Knowledge 2026: What I’m Actually Focusing On (and Why It Matters)
I’ve been to enough Knowledge conferences now that I’ve stopped trying to attend everything.
Early on, I used to pack my schedule, run between sessions, take notes… and honestly, forget most of it a week later. Now my approach is simpler:
I pick a few themes, go deep, and try to walk away with ideas I can actually implement or challenge back at work.
This year, the shift is pretty obvious. It’s no longer about workflows, forms, or even just automation. It’s about how ServiceNow is becoming an AI-native platform that actually understands your enterprise, not just processes it.
Here’s how I’m thinking about Knowledge 2026 and the sessions I’m prioritizing. Haven't registered yet? Click here, it's not too late!
1. AI That Actually Understands Your Business (Not Just Prompts)
The session on context-aware AI agents is the one I’m most curious about.
We’ve all played with AI assistants by now. They’re useful, but they don’t really “get” how your company works: the exceptions, the tribal knowledge, the weird edge cases that aren’t documented anywhere.
What caught my attention here is the idea that AI agents:
-
Explore internal docs
-
Observe workflows
-
Ask questions (like a new employee would)
-
And keep learning over time
That’s a very different model from what most of us have implemented so far. From an architecture standpoint, this raises some uncomfortable but important questions:
-
Do we even have our data organized well enough for this?
-
How fragmented is our “enterprise context” today?
-
Are we building AI experiences that are basically stateless?
And then there’s the security angle, which I think is easy to underestimate. Generic AI can detect generic threats. But most real-world issues are very specific to how your company operates.
If ServiceNow is serious about context-aware security, that’s a big deal, but it also means:
-
Your data quality matters more than ever
-
your access models need to be tighter
-
“AI governance” stops being a buzzword
This is one of those sessions where I’m not just looking for features. I’m looking for how much of this is actually usable today vs where things are headed.
2. Intelligent Command Center: Running the Enterprise Like a System
This one might not get as much hype, but I think it’s extremely relevant for people working in infrastructure, operations, or large-scale environments.
The idea of an Intelligent Command Center (ICC) isn’t new in isolation: we’ve all seen dashboards, NOCs, war rooms.
What’s different here is the attempt to bring everything together:
-
IT signals
-
Operational events
-
Facilities / IoT data
-
Business impact
…into a single operational layer that doesn’t just show data, but actually helps drive decisions. If you’ve ever been in a major incident, you know the problem isn’t lack of data. Instead, it’s:
-
Too many tools
-
Too many disconnected signals
-
No shared context
What I’m hoping to get out of this session is how they’re structuring that aggregation layer, where AIOps actually fits (beyond demos), and how much automation is realistic vs aspirational.
I am also planning to follow this with the roundtable discussion, because that’s usually where the real insights come out. My main question going in:
What does a “minimum viable ICC” look like for a normal enterprise, not a stadium or a smart city?
3. From Portal to Conversation: This One Hits Close to Home
I’ve spent a good part of my career working on portals, service catalogs, and employee experience. So this shift to conversational interfaces is… both exciting and a little uncomfortable.
The session on moving from portals to a conversational platform (Janus) is something I don’t want to miss. Let’s be honest, most portals look good on slides, but in reality:
-
Users struggle to find things
-
Search doesn’t always work
-
Adoption is uneven
If conversational AI can genuinely simplify that, great. But I’m going in with a few practical questions:
-
What happens when the AI doesn’t understand the request?
-
How do you debug issues in a conversational flow?
-
Where does business logic live in this new model?
Because replacing a portal is not just a UI change. It’s a fundamental shift in how users interact with the platform.
For developers and architects, this likely means:
-
Rethinking how workflows are triggered
-
Rethinking how responses are constructed
-
Investing more in understanding user intent vs building UI components
I’m especially interested in hearing about what didn’t work during their rollout. That’s usually where the most useful lessons are.
4. Sales CRM on ServiceNow: Why I Care (Even Though I Don’t Work in Sales)
At first glance, this looks like a CRM session. But to me, it’s more about where ServiceNow is heading as a platform.
Running the entire sales lifecycle, from lead to contract, on ServiceNow is a bold move.
What I want to understand is:
-
How unified the data model really is
-
How much AI is actually embedded vs layered on top
-
Where the customization boundaries are
Because if this works well, it signals something bigger: ServiceNow is not just expanding features. It’s trying to become a system of action across the enterprise, not just IT.
Even if you’re not in sales, it’s worth paying attention to this direction.
How I’m Approaching Knowledge This Year
Over time, I’ve realized the value of Knowledge isn’t in attending the most sessions. Instead, it’s in making sense of what you’re seeing.
Here are a few things that have worked for me:
1. Look for Patterns, Not Features
After each session, I try to ask:
-
What’s changing at a fundamental level?
-
Is this something I need to start planning for now?
2. “Now on Now” Sessions Are Usually Worth It
These tend to be more honest:
-
What worked
-
What didn’t
-
What they would do differently
That’s far more useful than polished demos.
3. Leave Some Space in Your Schedule
Some of the best conversations happen on the expo floor, in between sessions, or randomly over coffee. I try not to overbook everything anymore.
4. Decide What You’ll Actually Do After the Conference
Before heading back, I usually force myself to write down:
-
2–3 things I’ll explore or prototype
-
1 idea that might change how we design things longer term
Otherwise, it’s easy to lose momentum.
Quick Note on Vegas
Not going to overthink this, but a few practical things:
-
It’s easy to overdo it: pace yourself
-
Hydration matters more than you think
-
You don’t need to attend every evening event
For me, a couple of good conversations are more valuable than trying to meet everyone.
Final Thought
If I had to summarize what I’m expecting from Knowledge 2026, it’s this:
We’re moving from:
-
Workflows → context
-
Interfaces → conversations
-
Automation → intelligent systems
The question I’m going in with is simple:
Is my current ServiceNow architecture ready for that shift, or am I still thinking in the old model?
That’s what I’m hoping to answer this year.
Regards,
Sachin
