The evolution of ServiceNow Inc. from a company that provided help desk management 10 years ago to a rapidly growing software as a service and cloud powerhouse today, with a $2 billion annual run rate, started from within. A combination of cultural change and management discipline has propelled the firm forward.

An important component that drives ServiceNow is the answer to a simple question: How digital are you? “We rate every process based on how fast it is, how intelligent it is, which is a measure of machine learning and what’s the experience we’re delivering,” said Chris Bedi (pictured), chief information officer of ServiceNow, describing how the company applies a score to each process. “Without that, it gets really hard because digital transformation can just feel like an abstract concept.”

Bedi spoke with Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and Rebecca Knight (@knightrm), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, at the ServiceNow Knowledge event in Las Vegas, Nevada. They discussed the importance of machine learning for the enterprise and lessons in leadership offered by one well-known public figure. (* Disclosure below.)

Machine learning plays key role

A key element of the digital transformation picture for ServiceNow involves artificial intelligence and machine learning. The company has been acquiring a number of startups, including DxContinuum last year, to strengthen its intelligent services capability.

As ServiceNow works with customers in the machine learning space, the company has found data integrity to be a common problem. “When I talk to CIOs, it’s the lack of the right data,” Bedi explained. “You’ve got to digitize your processes to generate the right data to then feed the algorithms to get the right outcome. Machine learning is going to materially transform how we operate over the next three to five years.”

ServiceNow executives have also reached out to key figures in other industries for organizational wisdom. At the conference in Las Vegas, Bedi spoke with Mike Krzyzewski, head coach of the men’s basketball program at Duke University.

The two discussed the importance of being a better leader and the need to constantly learn new skills, along with paying close attention to the traits in people that make them successful. “He said, ‘Don’t leave your ego at the door; bring your ego because that’s what makes you great,’” Bedi recalled. “He had to reinvent himself 10 times … to meet the players where they are.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the ServiceNow Knowledge 2018 event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for ServiceNow Knowledge 2018. Neither ServiceNow Inc., the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE