ServiceNow certifications continue to grow in number and accessibility. More people are earning them, and organizations are increasingly encouraging their workforce to pursue them. For many entering the ecosystem, certifications remain the most accessible way to build credibility quickly.
ServiceNow itself is investing heavily in scaling this ecosystem. Through its training initiatives, it aims to reach three million learners by 2027 – a sign of just how central skills development has become to its growth strategy.
On the surface, that might suggest certifications are becoming more important.
But recent discussion in the community suggests otherwise. In one widely shared LinkedIn post, ServiceNow practitioner Frank Eck described letting his CSA certification expire, questioning its ongoing value in a rapidly changing ecosystem. Similar conversations are starting to surface more frequently across practitioner networks.
The question, therefore, isn’t whether certifications still matter. It’s whether they mean the same thing they used to.
More Certifications, Still Not Enough Talent
While certifications have expanded, demand for ServiceNow talent has surged. The market is growing faster than the talent pool, leaving a persistent skills gap.
Even within ServiceNow’s own learning ecosystem, one recent snapshot shows hundreds of thousands of active learners and more than 100,000 certified professionals globally. And yet, organizations continue to report difficulty finding experienced practitioners. It seems that while certifications are increasing, hands-on capability isn’t keeping pace.
And arguably, as the certification ecosystem has grown – spanning core certifications, specialist tracks, micro-certifications, and digital badges – the signal they send has changed. Where a certification once helped someone stand out, it’s now often expected.
That shift shows up in hiring data. In one recent survey, 94% of certified respondents held the baseline CSA certification – so what was once a differentiator is now table stakes.
Some in the community have started to describe this as “badge inflation,” where a growing volume of credentials makes it harder for any single certification to stand out.
For hiring leaders, this is already part of how talent is assessed. “Certifications still have a role, but they are no longer a reliable proxy for capability on their own. I see them as a signal of intent… however, experience… carries significantly more weight,” explained Lewis Herbert, head of digital workplace at Atos UK&I.
Experience First, Certification Second
For experienced practitioners, the order of things appears to have flipped. Certifications used to be a way in. Now, they’re more often a way of confirming what you already know.
“For me, certification is more like an entry point… it gives me direction and helps me get the basics right. But honestly, the real weight comes from actually applying that knowledge,” said certified technical architect, Mahathi Veena.
She points to a recent project as an example – learning first, working through a full implementation, and only then certifying: “Learn, apply, then certify… that’s what actually makes the certification meaningful.”
In her case, that meant returning to structured learning, working through a full SPM implementation, and only then pursuing certification.
That view is echoed by practitioners earlier in their careers. Tosin Dada, senior business process analyst at DXC MEA, pointed to project experience as the real driver of understanding.
“I was able to be on an ITOM project… and when I started to study for my exams, there were a lot of things I could take from there. I could do my exams because I was remembering things from the project.”
Not All Certifications Carry the Same Weight
At the same time, the idea that all certifications are equal no longer holds.
Early in a career, foundational credentials like CSA and CAD still matter. They open doors and provide structure. And there’s evidence they still deliver real career impact. Indeed, around 69% of professionals say certification has helped advance their career.
There’s also a clear link to performance. Research has found certified professionals can be significantly more productive – up to 36% overall, and even higher in implementation roles.
But beyond that foundation, value becomes more specific – and more tied to real-world work.
“The certifications with the strongest ROI are those closest to real-world applications… core platform certifications remain useful as a foundation, but they are no longer differentiating in a crowded market,” said Toby Comer, managing partner at ServiceNow consulting firm, Semaphore Partners.
He also notes that context matters: “It comes down to what you’re optimizing for – whether that’s a pay raise, a promotion, a partner tier requirement, or a higher bill rate.”
That focus on relevance is also shaping how practitioners approach certifications.
“If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t have nine,” said Dada. “I’d take CSA as a foundation, ITSM, Data Foundations, and then maybe one per module.”
AI Raises the Bar
The rise of AI is accelerating these changes. ServiceNow’s push into AI-driven workflows is lowering the barrier to entry for some technical tasks, making it easier to configure and build on the platform.
But as Herbert noted: “AI lowers the barrier to entry but raises the bar for differentiation.”
As a result, capabilities that were once differentiators are becoming more accessible, shifting value toward higher-order skills that certifications alone can’t demonstrate.
Basic platform knowledge – which was once enough to stand out – is becoming less distinctive. In its place, demand is shifting toward higher-order skills: architecture, integration, process design, and governance.
At the same time, foundational knowledge still matters.
“The fundamentals… are still the same… AI doesn’t replace that,” said Veena.
Still Valuable – Just Not Enough On Their Own
For all the change, certifications are still important. They remain a key entry point into the ecosystem, they provide structure in a complex platform, and they signal commitment to learning. They’re also still linked to career progression, salary growth, and opportunity.
But they’re in no way the be-all and end-all when it comes to career progression.
“Certifications just help us to validate that we understand it theoretically – but the experience is actually the work,” said Dada. “A lot of what I used in exams came from things I’d seen or asked about during projects.”
Final Thoughts
It would be easy to suggest that certifications are becoming less relevant in 2026. But the fact is they’ve simply become more common, and that changes how they’re interpreted.
They’re no longer a differentiator on their own. They’re part of a broader mix that includes experience, specialization, and increasingly, the ability to work with AI-driven tools.
As Herbert noted: “ROI is no longer about the certification itself, it’s about what you can do with it.”