their two platforms will empower the next generation of AI-driven digital business. Notably, Microsoft was also recognised with the 2024 ServiceNow Innovation and Build Partner of the Year award at ServiceNow’s annual Knowledge conference.

The Now Assist and Microsoft Copilot integration announced today will be generally available in autumn (US) of 2024.