---
sourceDocument: Yokohama Enable AI
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/yokohama/intelligent-experiences

 Release :

    - yokohama

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Yokohama Enable AI

ft:clusterId :

    - platai

bundleId :

    - platai

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Now Assist organization and tools

# Now Assist organization and tools {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Yokohama  
Updated October 22, 2025  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 10 minutes to read  
The Now Assist experience includes generative AI skills, agentic AI, and conversational user engagement layer. A good AI experience depends on quality data and a coherent AI policy that functions as its guiding star. AI Search capabilities and other tools help connect the pieces.
The following infographic illustrates the components of the Now Assist experience. You can think of each area as a layer, with AI policy as the basis for your implementation. Data plays an important role, since poor data will lead to poor outcomes, and the search
experience drives both generative and agentic AI capabilities. The conversational engagement layer allows your users to communicate with AI and perform tasks and self-serve more easily.  
Figure 1. Components of the Now Assist experience

## AI policy {#sn-ai-impl-overview-tools__section_uz5_mdg_bhc}

AI governance is defined by your organization and then implemented on the platform using AI Control Tower. AI Control Tower is designed to scale with your organization's AI maturity. It enables end-to-end life cycle management of AI agents and models, from intake and evaluation to deployment and optimization. It also acts as
a bridge between governance committees and implementation teams, ensuring that policy decisions are translated into technical configurations and operational controls. The platform includes the AI Risk and Compliance application, which comes with pre-built content aligned to the EU AI Act and NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF), helping organizations accelerate compliance and implement responsible AI
practices from day one. For more information, see [AI governance for Now Assist on the ServiceNow AI Platform](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/FCp~J5kLqiB9tq9Cpmmwlg "As organizations increasingly adopt AI to drive efficiency, innovation, and customer experience, AI governance becomes essential to ensure responsible use, regulatory compliance, and alignment with enterprise goals. Now Assist provides a comprehensive governance framework through key roles and applications that work together to manage AI across its life cycle.").

For real-time guardrail enforcement for AI interactions, you can use AI Guardian to monitor and mitigate risks related to offensive content, sensitive topics, and security threats in generative AI outputs. Admins can configure these guardrails directly in the AI Admin Hub console, and logs are available to track detection events and guide decisions about blocking or escalation.  
Roles and responsibilities:

[AI steward \[sn_ai_governance_ai_steward\]](MbwnsR7Wg2G_ij06G~RAJQ "Monitor the performance of guardrails enabled through AI Guardian.")
:   The AI steward role manages the platform's data assets and AI capabilities, ensuring data quality, integrity, and ethical use. The steward also implements governance policies to maintain compliance, security, and responsible AI
    practices across ServiceNow applications and workflows.

[AI asset/product owner \[ sn_ai_asset_mgmt.ai_asset_owner\]](TSKwR8PkgQG9yG2O9fuJEw "Certain roles are installed along with the installation of the AI Control Tower.This section also covers roles which are installed with AI Risk and Compliance.")
:   The AI asset (or product) owner is responsible for driving the development and delivery of AI-powered products, ensuring alignment with business goals and user needs. They define product vision, manage feature prioritization, and
    translate business requirements into technical deliverables.

[AI Risk and Compliance Manager \[sn_grc_ai_gov.ai_risk_and_compliance_manager\]](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=roles-installed-with-ai-risk-and-compliance&version=yokohama&pubname=yokohama-governance-risk-compliance&ft:locale=en-US)
:   The AI Risk and Compliance Manager is tasked with identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks related to AI use within the enterprise. This role ensures AI compliance with laws, regulations, and internal standards while
    addressing issues such as bias, privacy, and transparency.

[Now Assist Admin \[sn_nowassist_admin.nsa_admin\]](m8Atp90NFh78hht_YK1qqQ#roles-installed-with-now-assist-admin "Certain roles are required to use AI Admin Hub functionality.")
:   The Now Assist admin is responsible for enabling and managing the AI Guardian guardrails within the AI Admin Hub console. This includes configuring detection settings for offensiveness, prompt injection, and sensitive topics, as well as monitoring logs to assess harmful or malicious AI outputs. The admin can
toggle guardrails on or off, choose actions like "Block and Log," and tailor the configuration to match organizational risk tolerance and use cases.  
For more information about these tools, see:

* [AI Control Tower](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/ozwAYVStOQg78g8iEY6Nsw "The AI Control Tower is a platform that connects different parts of an organization to speed up the AI adoption.")
* [AI Risk and Compliance](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ai-risk-and-compliance&version=yokohama&pubname=yokohama-governance-risk-compliance&ft:locale=en-US)
* [AI Guardian](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/H0bVbM_NdghPjzLAF~OnJg#now-assist-guardian "AI Guardian is built on the ServiceNow Small Language Model (SLM) and monitors generative AI interactions to detect offensive content, prompt injection attacks, and sensitive topics.")
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## Data management {#sn-ai-impl-overview-tools__section_d1f_fkg_bhc}

You know the old saying, "Garbage in, garbage out?" Poor, incomplete, or unstructured data can lead to poor AI outcomes. To prepare your data for AI implementation, see [Data readiness for implementing Now Assist on the ServiceNow AI Platform](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/Hh4eHa33EfgTwo2Ld4NNOQ "High-quality data that is complete, accurate, and contextually relevant is the foundation for delivering precise, meaningful, and trustworthy AI responses.").

