Overview:
The “Generate Resolution Plan Agentic Workflow” streamlines the process of creating resolution plans for support tasks by leveraging multiple AI agents. Powered by Now Assist, the workflow combines task data, similar cases, knowledge articles, and external resources to deliver comprehensive resolution plans—reducing manual effort and accelerating task completion.
What Problem Is It Solving?
Agents currently spend significant time and effort creating resolution plans because they must consult multiple sources—task details, past records, knowledge articles, and external resources. This manual process slows down issue resolution and creates an inconsistent support experience. This results in:
- Manual Effort—Resolving issues requires extensive manual research and planning.
- Slow Resolution—Delays occur when support teams search across multiple sources for solutions.
- Fragmented Experience—Lack of structured resolution steps reduces efficiency and impacts user satisfaction.
Example Scenarios:
ITSM – Generate Resolution Plan for Incidents
Scenario: A user reports that their email client is repeatedly crashing.
The Generate Resolution Plan Agentic Workflow helps by:
- Gathering Information: The AI agent reads the incident record to capture details such as error messages, user environment, and previous troubleshooting steps.
- Identifying Similar Records and KBs: The AI agent searches past incidents and knowledge base articles related to email client crashes, extracting resolution steps like updating the client, checking for software conflicts, or reinstalling the application.
- Creating Detailed Resolution Steps: Based on gathered data, the AI agent generates a step-by-step resolution plan and makes it accessible in the activity stream for the support team.
CSM – Generate Resolution Plan for Cases
Scenario: A customer reports that newly purchased software is not integrating with existing systems.
The Generate Resolution Plan Agentic Workflow helps by:
- Gathering Information: The AI agent reads the case record to understand error messages, environment details, and prior troubleshooting.
- Identifying Similar Records and KBs: It searches the knowledge base for integration issues and extracts resolution steps such as checking compatibility, updating versions, or configuring integration parameters.
- Creating Detailed Resolution Steps: The AI agent generates a comprehensive resolution plan with actionable steps, accessible in the activity stream for review and implementation.
How Does It Work?
The resolution plan workflow generates plans by:
- Gather the necessary information from the record.
- Find similar records and relevant knowledge bases (KBs) to extract resolution steps, using web search as needed.
- Consolidate all gathered data into clear, detailed resolution steps.
- Additionally, ensure that these resolution steps are documented and can be accessed in the activity stream.
The screenshots below show sample workflow outcomes:
This workflow breaks down a resolution plan into actionable tasks, creating them after user approval. For example, in employee onboarding, it identifies steps like IT setup, document checks, workspace assignment, payroll, and benefits. The plan generator suggests tickets for each step, and users choose which ones to create.
Find configuration and activation resources in the "For more information" section.
Demo
For the demo, watch the YouTube video "Generate resolution plan—Agentic workflow demo" on our ServiceNow Community channel.
Video Chapters
▶ Using the agentic workflow in the Now Assist panel—0:00 to 3:19
▶ Using the agentic workflow on the workspace record page—3:19 to 4:35
▶ Using the agentic workflow on the table record page—4:35 to 5:14
▶ Setup, Activation & Configuration—5:14 to 12:41
Where It Fits:
Example Scenarios:
- Trigger via Now Assist Panel: Natural language prompts (e.g., “Generate resolution plan for INC0001”).
- Trigger In-Product: Declarative buttons in Workspaces or task records.
Trigger via Now Assist Panel:
The Now Assist Panel (NAP) lets users run agentic workflows via natural language prompts. When a prompt like “Provide a resolution plan for INC001” is entered, the system identifies and initiates the relevant workflow, executing each step and showing results as they occur. The final output is displayed in the panel and logged for traceability.
The final resolution plan can be found in the Now Assist Panel, and its details are also added to the record activity stream, highlighted in yellow in the screenshot below.
Sample utterance:
Enter a phrase in the Now Assist Panel or AI Agent Studio Testing, and the system will match it to a workflow and execute steps to generate results. Example phrases include:
- Generate resolution plan for INC0001
- Create detailed resolution steps for INC0001
- Provide resolution plan for INC0001
- Resolve INC0001
Trigger In-product:
Agentic workflows are integrated directly into Workspaces or Task records, offering more than just conversational features such as the Now Assist Panel. With declarative or UI action buttons, users can easily start, track, and oversee agentic workflows without having to switch contexts.
- Trigger agentic workflow from a Workspace:
Clicking the ‘Generate resolution plan’ button in Service Operations Workspace starts the agentic workflow.
The workflow displays the final plan with a review link; clicking 'review link' shows the resolution steps for quick viewing. This will also be included in the activity stream message.
- Trigger agentic workflow on a task (e.g., incident) record:
Open an incident record and click the 'Generate resolution plan' button to start the workflow.
Upon completion, a review link is supplied for convenient reference to the resolution plan, and the record is promptly updated to incorporate the resolution plan within the work notes.
Outcomes Benefits
- Automated Analysis: —Automation reduces manual work in task analysis, speeds up resolution, and allows teams to concentrate on higher-priority tasks while the system handles routine processes.
- Comprehensive Research: —This workflow combines data from internal records, comparable sources, knowledge bases, and external resources. Integrating multiple sources enables informed decisions, accurate resolution plans and keeps teams updated on best practices.
- Structured Output: —Teams follow a consistent format for resolution plans, which improves communication, streamlines execution, supports problem-solving, and helps train new members.
- Knowledge Integration:— Using internal knowledge bases in resolution plans helps organizations leverage existing expertise, avoid duplication, and ensure solutions from past tasks are available for future use.
Suitable Personas:
Fulfiller/Agent
For more information:
- Product documentation - Platform Generate resolution plans Agentic workflow
- Add a Generate Resolution Plan declarative action to the Service Operations Workspace
- Find the additional resources to learn more information on getting started with GAF:
- Explore platform product resources here, and review the list of helpful resources under Platform Agentic Workflows and AI Agents.
