HFS Research finds ServiceNow services strained by AI

High-Fidelity Simulation (HFS) Research and NewRocket published a report that found human-heavy, labor-based ServiceNow services were strained by Artificial Intelligence (AI)'s speed and scale, and that demand for specialized, outcome-driven providers had increased.

The study said it interviewed executives leading ServiceNow transformations and reported that two-thirds of ServiceNow programs stalled after the first wave of use cases because service delivery models had not adapted to AI-driven ways of working. It reported 55% of executives were open to switching providers, 44% preferred AI strategy and implementation specialists over legacy consultancies, and 36% planned to prioritize highly specialized, task-specific partners.

The report described agentic AI as making transformation software-defined, embedding Policy as Code (PaC) governance, and accelerating time-to-value. It described the ServiceNow AI platform as providing one architecture across data, workflows and AI, with integration capabilities with multiple systems of record, agent-to-agent collaboration and an AI control tower for governance.

The paper outlined that organizations could unlock more of ServiceNow by embracing AI-native orchestration, shifting from staff augmentation to results-based delivery, and engineering trust into operations. The authors said NewRocket had built AI agent packs on top of the ServiceNow AI platform to accelerate deployment, and that early pilots reported a 40% reduction in onboarding time and over $13 million in annual savings for a global financial firm.

“Agentic AI is putting new pressure on how value is delivered across the ServiceNow ecosystem and it's not the platform, but the people-dependent service models wrapped around it,” said Phil Fersht, CEO and Chief Analyst, HFS Research.

“AI is rapidly reshaping the consulting playbook built on billable hours and generic templates. The next wave of winners will productize their expertise, operationalize trust, and deliver measurable value at machine speed. Providers that fail to evolve will increasingly be challenged by AI-powered precision and outcome-based delivery,” said Phil Fersht, CEO and Chief Analyst, HFS Research. The study said 45% of enterprises cited specialist expertise as their top criterion when selecting AI partners and expected that figure to reach 48% within five years.