AI Gateway

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of AI Gateway

    The AI Gateway in ServiceNow Zurich Release provides governance, observability, and security for Model Context Protocol (MCP) transactions. MCP is a standardized client-server protocol that allows AI applications, such as those in AI Agent Studio, to seamlessly discover and interact with external tools, data sources, and systems. The AI Gateway operates platform-agnostically, supporting MCP communications both within AI Agent Studio and across external agentic studios and hosts.

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    Key Features

    • Lifecycle Management: Supports management of MCP server assets and their lifecycle within your AI workflows.
    • Asset Registry: Maintains a registry of MCP servers and related resources to enable centralized governance.
    • Identity and Access Management: Implements secure authentication using OAuth 2.1, ensuring secure connections between AI agents and remote MCP servers.
    • Observability: Provides production metrics such as usage statistics and latency monitoring, giving visibility into AI system performance.

    Value for ServiceNow Customers

    AI Gateway enables enterprises to build unified AI workflows across multiple vendors and platforms while maintaining strict governance and security. It facilitates interoperability by securely connecting AI agents to multiple MCP servers and providing insights into their operation. This helps organizations manage cross-platform AI resources efficiently and securely.

    Installation and Prerequisites

    • Subscription & Licensing: Requires an Applications Now Assist subscription and an AI Control Tower for Now Assist Pro Plus license, which auto-installs related configurations.
    • Required Plugins: Includes snaigovernance (version 5.0.6+), sntelemetrydata (version 1.1.10+), and AI Agent Studio for MCP server intake.
    • User Roles:
      • AI steward [snaigovernance.aisteward]: Manages approval workflows and policy enforcement.
      • AI Agent admin [snaia.admin]: Configures MCP servers as tools within AI Agent Studio.

    The AI Gateway application is automatically available to customers using AI Control Tower for Now Assist and is included with all Pro Plus licenses. To utilize AI Gateway features fully, ensure both AI Agent Studio and AI Control Tower are present in your instance.

    Next Steps

    ServiceNow customers can explore detailed documentation on MCP server process flows via AI Gateway, configuration of MCP server records, AI Gateway setup, and role-based access controls within AI Control Tower for enhanced governance and management.

    Explore the AI Gateway, its value, and learn how to use and configure it for your Model Context Protocol (MCP) transactions.

    Model Context Protocol

    The MCP is a standardized client-server protocol that enables AI applications to discover and interact seamlessly with external tools, data sources, and systems. MCP facilitates communication between an AI host application (AI Agent Studio), an MCP Client embedded in the host, and one or more MCP servers that expose specific capabilities such as tools.

    For more information on MCP, see Model Context Protocol Client.

    AI Gateway overview

    AI Gateway enables governance, observability, and security for your MCP transactions. AI Gateway is designed to be platform agnostic, delivering the before-mentioned benefits both within ( AI Agent Studio) and in an external agentic studios and hosts.

    Why AI Gateway

    Enterprises are building unified AI across vendor boundaries. Their agentic workflows operate across platforms requiring governance.

    AI Gateway offers:

    • Lifecycle management
    • Asset registry
    • Identity and access management
    • Secure authentication method (OAuth 2.1)
    • Observability

    AI Gateway value

    With the increasing need of interoperability across different AI solutions across enterprises. AI Gateway provides a way for interoperability governance, observability, and security.

    Features and benefits

    • Enable tight governance and control of cross-platform resources such as MCP servers.
    • Enable enterprises to securely connect their agents to remote MCP servers, which work for any agent and MCP server.
    • Provide visibility into production metrics such as usage and latency.​

    Installation and prerequisites

    Applications
    • Now Assist subscription (required)
    • AI Control Tower for Now Assist – Pro Plus license (auto-installs sn_awh_config)
    • AI Agent Studio (required for MCP server intake in AI Gateway for AI Control Tower (1.0.5))
    Plugins
    • sn_ai_governance (version 5.0.6 or higher)
    • sn_telemetry_data (version 1.1.10 or higher)
    Roles
    • AI steward [sn_ai_governance.ai_steward] - for approval workflows and policy management
    • AI Agent admin [sn_aia.admin] – for configuring MCP servers as tools in AI Agent Studio

    The AI Gateway application is automatically installed for customers who use AI Control Tower for Now Assist.

    If you're using any generative AI features, you already have access to AI Gateway. The AI Gateway is included with all types of pro plus licenses. To use the features in AI Gateway, promote that both AI Agent Studio and AI Control Tower are available in your instance.

    What to explore next