Important considerations for using Now Assist for IT Service Management (ITSM) agentic AI

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated November 18, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Important considerations for using Now Assist for IT Service Management (ITSM) agentic AI

    Now Assist for IT Service Management (ITSM) enables autonomous task completion using AI agents within agentic workflows. These workflows leverage Large Language Models (LLMs) from various providers to enhance ITSM processes. Proper configuration and security controls are essential to safely and effectively deploy these AI agents.

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    Key Features

    • Supported Large Language Models: ServiceNow supports Now LLM Service, Azure OpenAI, Google Gemini, and Anthropic Claude on AWS. Administrators can configure available model options via AI Control Tower and set preferences in the Now Assist Admin console.
    • Security Implementation: AI agents and agentic workflows execute actions governed by Access Control Lists (ACLs) and user identities. The Run As capability allows actions to be performed either as a dynamic user or as a dedicated AI user.
    • Role Masking: Limits AI agents’ roles and privileges to ensure security during execution. Pre-defined roles are assigned to AI agents installed with Now Assist applications, and security controls must include these roles if user access is restricted by roles.
    • Data Access Settings: Must align with configured security roles to ensure AI agents and workflows have appropriate access.
    • Autonomous AI Agent Operation: Agentic workflows and AI agent records are read-only by default. To enable autonomous operation, workflows must be duplicated, activated along with their agents, and triggered either automatically or manually. Each agentic workflow requires a unique trigger.
    • Recommended LLM for ITSM: Azure OpenAI is recommended for ITSM agentic workflows for optimal performance and integration.
    • Standalone AI Agents: Some AI agents may be installed but not part of agentic workflows. Customers can view available agents on their instance or find additional agents via the AI Agent Marketplace on the ServiceNow Store.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    ServiceNow customers can use Now Assist to automate ITSM tasks efficiently by leveraging advanced AI models. By carefully configuring AI Control Tower and security settings, customers ensure AI agents operate with the right permissions and data access, maintaining compliance and security standards. Activation steps must be followed to enable full autonomous operation of agentic workflows. Customers also have the option to explore and deploy standalone AI agents to extend AI capabilities beyond predefined workflows.

    Use the IT Service Management AI agents within an agentic workflow to complete tasks autonomously.

    Supported Large Language Models

    Note:

    Security implementation considerations

    Enable security implementation to execute AI agents and agentic workflows through Access Control Lists (ACLs) and user identities. ACLs provide the Run As capability to let agents and agentic workflows execute actions either as a dynamic user or as an AI user. For more information, see Implement access control in Now Assist AI agents

    Role masking enables users to limit the roles and privileges of agentic workflows during tool execution. Agentic workflows and their AI agents that get installed with Now Assist applications are assigned pre-defined roles. If you select Users with specific roles for user access, you must configure the security controls to include these roles. Data access settings must also include these roles. For the instructions to change the security controls, see Define security controls for an agentic workflow.

    Role masking enables users to limit the roles and privileges of AI agents during tool execution. AI agents that get installed with Now Assist applications are assigned pre-defined roles. If you select Users with specific roles for user access, you must configure the security controls to include these roles. Data access settings must also include these roles. For the instructions to change the security controls, see Define security controls for an AI agent.

    Considerations for running the autonomous AI Agents

    Important:
    By default, all agent workflow and AI agent records are read-only.

    To run the AI agents autonomously, you must first duplicate the agentic workflow, and then proceed with the following steps:

    • Activate the agentic workflow.
    • Activate all agents within the agentic workflow.
    • Activate the trigger to invoke the agentic workflow automatically. The triggers for each agentic workflow must be unique. If you prefer to invoke it manually, activating the trigger isn’t necessary.
    • Azure OpenAI is recommended for ITSM agentic workflows. For information on Large Language Models (LLMs) for AI agents and agentic workflows, see Large language models on the ServiceNow AI Platform®.

    Standalone AI agents

    Looking for an AI agent?
    • There might be AI agents installed with the Now Assist application that are not used in agentic workflows. To learn how to see all agents that are available on your instance, see Find AI agents.
    • To find agents that might not be installed on your instance, visit the AI Agent Marketplace on the ServiceNow Store.