Among the raft of announcements today at Knowledge 2026, one flagship launch is ServiceNow Otto, a new AI experience designed to complete work across the enterprise. Enterprise AI, according to ServiceNow, isn’t failing on intelligence, but on execution. It maintains that most AI today can answer questions but “can’t finish the job.”
Enter Otto, which brings together Now Assist, Moveworks, and the firm’s broader AI experience into a single interface where users simply ask for something – and the platform carries it through to completion. Or in ServiceNow’s own words: “Employees, partners, and customers ask. ServiceNow Otto handles the rest.”
If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. ServiceNow’s AI strategy hasn’t been about building standalone AI features, but about embedding intelligence into workflows.
That’s why the company is pressing home that Otto isn’t just a better chatbot, describing it as a different kind of interface altogether. Nenshad Bardoliwalla, who leads product management for AI Products at Service Now, said Otto is “a new AI experience that turns intent into enterprise work.” He added that users can start a request and “ServiceNow Otto finishes it across every system and workflow involved.”
One Front Door, Many Systems
The problem Otto is trying to solve is familiar to most enterprise users. Work doesn’t happen in one system. It spans IT, HR, finance, operations, and more. Even with AI, employees still find themselves switching between tools, chasing approvals, and routing requests manually.
ServiceNow’s argument is that the interface should abstract all of that away. Rather than sitting inside a single application, Otto operates across the enterprise, interpreting intent, routing work to the right system or agent, and executing it end to end.
“Employees no longer need to know where to go or who to ask. They just ask ServiceNow Otto, and it can handle the rest within the guardrails the enterprise requires,” said Bhavin Shah, SVP and GM of employee experience and AI at ServiceNow.
That “front door” idea isn’t new. But ServiceNow is now trying to make it work at enterprise scale, across systems and workflows rather than within a single application boundary.
Where Moveworks Fits, and Why it Matters
Otto also reflects the integration of Moveworks, which ServiceNow acquired to strengthen its conversational AI capabilities.
Moveworks brought a strong employee-facing experience – particularly in IT and HR support. ServiceNow brings the workflow engine and system of action. Otto is where those pieces come together.
Conversation becomes the entry point. But ServiceNow said the value comes from what happens next – routing, orchestration, approvals, and execution across systems. All of it is governed through AI Control Tower, which enforces policies, permissions, and auditability for every interaction.
Alongside another of the big launches at Knowledge – Action Fabric – the broader picture becomes clearer.
Action Fabric opens ServiceNow’s execution layer to external AI agents. Otto provides a unified interface for humans to trigger that same execution.
Together, they define a single model:
- Humans interact through Otto
- Agents connect through Action Fabric
- Everything runs through the same governed workflows
In other words, ServiceNow is building a shared runtime where both humans and AI agents initiate work, and the platform ensures it gets done correctly.
ServiceNow is already pointing to early traction through EmployeeWorks, where Otto capabilities are first being deployed. The company said that within a month of launch, EmployeeWorks generated six deals exceeding $1M, suggesting that enterprises are willing to invest when AI is tied directly to completed work rather than isolated interactions.
Final Thoughts
If ServiceNow’s vision for Otto plays out, users won’t navigate applications, understand process ownership, or manage workflows manually. They’ll just express intent, and the platform – through Otto on the front end, and its workflow engine underneath – will take care of the rest.
The challenge, of course, is execution at scale. Many vendors promise similar outcomes, but few have the combination of workflow depth, governance, and enterprise footprint that ServiceNow is betting on.