ServiceNow Now Assist is ServiceNow's generative AI capability that helps employees and agents work faster through AI-powered summarisation, recommendations, content generation, and workflow automation directly within the ServiceNow platform. Learn how to unlock ServiceNow's Generative AI capabilities and start using AI-powered summarisation, recommendations, and workflow automation in just a few steps.
Why Now Assist Matters
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming a core part of enterprise service management. ServiceNow's Now Assist brings Generative AI directly into business workflows, helping organisations work smarter, respond faster, and improve employee and customer experiences.
With Now Assist, teams can:
- Automatically summarise incidents and cases
- Generate resolution notes
- Create knowledge content faster
- Improve chat interactions
- Receive AI-powered recommendations
- Automate repetitive tasks
The result is less manual effort, improved productivity, and faster service delivery.
However, before users can take advantage of these capabilities, administrators must install and configure the appropriate Now Assist plugins and skills.
This guide walks through the process.
Step 1: Open the Now Assist Admin Console
The first step is accessing the Now Assist Admin Console.
Navigate to:
Application Navigator → Search "Now Assist" → Open Now Assist Admin Console
The Admin Console provides a single location to manage:
- AI plugins
- Skills
- Experiences
- Analytics
- Governance settings
The Now Assist Admin Console provides a central location to manage plugins, AI skills, analytics, and configuration settings.
This dashboard gives administrators a quick overview of:
- Installed plugins
- Skills currently active
- Features requiring attention
- Recommended next steps
Before enabling AI functionality, it's important to review the dashboard and understand the current state of your environment.
Step 2: Browse Available Now Assist Plugins
After opening the Admin Console, select Browse Plugins.
ServiceNow offers Now Assist capabilities across multiple workflow areas, including:
Technology Workflows
Examples include:
- Now Assist for ITSM
- Now Assist for CMDB
- Now Assist for Security Operations
- Now Assist for SPM
- Now Assist for Integrated Risk Management
- Enterprise Architecture
Customer Workflows
Designed to improve customer service operations and case management.
Employee Workflows
Focused on employee experience, HR services, and internal support functions.
Selecting the right plugin depends on the business processes you want to enhance with AI.
Step 3: Install a Now Assist Plugin
Once you've identified the plugin you need, installation is straightforward.
Installing a Now Assist plugin is the first step toward enabling AI-powered workflows in ServiceNow.
To install a plugin:
- Select the desired plugin.
- Click Get Plugin.
- Select Install Plugin.
- You will be redirected to the ServiceNow Store.
- Verify licensing requirements.
- Complete the installation process.
Once installation is complete, the plugin will appear in your Now Assist Admin Console.
Step 4: Configure AI Skills
Installing a plugin enables access to a range of AI-powered skills.
Navigate to:
Now Assist Features → Select Installed Plugin
Depending on the plugin, available skills may include:
ITSM Skills
- Incident Assist
- Incident Summarisation
- Resolution Generation
- Chat Summarisation
- Chat Reply Recommendations
- Change Request Summarisation
- Change Risk Explanation
Each skill can be activated individually.
To enable a skill:
- Select the skill.
- Click Activate Skill.
- Review the configuration settings.
- Confirm data sources.
- Test the prompt.
- Configure availability.
- Activate the skill.
Taking time to test each skill before production deployment helps ensure the best user experience.
Step 5: See Now Assist in Action
Once configured, Now Assist becomes available directly within ServiceNow workspaces and workflows.
Now Assist can summarise incidents, provide recommendations, and help agents resolve issues faster directly within their workspace.
In this example, the AI assistant is able to:
- Review incident information
- Generate summaries
- Provide contextual recommendations
- Help agents find relevant information faster
Instead of manually reading through large amounts of data, support teams can quickly understand the situation and focus on resolution.
This significantly improves productivity while reducing administrative effort.
Benefits of Now Assist
Organisations implementing Now Assist often focus on several key outcomes.
Improved Productivity
AI reduces repetitive tasks and allows employees to focus on higher-value work.
Faster Resolution Times
Automatic summarisation and recommendations help agents respond more quickly.
Better Employee Experience
Users receive faster responses and more consistent support.
Enhanced Knowledge Management
AI-generated content helps teams create and maintain knowledge articles more efficiently.
Scalable Operations
As ticket volumes increase, AI helps organisations maintain service quality without proportional increases in support resources.
Best Practices Before Going Live
Before enabling Now Assist across your organisation:
- Verify plugin licensing requirements
- Review governance policies
- Test AI skills in non-production environments
- Validate data quality
- Define user access and permissions
- Monitor usage and adoption metrics
A controlled rollout helps ensure users receive maximum value from AI capabilities.
Final Thoughts
Now Assist represents one of the most practical applications of Generative AI within the ServiceNow platform.
Rather than replacing existing workflows, it enhances them by helping employees and agents work faster, make better decisions, and spend less time on repetitive tasks.
Whether you're starting with IT Service Management, Employee Workflows, Customer Service, or Risk Management, enabling the right Now Assist plugins and skills can significantly improve both productivity and user experience.
For organisations beginning their AI journey in ServiceNow, understanding how to install, configure, and govern Now Assist is an important first step toward unlocking long-term business value.
Three Key Takeaways
1. Now Assist Makes ServiceNow More Productive
AI-powered summarisation, recommendations, and content generation help employees complete work faster and more efficiently.
2. Plugin Installation Is the Foundation
Before using Now Assist features, administrators must install the appropriate plugins and activate the required AI skills.
3. Start Small and Scale Gradually
Testing, governance, and phased adoption help organisations maximise value while ensuring AI capabilities are deployed responsibly.
