Now Assist in Virtual Agent conversations with Microsoft Copilot

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated June 16, 2026
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Now Assist in Virtual Agent conversations with Microsoft Copilot

    Now Assist integrates with Microsoft Copilot to enable ServiceNow customers to enhance their generative AI conversations by connecting Virtual Agent bots or plugins directly within Copilot. This integration enables synchronous, AI Search-based responses without following a traditional conversational flow, allowing users to quickly retrieve relevant information and interact with catalog items, knowledge articles, and live agents through Copilot.

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    Key Features

    • Non-conversational AI Search: Copilot uses Now Assist to pass search terms to AI Search and returns results that can be shared as cards within message extensions.
    • Bot Invocation Methods: Users can interact with Now Assist by @-mentioning the bot name in Copilot chats or selecting the bot from the Agents panel, receiving consistent and synchronous AI-powered responses.
    • Knowledge Base Article Retrieval: Users can ask questions to receive detailed responses along with relevant Knowledge Base articles to support issue resolution.
    • Catalog Item Requests: While Copilot lacks a conversational flow, when a catalog item requiring conversation is requested, Copilot transfers the interaction to the Virtual Agent bot to continue the dialogue seamlessly.
    • Live Agent Transfer: Users can request live support through Now Assist Live Agent directly from Copilot for human assistance.
    • Declarative Agent Support: Customers can add their self-configured bots as declarative agents within Copilot by uploading the bot manifest to Microsoft Teams. This allows personalized and consistent bot experiences accessible from Copilot’s Agents section.
    • Configurable Viewing Experience: Catalog items shared via Copilot can be configured to open either in a browser or within a Microsoft Teams tab, depending on the bot setup.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    • Leverage Microsoft Copilot as a powerful interface to access Now Assist capabilities, enhancing user self-service with quick access to knowledge articles and catalog items.
    • Improve productivity by invoking bots directly within Copilot chats or through Agents panel, providing flexible interaction modes tailored to business needs.
    • Enable smooth transitions from AI responses to conversational dialogs when complex catalog requests arise, ensuring comprehensive user support.
    • Provide seamless escalation paths to live agents within the same Copilot environment for cases requiring human intervention.
    • Customize bot behavior and deployment in Copilot by adding self-configured bots as declarative agents, supporting unique organizational workflows.

    Usage Notes

    • Copilot responses time out if a request takes longer than 15 seconds.
    • Only bots with manifest files uploaded to Microsoft Teams can be used as declarative agents in Copilot.
    • Interaction with Now Assist in Copilot is optimized for fast, AI Search-driven responses rather than extended conversational flows.

    Use Now Assist plugins in Microsoft Copilot to connect with the Copilot by providing your bot or plugin name during your generative AI conversations.

    Copilot Conversations

    The Copilot integration doesn’t follow a conversational flow like the Virtual Agent. It uses a non-conversational flow and provides synchronous responses with Now Assist that are primarily built on AI Search. Therefore, any search term that you input is passed to AI Search and the results are returned from AI Search. You're then able to render the response and share it as a card in Message Extension.

    Sample prompts that you can use within Copilot:
    • What is my laptop replacement policy?
    • Can you help me order a laptop?

    To initiate a chat with Microsoft Copilot, you can @-mention the bot name and based on the input utterance, Copilot verifies that your request in the chat reaches the respective plugin's instance and a response is received.

    User using the @-mention feature in Copilot to invoke the bot.

    You can also interact with the bot directly by selecting it from the Agents section on the right panel within Copilot instance. Interacting with the bot this way provides you with the same results or responses as you would receive them while you invoked it.

    Select your bot to interact with it directly within Copilot.

    You can use Now Assist to search for Knowledge Base articles, catalog items, and so on, and it provides results based on your input for the search. For example, if you searched for iPhone, you're presented with the list of generative AI Search results. You can pick an item from the list and share it with the user of your choice. The user who receives the catalog item shared by you can view it by selecting View item.
    Note:
    You can configure the viewing experience of an item to either open it in a browser or within the Microsoft Teams tab if you're using Copilot only with your Self-configured bot.
    Figure 1. View item
    Catalog item shared with a user from Virtual Agent through Microsoft Copilot with an option to view.

    Now Assist capabilities in Copilot

    With the Microsoft Copilot integration, you can initiate generative AI chat with Copilot. The following capabilities are available:

    Retrieve a Knowledge Base article
    You can ask the Microsoft Copilot your questions and Copilot responds with detailed information about the questions asked along with a relevant Knowledge Base article for more information.
    Figure 2. Retrieving a Knowledge Base article
    Microsoft Copilot, providing the Knowledge Base article in response to the questions asked.
    Note:
    Any input request to Copilot that takes more than 15 seconds to respond will time out.
    Request a conversational catalog item
    Use Microsoft Copilot to request a catalog item.
    Figure 3. Requesting a catalog item
    Microsoft Copilot helping out with the Catalog item search.

    With Copilot, there’s no conversational flow, but when a conversational catalog is requested, Copilot hands off the chat to the Virtual Agent bot (the Now Assist in Virtual Agent plugin that you used to connect with Copilot) for continuing the conversation. When Copilot hands off the request to Virtual Agent, it sends a Continuing the conversation from Copilot message and invokes the conversational catalog that you requested from Copilot.

    Figure 4. Continue conversation from Copilot
    Virtual Agent completes the request submission by continuing with the Copilot conversation.
    Transfer to a Live Agent chat
    You can ask Copilot to connect you to a Now Assist Live Agent.

    You’re directed to the Now Assist Live Agent for live agent support.

    Microsoft Copilot responding to your request to connect to a live agent.

    Declarative Agent experience in Copilot

    You can add your Self-configured bot to Copilot and use them as declarative agents to meet your unique business needs and establish consistent and personalized experiences.
    Note:
    Only bots for which the manifest package file is uploaded to Microsoft Teams can be enabled for use as declarative agents.
    To add a bot to Copilot, login to your Microsoft Teams tenant and navigate to Apps > Features > Agents and select Add against the bot that you would like to add. Once the bot is added, it’s available for quick access from the Agents section within Copilot.
    Figure 5. Declarative Agent
    Adding a bot to Copilot as a declarative Agent to use it for unique business needs.