Now Assist in Platform Analytics release notes
Summarize
Summary of Now Assist in Platform Analytics Release Notes - Yokohama
Now Assist for Platform Analytics enhances your ability to analyze and interact with business data using Generative AI through conversational interfaces. It enables users without technical expertise to generate insights, create data visualizations, and collaborate effectively. The Yokohama release introduces new applications and skills, including the AI Data Explorer, and improves usability, security, and integration features.
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Key Features
- AI Data Explorer (January 2026): An application to gather insights, plan analyses, and collaborate in editable "explorations." It supports natural language queries, data visualization additions to dashboards, sharing and duplicating explorations, and summarizing content to accelerate data-driven decision-making.
- Query Generation Enhancements: Enables translation of natural language questions into actionable data insights supporting multi-table sources, Workflow Data Fabric tables, and database views. It also supports the FXCurrency data type for financial operations analytics.
- Segments Improvements: Allows creation and synchronization of manual and autogenerated reusable data context segments, including domain separation support to improve query accuracy and reduce noise.
- Usage Measurement Updates: Usage tracking has transitioned to a 365-day burn-down model resetting on contract anniversaries to provide more accurate monitoring of Now Assist consumption.
- Default Skill Activation: Certain Now Assist skills and Query Generation are enabled by default for new installations and upgrades, simplifying initial configuration.
- Access Control Configuration: ACLs can now be set for AI agents and workflows, defining discovery, triggering permissions, and user context (dynamic user or AI user), with options for authenticated or public availability.
- Operational Visibility: Enhanced monitoring of Query Generation processes and backend health status provides transparency into AI operations.
Activation and Installation
The AI Data Explorer application is available via the ServiceNow Store. Query Generation and related skills install with the Generative AI Controller plugin, a dependency for all Now Assist applications. Post-installation, customers must activate the relevant skills and configure permissions according to their organizational requirements.
Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
- Empowers business users to analyze complex data through natural language without needing technical expertise.
- Facilitates real-time collaboration and knowledge sharing to speed up business decisions.
- Supports diverse data sources and improves data context accuracy, enabling more precise insights.
- Improves security and governance through configurable access controls for AI-driven workflows and agents.
- Provides better usage tracking and operational insights to manage Now Assist adoption and performance effectively.
Now Assist for Platform Analytics consists of several skills and applications that let you generate and work with Platform Analytics objects through Generative AI. These skills let you analyze your business data through conversational interactions, without a technical knowledge of Platform Analytics.
Now Assist in Platform Analytics highlights
- 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.
- Create "explorations"—editable documents where you analyze data with the help of AI. Refine responses, add your own input, and collaborate with others to make data-informed decisions faster.
- Generate and export Platform Analytics artifacts from conversational interactions in the Now Assist panel.
- Benefit from a single, smooth experience in asking questions across all Now Assist for Platform Analytics skills, as well as other applications that incorporate Platform Analytics and AI, through a shared backend.
See Now Assist in Platform Analytics for more information.
New features, applications, and skills
- Yokohama Patch 11
- Gather insights, plan, and collaborate in the AI Data Explorer (January 2026)
- Ask quick questions, receive tailored recommendations, and collaborate with AI and your colleagues to build long-term analysis. Enable teams to discuss and act on findings instantly. Centralize insights and narratives for
better decision making. Guide users with contextual insights and suggestions.Main features include:AI Data Explorer leverages Query Generation to translate natural language questions into actionable insights. Query Generation enables users of AI Data Explorer to analyze their data and access a broader range of data sets. Key capabilities include:
Changed features
- Yokohama Patch 13
- View recommended actions
- AI Data Explorer can suggest actions based on the insights that it generates in an exploration.
- Ask questions about FX currency data
- Query Generation now supports the FXCurrency (Currency 2) data type. This means that you can use AI Data Explorer to explore financial operations data, including those within Source-to-Pay Operations.
- Benefit from improvements to segments
- Segments are reusable definitions in Query Generation that provide non-obvious context to assist the semantic layer or LLM to select the correct dimension and values. Users can create manual segments via a new form. A scheduled job synchronizes
manual and autogenerated segments. This job also cleans up segments to help surface the correct segments and reduce noise.
Domain separation is also now supported, with a Domain field on the Segments table. Segments based on reports and filters inherit the source domain. Manual segments have domains that are passed up to the Segments table on synchronization. Segments are not supported for indicator sources or modules on domain-separated instances.
- 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.
- Query Generation skills are active by default
- If the Generative AI Controller plugin is activated, the skills for Query Generation are activated by default.
- Greater visibility into the Query Generation process
- When you call Query Generation from AI Data Explorer or another application, you see each state that the query and response goes through before completing.
- Multi-table source support
- Query Generation supports related table conditions and dot-walking in queries.
- Get insights and visualizations for Workflow Data Fabric tables
- Ask AI Data Explorer information about Workflow Data Fabric data and get insightful responses. You must first add the Workflow Data Fabric tables to the Query Generation Semantic Table Configuration table.
- Use database views in queries
- Generate visualizations or ask AI Data Explorer about data kept in database views, like SLA data. You have to add the database views to the Semantic Table Configuration table.
- Yokohama Patch 7
- Add tables to the semantic data layer
- Choose which tables your users can query with generative AI for data analysis.
- Monitor the health of the Query Generation back end
- View the state of Now Assist for Platform Analytics LLM, plugins, system properties, components, and dependent products.
Activation information
AI Data Explorer is available from the ServiceNow Store.
Query Generation, Analytics Generation, and the dashboard and data visualization export skill are installed with Generative AI Controller, which is included as a dependency of all Now Assist applications.
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.
After installation, activate the relevant skills. For more information, see the relevant Configure topics under Now Assist in Platform Analytics.
Plugin information
- New plugins
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The following plugins are new in Yokohama:
AI Data Explorer (sn_pa_ai_canvas): The AI Data Explorer application allows users to explore data with help of AI, gather and organize findings, and collaborate with other users.