A senior executive at ServiceNow says that a successful AI strategy is not a standalone initiative, but rather an integrated part of a company’s overall business strategy. Damien Davis, Senior Director in ServiceNow’s Customer Excellence Group, emphasizes that the focus should be on driving business outcomes, not simply adopting new technology. Davis, who has been with the company for 14 years, has seen ServiceNow’s evolution into a global leader in digital transformation, and he believes that the companies that are most successful with AI are those that have a clear roadmap and focus on business-critical use cases.
ServiceNow’s approach to AI is to embed it directly into its core workflows, rather than adding it on as a separate feature. This “AI native” approach means that the AI is an engine, not a sidecar, and it is built directly into the workflows that employees are already using. The company began using machine learning in 2017 to predict incident categories and assignment groups for IT support tickets, and by the time other companies were just beginning to discuss AI, ServiceNow was already on its third generation of AI capabilities. Davis says that this approach allows for a more seamless user experience and avoids the clunky integrations that can come with bolted-on AI solutions.
A Shift from Features to Outcomes
As AI has become more prevalent, ServiceNow has shifted its focus from the features of its platform to the outcomes that it can deliver for its customers. The question is no longer “what can ServiceNow do?” but “how quickly can AI help us turn potential into performance?” This shift is reflected in the way that Davis and his team engage with customers, focusing on how AI can be used to solve specific business problems and drive measurable results. The company’s platform has expanded from its origins in IT service management to encompass a wide range of business processes, including human resources, customer relationship management, and security workflows. This broad reach allows ServiceNow to help companies drive digital transformation across the enterprise.
Lessons from Early Adopters
Davis has identified several key lessons from observing the early adopters of AI. He has found that the most successful organizations are those in highly regulated industries, such as financial services, government, and healthcare, where automation and governance are essential. These companies have demonstrated that a successful AI implementation does not require a wholesale transformation of the business. Instead, they start small, focusing on business-critical use cases that can demonstrate clear value. Once they have proven the value of AI in one area, they can then scale it responsibly across the organization.
Three Keys to Success
- Start Small, Scale Fast: Successful organizations do not wait for perfection. They pick a business-critical use case, prove the value, and then scale the approach.
- Focus on Business Value: The goal is not to implement AI for the sake of it, but to solve real business problems and deliver measurable results.
- Invest in Governance and Change Management: The companies that are winning with AI are those that have mature data governance, clear process documentation, and leadership that is committed to managing the change.
Measuring the Impact of AI
ServiceNow measures the success of its AI implementations using the same metrics that would be used for any other technology implementation. The focus is on outcomes, not on fancy new KPIs or mysterious AI-specific metrics. The goal is to reduce costs, increase productivity, improve employee and customer experiences, and achieve a faster time to value. This approach is reflected in the company’s “Now on Now” program, where ServiceNow uses its own products internally and showcases the results at conferences. This demonstrates the company’s confidence in its own technology and provides customers with real-world examples of how AI can be used to drive business outcomes.
The Future is a Bionic Enterprise
Davis believes that in the future, companies will stop talking about AI as a separate strategy and will instead see it as an embedded part of every workflow and revenue stream. He envisions a “bionic enterprise” where people and AI augment each other’s capabilities. AI will handle the repetitive and predictive tasks, while humans will bring judgment, creativity, empathy, and curiosity to the table. This collaboration between humans and AI will be essential for driving the best outcomes. Davis also highlights the importance of ethics, governance, and trust frameworks, as well as the need for AI disaster recovery planning. As AI agents become more autonomous, it will be crucial to have check gates where humans can intervene and make decisions.
The Human Element
Davis emphasizes that the key differentiators for humans in the age of AI will be curiosity, adaptability, and trust-building. Business leaders will need to ask the right questions, adapt quickly to changing circumstances, and bring their people along with them on the AI transformation journey. The companies that are most successful will be those that focus on augmenting human decision-making rather than eliminating human involvement altogether. For enterprise leaders who are still in the experimentation phase, Davis’s advice is to anchor AI initiatives to specific business problems and to focus on the collaboration between human expertise and AI.
Partnerships and Customer Success
ServiceNow’s partner ecosystem has grown significantly, which is a testament to the company’s success and the complexity of enterprise AI deployment. One notable partnership is with Fujitsu, a Japanese technology services leader. The two companies have created a joint offering that combines Fujitsu’s advisory and implementation services with ServiceNow’s AI-driven customer success products. This partnership is designed to help customers maximize the value of their ServiceNow investment and accelerate their time to value. Davis has a personal connection to this partnership, having spent eight years at Fujitsu before joining ServiceNow.
