From Planning to Go-Live: Now Assist Implementation

Mukesh Sharma · 2 hours ago

Overview

This Knowledge Base article provides an overview of Now Assist, ServiceNow’s generative AI capability, and addresses frequently asked questions related to features, training, security, usage limits, and onboarding requirements.

Scope

This article is intended for teams evaluating, enabling, or actively using Now Assist.

Disclaimer

The intention of this article is solely to provide information about Now Assist. The content presented does not represent my personal views, opinions, or endorsement of Now Assist.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Now Assist?

Now Assist is ServiceNow’s built‑in generative AI capability designed to improve productivity across IT, HR, and Customer Service workflows.

Now Assist can:

Summarize incidents and chat conversations
Generate knowledge articles and catalog items
Draft resolution notes

Now Assist is natively integrated into the ServiceNow platform and uses platform context to automate text‑heavy tasks and accelerate resolution. It operates as a conversational, workflow‑embedded assistant and does not function as an autonomous agent.

What is the difference between Generative AI and Agentic AI in ServiceNow?

Generative AI (Now Assist) creates content and summaries based on user prompts and is intended to enhance human productivity.
Agentic AI (AI Agents) can plan, decide, and execute end‑to‑end workflows autonomously, focusing on automating complex business processes.

Where can I find a complete list of available Now Assist products and skills?

A complete and current list of Now Assist products and skills is available at Now Assist Products

Are there recommended training courses before using Now Assist?

The following foundational training is recommended before using Now Assist:

Introduction to Generative AI Covers generative AI concepts and usage within the Now Platform.
Now Assist Essentials Provides an overview of Now Assist capabilities, including applications, skills, administration, usage insights, data governance and Generative AI Controllers.

Additional product‑specific training is available for HR, CSM, and ITSM through ServiceNow University.

What are first few steps that we need to follow to start now assist journey?

Once you’ve purchased Now Assist, the first step is to complete the initial setup in the Now Assist Admin module. These key configurations are explained below.

Data Sharing
You can choose to turn data sharing on or off with ServiceNow for generative AI model improvements.
Data Overflow Processing
By default, all Now Assist traffic is handled within ServiceNow data centers. During traffic spikes, the system can automatically burst to Microsoft Azure data centers to maintain performance. You can opt out of this feature if you want all traffic to stay within ServiceNow data centers. However, opting out may cause processing delays or capacity overflow errors during high‑traffic periods. Only users with the Data Steward role can disable bursting.
Offensiveness
Here, you can enable logging and configure options to block offensive content for Now Assist plugins.
Manage Model Providers
You can choose your preferred model providers here. By default, the available options are Now LLM Service, AWS Claude, Azure OpenAI, and Google Gemini.
Data Routing
You can define how your data is routed, such as in‑country or in‑region processing.
Activate Fallback
Fallback allows AI systems that aren’t supported by your selected providers to remain active using the provider you last (or originally) configured. If fallback isn’t enabled, you’ll need to manually deactivate those AI systems.

After completing the above configurations, you will need to activate the Now Assist Panel. You can do this from Now Assist Admin → Experiences. While activating the panel, you can configure who can see it, set a welcome message, and adjust other options. By default, users with the now_assist_panel_user role can view the panel. Keep in mind that the itil role inherits this permission, so any user with the itil role will also be able to see the panel.

Once the Now Assist Panel is activated, the fun part begins. You can install Now Assist plugins based on your needs, such as ITSM, HR, or CSM. After installing at least one plugin, go to Now Assist Admin → Skills to activate and configure the available skills.

Each skill has its own set of configurations. For example, with the Resolution Notes Generate skill, you can configure input fields and define the conditions under which the skill becomes available. You can also control which roles can use each skill and decide whether the skill should be available within the product UI, the Now Assist Panel, or both.

Does Now Assist use third‑party large language models (LLMs)?

Yes. Now Assist supports the use of third‑party LLMs, including:

Azure OpenAI
Google Gemini
AWS
Anthropic Claude

By default, Now Assist uses ServiceNow’s NowLLM. Administrators may configure supported external models if required. Organizations can also integrate custom or bring‑your‑own LLMs (BYOLLM) using supported integration methods.

What types of solutions are available under Now Assist?

Now Assist solutions fall into three categories:

Built‑in skills and agents delivered through Now Assist plugins
Custom skills created using the Now Assist Skill Kit
Custom agents created using AI Agent Studio

Can I make unlimited requests to Now Assist?

That entirely depends on total assist count you have. Each Now Assist request can take up to 4000 Assist depends on the complexity of request. Simple requests usually take 1- 100 assist. Detailed assist consumption information is available in the attached document.

Can sensitive information be masked in Now Assist responses?

Yes. Real‑time anonymization can be used to mask sensitive information in responses generated by Now Assist skills. Custom data patterns can be configured in ServiceNow to identify and automatically mask sensitive data in generated outputs.

Does ServiceNow store input and output data from Now Assist requests?

ServiceNow protects customer data by:

Hosting data in a dedicated, isolated instance
Encrypting data in transit using TLS 1.2

Performing inference in memory only, with data deleted immediately after processing Inputs and outputs are transmitted securely to ServiceNow compute hubs or approved third‑party model endpoints. Data is not cached or stored outside the customer instance, and no data is commingled across customers or domains.

Additional information is available in Data Processing documentation.

Is there a dedicated Now Assist plugin for developers?

Yes. Now Assist for Creator is designed for developers and includes capabilities such as:

Flow generation
Spoke generation
Code generation

How do I create new skills?

New skills can be created from Now Assist Skill Kit → Home

How do I create new AI Agents?

New AI Agents can be created from AI Agent Studio → Create and Manage

How do I make sure to limit assist usage?

One way of doing it would be to put role-based restriction on skill level and now assist panel level. Please let me know in comments if there are any other ways as well.

What plugins should we really start with?

That entirely depends on your Service Now Eco System. For most of the organizations, Now Assist for ITSM should be a great starting point.

Is Now Assist really helpful? Should we invest in now assist?

Wellllll, you can’t trick me to answer it :D. Like I said, I want to keep this article limited for informational purposes. May be, May be in 6 months I would have more knowledge and data to clearly say how useful it is.