ServiceNow has announced a new artificial intelligence (AI)‑powered, purpose‑built industry solutions in its Now Platform Xanadu release.

The expansion of Now Assist into industry solutions for telecom, media, technology (TMT), financial services and public sector allows organisations to recognise the value of generative AI (GenAI), fast. For example, Now Assist for banking integrates with ServiceNow disputes management, built with Visa, to help drive productivity and boost customer loyalty through GenAI‑powered dispute resolution.

In addition, ServiceNow launched new retail operations and retail service management solutions to unify a retailer’s ecosystem, its store associates, store leadership, customers, headquarters employees, and field technicians, to deliver consistent and connected experiences across every channel, and in the store.

ServiceNow is meeting the demand for purpose‑built solutions with its single platform and industry‑specific data models, transforming customer service and experiences for organisations. According to customer experience trend report by ServiceNow, 77 per cent leaders across industries either have or are planning to deploy GenAI to improve customer service operations, helping reduce costs, case volume, resolution times, and customer effort. This comes at a critical time when poor customer service can be the difference between lost and loyal customers. According to the research, nearly 70 per cent customers say they are likely to switch brands based on a poor customer service experience.

The expansion of Now Assist into ServiceNow’s industry offerings brings the Now Platform’s leading GenAI capabilities to telecom, media, and technology, financial services, public sector organisations, and more to power better experiences for customers and agents alike.

  • Now Assist for TMT includes new capabilities in Xanadu release that help agents quickly understand service problems and resolve issues fast with GenAI, contributing to a better overall customer experience. Customer service issues in the telecom industry can be costly and cause a myriad of issues including customer churn, reputational damage, and lost productivity. Now Assist for TMT use cases address these challenges head on. Service problem and test summarisation use GenAI to create easy‑to‑read summaries of technical issues and test results, facilitating faster handoffs and diagnoses to help agents quickly solve customer issues. Resolution note summarisation helps save time by creating clear, concise resolution summaries that keep customers informed and aid future cases.
  • Now Assist for financial services operations (FSO) provides banks and insurers with critical GenAI capabilities to boost agent productivity and improve customer experiences. Meanwhile, Now Assist for banking delivers GenAI‑powered solutions for onboarding, service, and operations. The Xanadu release includes dispute summarisation, integrated with ServiceNow disputes management, built with Visa, which provides agents with concise summaries for complex card dispute cases so they can quickly action and resolve disputes, speeding card service resumption and boosting customer loyalty. Now Assist for insurance helps insurers improve customer experiences and loyalty with GenAI‑powered claims resolution and servicing. Claims summarisation uses GenAI to equip agents with case context in a concise, digestible format. This improves response times, minimises the need to ask customers repeat questions, and reduces mistakes across the various teams handling a claim through transparent and consistent data.
  • Now Assist for public sector digital services (PSDS) helps everyone involved in fulfilling a service request quickly understand and get up to speed on complex cases related to critical government services, such as providing nutrition assistance, housing, transportation, and medical care. With Now Assist for PSDS, government employees working on a case can access relevant case history through AI‑generated case summaries and start making informed decisions on how to proceed. This means constituents and businesses can get the support and assistance they need in a timely manner.

These updates build on ServiceNow’s commitment to delivering GenAI capabilities that are purpose‑built to help solve unique industry needs. In addition, ServiceNow announced Now Assist for government community cloud (GCC) earlier in 2024, which is now generally available and helps government agencies better serve the public while maintaining high security and compliance standards. ServiceNow also recently launched Now Assist for telecommunications service management (TSM) to boost agent productivity, speed time‑to‑resolution, and enhance customer experiences.

As per the company, despite the increasing influence of e‑commerce, 72 per cent of total U.S. retail sales are projected to happen in physical stores by 2028, making the in‑store experience essential. However, frontline associates and managers spend a significant amount of time on non‑customer related issues. They are bogged down by manual tools and siloed operations, leading to excessive time spent logging information into old systems and less time selling on the store floor.

Moreover, retail operations and retail service management are new solutions available in the Xanadu release that unify a retailer’s ecosystem. Its store associates, store leadership, customers, headquarters employees, and field technicians to deliver consistent and connected experiences across every channel, as well as in the store.

  • Retail operations empowers frontline managers and store associates to seamlessly handle day‑to‑day in‑store tasks, like reporting a broken point of sale (POS) system or performing daily store‑open and ‑close checks, by leveraging AI and automation to improve self‑ Associates can request help, view the status of requests, and complete tasks quickly from one easy‑to‑use interface, freeing up their time to serve customers. Field technicians can service support requests through seamless integration between retail operations and field service management. Managers can assign tasks and access clear, up‑to‑date information on store performance and trends, with data shared across all levels of leadership to make smarter decisions.
  • Retail service management brings ServiceNow customer service management capabilities to retailers, allowing customers to easily submit requests in‑store and online while enabling headquarters teams to resolve both customer and store support issues from a single system. Built on the Now Platform, retail operations and retail service management enable two‑way communication and visibility between stores and company headquarters, helping enhance staff productivity, reduce costs, and improve customer experience.

Commenting on the announcement, Blake McConnell, senior vice president and general manager, industry products, ServiceNow, said, “The era of ‘one‑size‑fits‑all’ is over. Today, organisations demand solutions designed to meet the distinct digital transformation needs of their business. ServiceNow is partnering with customers across industries to build solutions that can quickly and effectively help solve their specific challenges, all enabled by the AI‑powered Now platform. By focusing our capabilities on chronic industry issues, customers can see faster time to value and greater impact from their investments.”

Meanwhile, Ritu Jyoti, group vice president and general manager, International Data Corporation (IDC), said, “By strategically implementing GenAI across core areas, organisations across industries can unlock new levels of productivity, efficiency, and customer satisfaction, driving sustainable growth. ServiceNow’s integration of GenAI into its industry solutions shows the company’s commitment to customer‑centric innovation.”