ServiceNow is a $9-billion American software giant that not many in India would have heard of. But it handles the enterprise workloads of some of the biggest companies in the world. What is even less known is the role the company’s India engineers play in helping the cloud software com - pany stay ahead in the fierce race for AI supremacy in the enterprise space.
The company’s latest release for its Now platform, codenamed Xanadu, represents its most ambitious AI push yet, featuring 350 new generative AI innovations developed with significant contributions from its India development centers.
Sumeet Mathur, senior VP and MD of ServiceNow’s India Technology & Business Centre, says the re - lease required over 5 million engineering hours and has already be - come the company’s most successful product launch in terms of revenue generation.
“For us, generative AI isn’t just hype – it’s delivering real value,” says Mathur. “What sets our AI offerings apart is that they’re deeply integrated into existing workflows where people actually work, rather than being standalone tools that users have to switch to.”
Mathur says this integration is evident in practical applications like the company’s AI-powered case management system. When customer service agents handle cases across shifts, they typically spend valuable time reviewing previous interactions. ServiceNow’s AI can now instantly summarize these interactions, pulling relevant information not just from conversation logs but from connected systems across the organization – from customer relationship management to warehouse data to finance systems.
This comprehensive approach is possible because of what Mathur calls the company’s “knowledge graph” – a unified data architecture that connects various enterprise systems. “When a customer asks about their refund status, our AI can simultaneously access their purchase history, return status, warehouse data, and finance information, providing a complete picture instantly,” he says.
The India powerhouse
ServiceNow’s Indian operation, celebrating its tenth year, has evolved from a support centre to become the company’s largest global development hub. Today, Indian employees represent more than 20 per cent of ServiceNow’s global workforce, with the headcount growing at over 25 per cent CAGR in the past three years.
“Hyderabad has emerged as our largest site globally in terms of employee headcount,” Mathur says. “One out of every three ServiceNow engineers worldwide is based in India, and 85 per cent of our Indian employees are engineers and developers.” More than 40 per cent of global product engineering now happens from India.
Indian teams are increasingly taking leadership roles in strategic initiatives, including the technology and talent integration of companies acquired by ServiceNow. “When we build a product team, we believe in having all functions – development, quality engineering, product management, UX design, and research – co-located in the same region,” Mathur says. “It helps foster better ideation and innovation.”
This philosophy has paid off particularly well with the Xanadu release, where Indian teams played a pivotal role in developing key features like the ServiceNow Skill Kit. The Skill Kit represents what industry experts call the “shaper approach” to AI adoption – allowing organizations to customize AI capabilities for their specific needs. For instance, a company could create custom sentiment analysis tools for customer interactions, using either ServiceNow’s AI models or their own, while maintaining security and governance standards.
A platform play
ServiceNow’s AI strategy reflects its evolution from an IT service management company to a comprehensive enterprise platform provider. The company now offers solutions across technology workflows, employee services, customer operations, and financial management – all built on a single platform.
With this unified approach, when the company develops a new AI capability like text summarization, it becomes immediately available across all its products, whether they’re being used by IT help desks, HR departments, or customer ser - vice teams.
“The reason our GenAI products have been so successful is because we were able to show real net value. AI is either going to be an accelerator of growth for software vendors or eat up their business. The key is showing real top-line or bottom-line impact,” Mathur says.
The company is now working on its next release, which will include features like text-to-prompt capability to simplify prompt engineering – the increasingly important skill of crafting effective instructions for AI models. The company is also developing an evaluation frame - work to help enterprises assess the accuracy and reliability of their AI implementations.
The company’s latest release for its Now platform, codenamed Xanadu, represents its most ambitious AI push yet, featuring 350 new generative AI innovations developed with significant contributions from its India development centers.
Sumeet Mathur, senior VP and MD of ServiceNow’s India Technology & Business Centre, says the re - lease required over 5 million engineering hours and has already be - come the company’s most successful product launch in terms of revenue generation.
“For us, generative AI isn’t just hype – it’s delivering real value,” says Mathur. “What sets our AI offerings apart is that they’re deeply integrated into existing workflows where people actually work, rather than being standalone tools that users have to switch to.”
Mathur says this integration is evident in practical applications like the company’s AI-powered case management system. When customer service agents handle cases across shifts, they typically spend valuable time reviewing previous interactions. ServiceNow’s AI can now instantly summarize these interactions, pulling relevant information not just from conversation logs but from connected systems across the organization – from customer relationship management to warehouse data to finance systems.
This comprehensive approach is possible because of what Mathur calls the company’s “knowledge graph” – a unified data architecture that connects various enterprise systems. “When a customer asks about their refund status, our AI can simultaneously access their purchase history, return status, warehouse data, and finance information, providing a complete picture instantly,” he says.
The India powerhouse
ServiceNow’s Indian operation, celebrating its tenth year, has evolved from a support centre to become the company’s largest global development hub. Today, Indian employees represent more than 20 per cent of ServiceNow’s global workforce, with the headcount growing at over 25 per cent CAGR in the past three years.
“Hyderabad has emerged as our largest site globally in terms of employee headcount,” Mathur says. “One out of every three ServiceNow engineers worldwide is based in India, and 85 per cent of our Indian employees are engineers and developers.” More than 40 per cent of global product engineering now happens from India.
Indian teams are increasingly taking leadership roles in strategic initiatives, including the technology and talent integration of companies acquired by ServiceNow. “When we build a product team, we believe in having all functions – development, quality engineering, product management, UX design, and research – co-located in the same region,” Mathur says. “It helps foster better ideation and innovation.”
This philosophy has paid off particularly well with the Xanadu release, where Indian teams played a pivotal role in developing key features like the ServiceNow Skill Kit. The Skill Kit represents what industry experts call the “shaper approach” to AI adoption – allowing organizations to customize AI capabilities for their specific needs. For instance, a company could create custom sentiment analysis tools for customer interactions, using either ServiceNow’s AI models or their own, while maintaining security and governance standards.
A platform play
ServiceNow’s AI strategy reflects its evolution from an IT service management company to a comprehensive enterprise platform provider. The company now offers solutions across technology workflows, employee services, customer operations, and financial management – all built on a single platform.
With this unified approach, when the company develops a new AI capability like text summarization, it becomes immediately available across all its products, whether they’re being used by IT help desks, HR departments, or customer ser - vice teams.
“The reason our GenAI products have been so successful is because we were able to show real net value. AI is either going to be an accelerator of growth for software vendors or eat up their business. The key is showing real top-line or bottom-line impact,” Mathur says.
The company is now working on its next release, which will include features like text-to-prompt capability to simplify prompt engineering – the increasingly important skill of crafting effective instructions for AI models. The company is also developing an evaluation frame - work to help enterprises assess the accuracy and reliability of their AI implementations.
You may also like
Four Chelsea stars may have blown last chance with Enzo Maresca losing patience
RSMSSB: Dates of Junior Instructor and Animal Attendant Recruitment Examination announced in Rajasthan, RSMSSB released the schedule..
Singham Again review: Ajay Devgn action thriller packs a punch with surprise climax keeping fans on the edge
Twin fires reported in Hyderabad, with no casualties
US election: what a Trump victory would mean for the rest of the world
