Free self paced learning path: From ServiceNow Admin/Dev to AI Ready Architect

Bill Martin · 2 hours ago

Hi everyone — Bill here (TechTalk with Bill).

I'm a ServiceNow MVP, a Certified Technical Architect, seven-times CIS certified, and Harvard-certified in Strategy Execution. Over the years I've built and reviewed ServiceNow solutions in banking, enterprise portfolio management, and a lot of complex, real-world environments. And I kept running into the same thing: there's plenty of material for admins, but very little that takes someone all the way to developer — and then to architect.

So I built the course I wish I'd had when I started. It's completely free and open, and I've just published it.

Watch the intro (overview)

Here's a short walkthrough of what's inside, how it works, and why the fundamentals matter more now, not less:

(YouTube: The Free ServiceNow Developer Course — Zero to AI-Ready Architect)

Why "AI-ready"?

AI can now generate ServiceNow code in seconds — Script Includes, Business Rules, GlideRecord queries, whole REST integrations. But generated code is only as trustworthy as the person reviewing it. I see the same failures over and over:

Queries that use GlideRecord instead of GlideRecordSecure, quietly ignoring ACLs
Client-callable Script Includes with a custom initialize() that breaks AbstractAjaxProcessor
Synchronous getXMLWait() calls that freeze the browser under real load
Integrations with no status-code check and no try/catch around JSON.parse

Every one of these looks right and runs fine in a demo. The rare, valuable skill is no longer typing the code — it's judging it. This course is built to give you exactly that judgment. Without the fundamentals, the correctness of any AI build is a gamble.

What's inside

A hands-on, video-and-written path, module by module — you build everything in your own free Personal Developer Instance:

Module 0 — Getting Started: set up and configure your PDI
Module 1 — JavaScript & Scripting Foundations: the language, and where your code runs (client vs. server)
Module 2 — Client-Side Scripting: Client Scripts, UI Policies, catalog — and when not to script
Module 3 — Server-Side Scripting: GlideSystem, Business Rules & timing, GlideRecord
Module 4 — Script Includes & GlideAjax: reusable server logic and the correct client-to-server bridge
Module 5 — Architecture & Design Patterns: OOP, dependency injection, event-driven, service bus
Module 6 — Integrations, Security & Reliability: scoped REST, secure coding, global error handling
Module 7 — Capstone: a complete, layered application you build and score against a reviewer's rubric

Each module also has a short "why this makes you AI-ready" note tying the fundamentals to the mistakes AI tends to make — so you finish able to lead, review, and correct AI-assisted development on the platform.

Who it's for

New to ServiceNow and new to coding — JavaScript is taught from the ground up
Admins moving into development
Developers from another stack (.NET, Java, JS) mapping onto the Now Platform
Experienced ServiceNow developers who want the architect track ServiceNow itself doesn't certify

👉 Start the course (free)

https://build-it-the-right-way.gitbook.io/servicenow-developer-course/

Everything — the videos, the written lessons, and the code — is free and open. Open the course, start with Module 0, set up your instance, and build every exercise as you go.

If it's useful to you, I'd love your feedback in the comments, and any topics you'd like me to go deeper on. Let's build it the right way.

— Bill
ServiceNow MVP ·

Certified Technical Architect ·

7× CIS · TechTalk with Bill