Generate insights into business applications

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 4 minutes to read

    • Learn the details of business applications and gather concise and actionable insights on business applications from the summary that is generated by Now Assist for Enterprise Architecture (EA). The business application insights are context-aware, that is the summary automatically includes relevant information from the specific page where you generate the insights.

    Before you begin

    Note:
    Depending on your license, you will have access to certain application features, generative AI skills, agentic workflows, and AI agents. For more information, see ServiceNow product tiers.
    Important:
    This Now Assist skill is turned on by default. The skill will be automatically available to appropriate role users for the application. For more information, see Now Assist skills, agents, and agentic workflows on by default.

    You can use Now LLM Service, Now LLM Long Term Stable models (LTS), Azure OpenAI, Google Gemini or Anthropic Claude on AWS as the AI model provider for all Now Assist skills and AI agents. Use the Configuration Controls in AI Control Tower to define which options are available, then set the skill-level preferences in the Now Assist Admin console. For more information, see Large language models on the ServiceNow AI Platform®.

    Note:
    The Business application insights Now Assist skill is currently not supported by the Now LLM Long Term Stable models (LTS) AI model provider.

    Role required: sn_apm.apm_user

    About this task

    The business application insights help you to make informed decisions without manually reviewing large volumes of data. Help minimize the time that you spend to learn about critical details of business applications like purpose, risk, cost, and recommendations for rationalization.

    The business application summary and insights are generated based on certain related fields and related lists. To view the list of fields and related lists based on which the summary and insights are generated, navigate to All > Now Assist Admin > Skills > Now Assist Skills > Technology > EA > Business application insights > Choose input. For more details, see Configure Now Assist for Enterprise Architecture (EA).

    The generated insights automatically include contextual information from the page where you initiate the insight generation. This contextual data is fetched automatically and requires no additional configuration. The following contextual information is displayed depending on the source page:
    • Business Portfolio page
      • Primary capability: The specific capability from which you initiated the insight generation (including hierarchy path and level).
      • Additional capabilities: Other capabilities to which the business application is associated with
      • Cross-capability impact: Information about how the application spans multiple capabilities
      • Indicator scores: Indicator scores associated with that business application
      • Fiscal period: Fiscal period for which you’re viewing the business application details for
      Note:
      If a business application is connected to multiple business capabilities, the summary is different depending on which capability node you use to generate the insights. The capability from which you initiate the insight generation is treated as the primary capability. For example, consider a business application Rewards Engagement System that is connected to three capabilities:
      • Manage Internal Controls
      • Employee Benefits Management
      • Compensation Planning

      If you generate insights from the Manage Internal Controls node in the capability hierarchy, the summary identifies Manage Internal Controls as the primary capability and mention that the application is also connected to two additional capabilities. The insights focus on how the application supports internal controls, with cross-capability impact.

      If you then navigate to the Employee Benefits Management node and generate insights for the same Rewards Engagement System application, the summary is different.
    • Application rationalization bubble chart page
      • Axis information: Which metrics are plotted on the X and Y axes for the business application
      • Quadrant position: Which quadrant the business application is positioned in (for example, top-right quadrant)
      • Bubble size: Metric configured for bubble size
      • Planned disposition: If set for the business application, the insights include the planned disposition value, who set it, when it was set, and the reasoning
      • Fiscal period: Selected fiscal period for which the business application details are displayed
    • Application rationalization list view page
      • Indicator scores: All visible indicator scores (both assessed and not assessed)
      • Actual scores: Actual scores, if it’s enabled by you
      • Fiscal period: Selected fiscal period for which the business application details are displayed
      • Connected demands: Information about demands to which the application is connected
    • Business application details page: When you generate insights from the business application details page (the record page), the insights are generated using only the default configuration fields and lists without additional contextual data. For information on the default configuration, see Configure Now Assist for Enterprise Architecture (EA).

    You can also provide feedback on the business application insights using the thumbs up or thumbs down button. The feedback helps to notify whether the generated business application insights are useful.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to Workspaces > Enterprise Architecture Workspace.
    2. Open the Portfolio List view by selecting the Portfolio icon .
    3. Select the expand row icon next to Application Portfolio.
    4. Select Business Applications.
    5. Select the business application for which you want to generate insights.
    6. Select Generate insights.
      Screenshot showing the business application Generate insights button highlighted.
      The insights for the business application are generated.

      Business application insights generated by Agent assist.

      You can also view insights into a business application wherever business application details are displayed in a side panel, for example of the application rationalization page.

      Generate insights button highlighted on the side panel displaying business application details.

    7. Generate a new version of the business application insights by selecting the Refresh icon , in case you changed any details associated with the business application.

      Refresh icon highlighted in the Business application insights window.