✨ Now Assist Context Menu: A Productivity Tool Within ServiceNow

Juhi Poddar — Wed, 20 May 2026 00:05:18 GMT

💭 "How do I add AI capabilities to ServiceNow without building from scratch?"

💭 "My agents need help writing faster, but I don’t want to disrupt their workflow."

If you are already using Now Assist licensing in ServiceNow, you may already have an AI assistant available directly inside your Workspaces.

It has been there since Yokohama, but many teams still do not realize what it can do.

Here's a look at how it works.

🧩 What It Does

A Now Assist icon ✨ appears in text fields when you're composing content. Click it to access AI-powered writing assistance that already understands the case context.

Three capabilities:

Summarization of complex cases
Email drafting based on case details
Content refinement (elaborate or shorten)

Key difference from ChatGPT: It lives inside ServiceNow and already knows your case context. No need to copy-paste data to external tools.

The Generate Summary card appears at the top of case forms.

🧪 How It Works in Practice

Summarization

Click ✨ Summarize at the top of the form. The AI generates a structured summary with four sections: Issue, Key Actions Taken, Resolution, and Service Level Agreement.

This gives you complete case context without reading through multiple tabs and fields.

Structured summary with feedback buttons (👍 👎) and accuracy reminder at the bottom.

Email Drafting & Refinement

When you start typing in the email field, the sparkle icon appears. Click it to generate a professional email based on your case context.

The email appears in a popup with navigation (1/2, 2/2), Replace button, feedback options (👍 👎), Copy, and Refine dropdown. The popup is draggable and resizable, helping agents review the draft while keeping case information visible.

You can then click "Refine" and select "Shorten" or "Elaborate" to adjust the content.

The sparkle icon appears when you start typing in the email field.

(a) AI-generated email based on case context. The popup shows page 1 of 6, indicating multiple draft options. Note the "Replace" button to insert the text.

(b) After using "Shorten", the email becomes concise while preserving essential details (page 2 of 6).

💼 Common Questions

"Why not use ChatGPT?"

ChatGPT can't access your ServiceNow data. Context Menu already has the case context.

"What if it makes mistakes?"

Every output includes accuracy reminders. The Replace button ensures you review before using.

"Will it replace agents?"

No. It helps with writing tasks. It doesn't handle judgment, problem-solving, or customer relationships.

🚀 How to Enable & Use

For admins

Install plugin from ServiceNow Store
Activate skills in Now Assist Admin → Skills
Configure role-based access (which roles use which skills)
Enable analytics tracking

For users

Click ✨ Summarize button at top of case
Start typing in email field, click sparkle icon
Use Refine to adjust content
Provide feedback (👍 👎)

Note: The Context Menu component appears automatically in standard ServiceNow workspaces. For custom workspaces, you may need to add it manually in UI Builder.

🌱 Why This Works

Context Menu works because it fits into existing workflows.

No new logins. No new interfaces. Just a sparkle icon in fields you already use.

📊 The Productivity Impact

Context Menu eliminates repetitive writing tasks that consume agent time. Instead of reading through lengthy case histories or drafting emails from scratch, agents get structured summaries and draft responses in seconds.

The time savings add up: summarizing a complex case goes from 8-10 minutes to 30 seconds. Writing a professional email drops from 10-15 minutes to 2-3 minutes of review and personalization.

More importantly, it removes the blank-page friction that slows agents down. The AI provides a starting point, agents add judgment and personalization, and work moves forward faster.

📚 Resources

Context Menu Overview | Email Recommendations | Summarization | Admin Console | Analytics

I regularly share learnings and updates from my ServiceNow journey. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn: [Juhi Poddar]

post ✨ Now Assist Context Menu: A Productivity Tool Within ServiceNow in Community Central articles

✨ Now Assist Context Menu: A Productivity Tool Within ServiceNow