AI Gateway

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of AI Gateway

    The AI Gateway is a platform-agnostic solution designed to provide governance, observability, and security for Model Context Protocol (MCP) transactions. MCP is a standardized client-server protocol that enables AI applications, such as AI Agent Studio, to seamlessly interact with external tools, data sources, and systems through MCP clients and servers. AI Gateway supports these interactions both within AI Agent Studio and across external agentic platforms.

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    Key Features

    • Lifecycle Management and Asset Registry: Manage and maintain AI assets and workflows consistently across vendor boundaries.
    • Identity and Access Management: Securely control access to MCP servers and AI resources using OAuth 2.1 authentication.
    • Observability: Gain visibility into production metrics such as usage and latency to monitor AI workflows effectively.
    • Cross-platform Governance: Enable tight governance and control over resources spanning multiple AI platforms and MCP servers.

    Value to ServiceNow Customers

    With enterprises increasingly integrating AI solutions from multiple vendors, the AI Gateway ensures interoperability while enforcing governance and security. It allows secure connections between AI agents and remote MCP servers regardless of platform, providing a unified and controlled AI ecosystem. This leads to improved operational transparency and security in AI-driven processes.

    Installation and Prerequisites

    • Subscriptions and Licenses: Requires Now Assist subscription and AI Control Tower for Now Assist with Pro Plus license (which auto-installs the necessary configuration plugin).
    • Applications: AI Agent Studio is required for MCP server intake within AI Gateway.
    • Plugins: Requires snaigovernance (version 5.0.6 or higher) and sntelemetrydata (version 1.1.10 or higher).
    • Roles:
      • AI steward role for approval workflows and policy management.
      • AI Agent admin role for configuring MCP servers as tools within AI Agent Studio.

    The AI Gateway application is automatically available to customers using AI Control Tower for Now Assist and is included with all Pro Plus licenses. To utilize AI Gateway features, ensure both AI Agent Studio and AI Control Tower are enabled in your instance.

    Next Steps

    • Review the process flow of MCP servers via AI Gateway for understanding transaction management.
    • Learn how to configure MCP server records through the AI Gateway setup tab.
    • Familiarize yourself with AI Gateway configuration options available in the platform.
    • Understand the roles within AI Control Tower and their relation to AI Gateway operations.

    Explore the AI Gateway, its value, and learn how to use and configure it for your Model Context Protocol (MCP) transactions.

    Model Context Protocol

    The MCP is a standardized client-server protocol that enables AI applications to discover and interact seamlessly with external tools, data sources, and systems. MCP facilitates communication between an AI host application (AI Agent Studio), an MCP Client embedded in the host, and one or more MCP servers that expose specific capabilities such as tools.

    For more information on MCP, see Model Context Protocol Client.

    AI Gateway overview

    AI Gateway enables governance, observability, and security for your MCP transactions. AI Gateway is designed to be platform agnostic, delivering the before-mentioned benefits both within ( AI Agent Studio) and in an external agentic studios and hosts.

    Why AI Gateway

    Enterprises are building unified AI across vendor boundaries. Their agentic workflows operate across platforms requiring governance.

    AI Gateway offers:

    • Lifecycle management
    • Asset registry
    • Identity and access management
    • Secure authentication method (OAuth 2.1)
    • Observability

    AI Gateway value

    With the increasing need of interoperability across different AI solutions across enterprises. AI Gateway provides a way for interoperability governance, observability, and security.

    Features and benefits

    • Enable tight governance and control of cross-platform resources such as MCP servers.
    • Enable enterprises to securely connect their agents to remote MCP servers, which work for any agent and MCP server.
    • Provide visibility into production metrics such as usage and latency.​

    Installation and prerequisites

    Applications
    • Now Assist subscription (required)
    • AI Control Tower for Now Assist – Pro Plus license (auto-installs sn_awh_config)
    • AI Agent Studio (required for MCP server intake in AI Gateway for AI Control Tower (1.0.5))
    Plugins
    • sn_ai_governance (version 5.0.6 or higher)
    • sn_telemetry_data (version 1.1.10 or higher)
    Roles
    • AI steward [sn_ai_governance.ai_steward] - for approval workflows and policy management
    • AI Agent admin [sn_aia.admin] – for configuring MCP servers as tools in AI Agent Studio

    The AI Gateway application is automatically installed for customers who use AI Control Tower for Now Assist.

    If you're using any generative AI features, you already have access to AI Gateway. The AI Gateway is included with all types of pro plus licenses. To use the features in AI Gateway, promote that both AI Agent Studio and AI Control Tower are available in your instance.

    What to explore next