--- sourceDocument: Australia Enable AI sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/intelligent-experiences Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia Enable AI ft:clusterId : - platai bundleId : - platai workflow : - Platform --- # Role masking # Role masking in AI agents {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated November 4, 2025 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 3 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Role masking in AI agents Role masking in AI agents and agentic workflows enhances security by restricting the roles that AI components inherit from users during execution. This ensures AI agents and workflows operate with the least-privilege access, limiting their permissions to only what is necessary. ServiceNow AI admins can configure role masking to enforce governance and reduce risks of unauthorized access to sensitive data or capabilities. Show full answer Show less ## Key Features * **Least-privilege enforcement:** Limits roles available to AI agents, workflows, and tools to only those intersecting between the invoking user's roles and an approved roles allow-list. * **Dynamic user vs AI user execution:** Role masking can only be applied when components run as dynamic users, not AI users. AI users have all assigned roles available, supporting elevated access scenarios. * **Sequential role validation:** Roles are checked across agentic workflow, AI agent, and tool layers to ensure minimum required privileges during execution. * **Multiple role masks:** Multiple role masks can be configured and applied in sequences, each following the intersection rule to limit effective roles. * **Security governance:** Helps prevent agentic overreach by restricting AI permissions, supporting compliance and security best practices. ## Key Outcomes * Enables enforcement of least-access principles for AI-driven workflows and agents, reducing security risks. * Limits AI agents and workflows to only authorized roles, preventing unauthorized data or capability access. * Provides flexible configuration options aligned with user roles and security policies to tailor access controls. * Supports governance of elevated or scoped roles to expand AI functionality while maintaining security. * Ensures tools always run with dynamically masked roles, reinforcing consistent access restrictions. ## Prerequisites and Configuration To implement role masking, your ServiceNow instance must have ServiceNow Otto for Platform version 10.0.2-SS, and you must hold **snaia.admin** privileges. Configuration steps are available for AI agents and agentic workflows to define security controls and role masking settings within AI Agent Studio. Role masking for AI agents and agentic workflows helps users enhance security by enabling them to limit their roles during tool execution and verify that AI agents run with least-access privileges. ## Role masking overview {#aia-role-masking__section_kp4_lrs_fhc} Role masking lets AI admins in the AI Agent Studio to limit permissions of agentic workflows or AI agents set to run as dynamic users by defining an allow-list of roles they can inherit from invoking users, enforcing least-privilege access. Use role masking to: * Empower users to follow least-access principles when an agentic workflow or AI agent executes on behalf of a dynamic user. * Limit roles that agentic workflows, AI agents, and skills inherit from users and can be applied when a user invokes them.For more information about configuring skills, see [AI Skill Kit](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/uROZIbBCVhpzE2kM61MJcQ "Use ServiceNow AI Skill Kit to create and publish custom prompts and skills for ServiceNow Otto. Creating custom skills and prompts enables you to have greater flexibility with ServiceNow Otto's generative AI capabilities."). * Reduce the risk of AI solutions accessing the resources that they shouldn't, therefore helping prevent agentic overreach into sensitive data or capabilities beyond what the user is allowed. * Expand the security configurations to increase functionality of agentic products while reducing security risks by enforcing governance for elevated or scoped roles. {#aia-role-masking__ul_my1_1z1_fhc} ## Prerequisites {#aia-role-masking__section_arn_vml_ghc} To configure role masking on your ServiceNow instance, you must have: * ServiceNow Otto for Platform version 10.0.2-SS. * The sn_aia.admin privileges. {#aia-role-masking__ul_gm3_zml_ghc} ## Role masking behavior {#aia-role-masking__section_ijq_rnl_ghc} Role masking behavior in agentic workflows, AI agents, and tools controls which of the invoking user's roles are available to AI agents and tools during workflow execution. The roles are applied sequentially across layers in the agentic workflow, AI agent, and Tool sequence to verify that tools execute with minimum required privileges. ## Role masking rules {#aia-role-masking__section_cmw_b4l_ghc} 1. Role masking limits the roles with which an agentic workflow, AI agent or Skill can execute to the intersection between the roles assigned to the invoking user and the roles included in the role masking approved roles list. 2. AI user vs Role mask:The AI admin can choose for the component to run as either an AI user or a dynamic user. If set to run as a dynamic user, the AI admin can configure role masking for the component. Role masking cannot be configured for agentic workflows or AI agents set to run as AI users. * If an AI user is selected, all roles assigned to the AI user are available to the agentic workflow or AI agent. This can be used to provide elevated access to the agentic workflow AI agent. Note: Tools always run as dynamic users. * If Role masking is applied to an agentic workflow, AI agent, or tool running as a dynamic user, the component runs with roles with roles limited to the intersection of the current invoking user's roles and the roles included in the role masking approved roles list. {#aia-role-masking__ul_qgr_bql_ghc} 3. Multiple role masks can be configured and applied in the agentic workflow - AI agent - tool sequence, but each mask still follows the intersection rule. 4. Role masking only restricts roles that components can execute with, but never grants components roles which exceed those of the invoking user. Thus, if the invoking user has a role that is not included in the approved roles list, the component will not be allowed to execute with that role. And, if the approved roles list includes a role that is not assigned to the invoking user, the component will not be able to execute with that role again. 5. When a workflow running as an AI user invokes an AI agent running as a dynamic user with role masking configured, then the roles available to the AI agent will be the intersection of the role masking configuration of the AI agent and the roles assigned to the AI user of the agentic workflow. The same holds true for an AI agent running as an AI user that then invokes a skill with role masking configured. {#aia-role-masking__ol_z3m_qpl_ghc} ## Configuration {#aia-role-masking__section_q4y_rh2_ghc} * To configure role masking for an AI agent, see [Define security controls for an AI agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/SGciUCFmTP77qs2F6Qv4ig "In the guided setup for an AI agent, define security controls for who can access the AI agent and what data the AI agent has access to."). * To configure role masking for an AI agent, see [Define security controls for an agentic workflow](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/qxzXRhxS2boNbPatAyZ7aQ "In the guided setup for an agentic workflow, define security controls for who can access the agentic workflow and what data the agentic workflow has access to."). {#aia-role-masking__ul_h3q_4nl_ghc}