ServiceNow Inc. today launched a new version of its flagship Now Platform that includes a collection of artificial intelligence features called Now Intelligence for automating information technology and customer support tasks.

ServiceNow’s platform helps companies streamline IT operations such as assisting employees with setting up their work computers and finding cybersecurity issues. The platform also provides features for certain other departments including human resources groups.

With Now Intelligence, ServiceNow wants to reduce the amount of work involved in the tasks that enterprises use its platform to perform.

ServiceNow is targeting two main use cases starting with infrastructure management. Now Intelligence includes a tool called Cloud Insights that shows administrators ways to more efficiently use their organizations’ cloud hardware resources. On the breach prevention front, ServiceNow has added a vulnerability detection engine that finds systems with security flaws in a company’s network and applies patches.

The second main use case Now Intelligence aims to automate is technical support. Today’s release includes a virtual assistant that can process help desk requests and perform common tasks like resetting employees’ application passwords. When the platform receives a more complex ticket, it automatically selects the best agent to handle the issue.

“When you do need an agent and you need to find the right agent, you can route these cases — essentially words, descriptions — you can categorize them, prioritize them and you can route them to the right queues, so that the right people can help you out,” ServiceNow Vice President Abhijit Mitra explained in an interview on SiliconANGLE’s theCUBE studio.  “This is something we are using machine learning for, to be able to learn from past history and without writing any rules.”

AI has become a particularly big priority for ServiceNow since its leadership change at the start of the year. Former SAP SE Chief Executive Officer Bill McDermott, who took the helm in January, has overseen the acquisition of two machine learning startups: Israel-based Loom Systems Ltd. and more recently California-based Passage AI Inc.

It appears that ServiceNow is already starting to integrate the startups’ technology into its platform. The virtual assistant included in Now Intelligence brings to mind Passage AI’s virtual assistant development platform, which facilitates the development of chatbots for handling technical support requests. 

Image: ServiceNow