Now Assist for Source-to-Pay Operations release notes

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Now Assist for Source-to-Pay Operations Release Notes

    The Now Assist for Source-to-Pay Operations application leverages generative AI skills to improve development efficiency on the ServiceNow AI Platform. The Yokohama release enhances Now Assist capabilities across Source-to-Pay Operations, including Sourcing and Procurement Operations (SPO), Supplier Lifecycle Operations (SLO), and Accounts Payable Operations (APO), introducing agentic workflows, improved conversational intake, and advanced summarization features.

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    Key Features

    • Agentic Workflows: AI-powered workflows streamline user interactions, automate supplier onboarding, handle invoice inquiries, and reduce manual workload by managing tasks like data validation, duplicate checking, and communication.
    • Conversational Intake: Enables suppliers and AP fulfillers to interact via conversational AI to update profiles, submit requests, and track case statuses efficiently.
    • Summarization Skills: New AI-generated summarizations keep requesters and fulfillers informed on negotiation statuses, purchase orders, requisitions, sourcing requests, and case details in preferred languages.
    • AI Model Providers: Now Assist supports multiple third-party AI models including Google Gemini, AWS Claude, Now LLM Service, and Azure OpenAI, providing flexibility in AI usage.
    • Usage Measurement Updates: Transition from a 365-day look-back to a 365-day burn-down usage model resetting at contract anniversaries, with specific skills enabled by default based on installation and upgrade status.
    • Access Control Configuration: Administrators can set ACLs for AI agents and workflows, controlling user discovery, triggering permissions, and whether they act as dynamic or AI users, with options for authenticated or public availability.
    • UI Enhancements: Now Assist for SPO skills can be accessed via Virtual Agent chat, enabling contextual generative AI-driven self-service purchasing tasks.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Accelerate procurement and supplier management processes with AI-driven automation and conversational agents.
    • Improve user engagement and case resolution speed through AI summarization and conversational intake.
    • Reduce manual effort and increase accuracy in handling purchase orders, supplier onboarding, and invoice inquiries.
    • Gain flexibility by choosing from multiple AI model providers to best fit organizational needs.
    • Ensure proper governance and security by configuring access controls for AI features.
    • Benefit from updated usage measurement models that align with contract terms and simplify license management.

    Activation and Next Steps

    To enable Now Assist for Source-to-Pay Operations, customers should request the application via the ServiceNow Store. After installation, configure AI agents, workflows, and access controls in AI Agent Studio based on organizational roles and requirements.

    The ServiceNow® Now Assist for Source-to-Pay Operations application includes generative AI skills that can make developing on the ServiceNow AI Platform more efficient. Now Assist for Source-to-Pay Operations was enhanced and updated in the Yokohama release.

    Now Assist for Source-to-Pay Operations highlights for the Yokohama release

    Yokohama Patch 11
    • Review changes to Now Assist usage measurement.
    • Some Now Assist skills, agents, and agentic workflows are on by default.
    • Additional role configuration is required for agentic workflows and AI agents included with Now Assist applications.
    Previous Patch releases
    • Now Assist for Sourcing and Procurement Operations (SPO) supports enhanced AI search and the Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) framework to recommend suppliers and products through semantic search and contextual filters, enhancing recommendations with criteria like preferred suppliers and previous purchases.
    • Now Assist for Supplier Lifecycle Operations (SLO) supports a conversational intake that helps suppliers to view and update supply information through a conversational flow.
    • Now Assist for Accounts Payable Operations (APO) supports a conversational intake to complete self-service tasks, such as submit a request or track a request status.

    New in the Yokohama release

    Now Assist for Sourcing and Procurement Operations (SPO)
    Now Assist for SPO includes an agentic workflow that enhances conversational intake capabilities. This AI-powered agent team streamlines user inquiries to sourcing and procurement teams by gathering knowledge, clarifying requests, deflecting common questions, providing product information, and recommending the appropriate purchase plan. For more information, see Use agentic workflows in Now Assist for Sourcing and Procurement Operations.
    The following new skills are available in Now Assist for SPO:
    • Negotiation summarization for fulfillers: Summarize negotiations to keep fulfillers informed on their current status, progress, and action items.
    • Negotiation event summarization for fulfillers: Summarize negotiation events to keep fulfillers informed on their current status, progress, and action items.
    • Purchase order summarization for requesters: Summarize purchase orders to keep requesters informed about their current status, progress, and action items.
    • Purchase requisition summarization for requesters: Summarize purchase requisitions to keep requesters informed about their current status, progress, and action items.
    • Sourcing request summarization for requesters: Summarize sourcing requests to keep requesters informed about their current status, progress, and action items.
    Now Assist for Supplier Lifecycle Operations (SLO)
    Now Assist for SLO includes an agentic workflow to streamline the supplier onboarding process by automating supplier registration. AI agents automate the supplier onboarding process, including data validation, duplicate checking, task generation, and communication with suppliers, streamlining the entire process for faster time-to-activation. For more information, see .

    The following new skills are available in Now Assist for SLO:

    • Conversational intake for suppliers: Suppliers can request profile updates, submit cases, and track inquiry statuses through a conversational interface powered by AI.
    • Now Assist summarization panel: Case summaries are generated directly within the Now Assist Panel with no need to open individual case records.
    • Multilingual support for summarization: Case details are summarized in the user's preferred language, improving accessibility for global teams.
    Now Assist for Accounts Payable Operations (APO)
    With the Now Assist for APO application, AP fulfillers can leverage generative AI capabilities to chat with live agents, submit a request, and track its status.
    The ServiceNow®Now Assist experience brings generative AI powered purchase order line mapping feature designed to enhance matching accuracy and reducing manual intervention.
    Generate purchase order summarization using Now Assist skills powered by generative AI.
    Use agentic workflows in Accounts Payable Operations to resolve invoice inquiry cases raised by employees and suppliers. These workflows also help track associated invoice records efficiently. With an agentic workflow, you can process a high volume of invoice inquiries that come through email attachments to significantly reduce the workload of human agents.
    New third-party AI model provider options available for all Now Assist applications
    Google Gemini and AWS Claude are available for Now Assist skills and AI agents in addition to Now LLM Service and Azure OpenAI.

    UI changes

    Use the Now Assist for Sourcing and Procurement Operations (SPO) skills in a Virtual Agent chat
    Requesters can leverage contextual generative AI by using Now Assist for SPO in a Virtual Agent chat to complete self-service tasks, such as purchasing products.

    Changed in this release

    Yokohama Patch 11
    Changes to Now Assist usage measurement
    Starting with Yokohama Patch 5, Now Assist usage measurement is transitioning from a 365-day look-back model to a 365-day burn-down model, with usage resetting at the contract anniversary date. For more information, refer to KB KB2704710: Now Assist Usage - Overview & New Measurement Logic.
    Some Now Assist skills are turned on by default
    The new default behavior works as follows:
    • New customers: When you install a Now Assist product, designated skills are turned on automatically.
    • Existing customers who are upgrading (starting with Yokohama Patch 11): Any previously unconfigured skill is turned on automatically (the skill was never configured and turned on, then turned off again). Previously configured skills that were turned on, then off, remain inactive.
    Configure ACLs for AI agents and agentic workflows
    Configure the access control lists for who can discover and trigger AI agents and agentic workflows in their guided setups in AI Agent Studio. You can determine whether an AI agent or agentic workflow behaves as a dynamic user or as an AI user. You can also specify if an AI agent or agentic workflow can be available to all authenticated users or publicly available.

    Activation information

    Install Now Assist for Source-to-Pay Operations by requesting it from ServiceNow Store. Visit the ServiceNow Store website to view all the available apps and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.