An agent, in the context of AI, refers to a software entity that can perceive its environment, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specific goals. Agents can be simple or complex, ranging from basic reactive systems to sophisticated entities that learn and adapt over time. They are often used to automate tasks, interact with users, or manage complex processes.

An agentic system is a type of software or AI that perceives its environment, makes decisions that are based on that perception, and takes actions to achieve specific goals, often with minimal human intervention. An agentic system can learn, adapt, and operate independently to solve problems or perform tasks.

An agentic workflow is a structured sequence of tasks executed by one or more AI agents with minimal human intervention to fulfill a business objective. You can create and manage these workflows in AI Agent Studio by using triggers, tools, and evaluation plans, and deploy across ITSM, HR, and CSM use cases.

Small, interactable number next to AI-generated content in the Now Assist panel that cites the source of the information.

Now Assist refers to generative AI experiences on the ServiceNow AI Platform. With Now Assist, you can improve productivity and efficiency in your organization with better self-service, faster answers and recommended actions, and empower users to search more effectively.

A predefined capability within Now Assist that uses generative AI to perform tasks such as generating summaries, resolution notes, and so on.

The AI agent orchestrator is a specialized agent that plans, coordinates, and manages the execution of tasks across multiple AI agents. It holds short-term memory, tracks goals, and ensures agents collaborate effectively. This component is central to Agentic AI architecture and is configured in AI Agent Studio. The orchestrator conducts the planning and leads a team of AI agents to address a given agentic workflow.