Now Assist provides several tools to help you manage data and provide user context on your instance. The AI Data Kit helps organizations manage AI training data on their ServiceNow instance. It provides a centralized workspace to curate, generate, cleanse, and evaluate datasets, including importing data from tables, adding ground truth, and creating derived datasets. It
supports synthetic data generation---up to 1,000 records at a time---and includes tools to anonymize sensitive information for privacy compliance. Integrated with the AI Skill Kit, it enables teams to test custom AI skills and measure performance.

Knowledge Graph makes AI in Now Assist more personal by using structured enterprise data to tailor responses to each user. It helps AI understand context, such as a user's role, location, or assigned assets, making answers more
relevant and accurate. It also supports intelligent slot-filling, automatically pulling in known information to streamline conversations and reduce repetitive questions. This results in faster, more personalized, and
trustworthy AI interactions.  
Roles and responsibilities:

[Now Assist Data Kit admin \[sn_data_kit.admin\]](d4u20WIXHoFn8zwPBJz2_w "This user can create, update, and publish datasets in AI Data Kit. This role is mandatory to use AI Data Kit.")
:   This role is required to create, update, and publish datasets in AI Data Kit.

[Knowledge Graph admin \[kg_admin\]](xAu_fLFCTl8Z477iNPQUyA "Certain roles are required to use Knowledge Graph functionality.")
: This role is required to design, manage, and audit Knowledge Graph schemas, including configuring nodes (tables), properties (columns), and relationships.  
For more information about these tools, see:

* [AI Data Kit](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/0Qd6LW1zvWebRx15L2rBwg "Use ServiceNowAI Data Kit to add datasets to a data catalog. The curated data works with ServiceNow SDK to enable the AI skill development and evaluation.")
* [Knowledge Graph](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/SRAjdrSe0bVoo_GbtL39LA "The Knowledge Graph application, uses the structured and unstructured data from ServiceNow records, knowledge bases, and external sources to enhance the performance of Now Assist Virtual Agent, AI agents, and generative AI skills.")
* [Now Assist Readiness Evaluation](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/kA~s8ckY9wRYW5dL8wxMcQ "The Now Assist Readiness Evaluation app helps prepare your organization for implementing agentic AI for ITSM and CSM, Now Assist for five products, or both.")
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## Internal and external content search {#sn-ai-impl-overview-tools__section_exy_4mh_bhc}

Now Assist in AI Search is the primary tool used to find content on your instance, whether it's in the form of knowledge articles, Service Catalog items, system users, Knowledge Graph schemas, or content in enhanced chats using Now Assist in Virtual Agent.

Now Assist in AI Search is a plugin that enhances your existing AI Search configuration, adding support for Now Assist Genius Result answers.

You can expand the amount of content available to Now Assist in AI Search by using External Content Connectors. With this tool, AI Search applications can search content and metadata from external content repositories such as Atlassian
Confluence Cloud and Microsoft SharePoint Online.  
Roles and responsibilities:

[AI Search admin \[ais_admin\]](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=components-installed-ais&version=yokohama&pubname=yokohama-platform-administration&section=ais-admin-role&ft:locale=en-US)
:   This role is required to manage configuration settings for the AI Search application.

[External Content Connectors admin \[sn_ext_conn.xcc_admin\]](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=installed-with-ext-content-connectors&version=yokohama&pubname=yokohama-platform-administration&ft:locale=en-US)
: This role is required to manage configuration and crawl settings for the External Content Connectors application.  
For more information about these tools, see:

* [AI Search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=overview-ais&version=yokohama&pubname=yokohama-platform-administration&ft:locale=en-US)
* [Now Assist in AI Search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=now-assist-ais&version=yokohama&pubname=yokohama-platform-administration&ft:locale=en-US)
* [External Content Connectors](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ext-cont-connectors-landing-page&version=yokohama&pubname=yokohama-platform-administration&ft:locale=en-US)
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## Generative AI skills {#sn-ai-impl-overview-tools__section_hmc_smh_bhc}

Now Assist product plugins provide workflow-specific, generative AI skills that are tailored to specific use cases. For example, a skill might summarize a customer chat, suggest next steps in a workflow, or generate
resolution notes for a task. For a list of available skills by product, see [Now Assist skills](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/FhfSBpuVU5fE_XfziLlDrA "Now Assist products provide generative AI skills that are tailored to meet the needs of users in different workflows.").  
Use the AI Admin Hub console to install and configure Now Assist plugins, as well as perform the following tasks:

* Set up and configure skills to align with your business processes.
* Monitor and analyze usage, including adoption rates and performance metrics across the platform.
* Manage provider policies, data handling rules, and access controls.
* Turn on and configure the Now Assist panel.
* Manage large language models (LLMs).
* Configure translation for Now Assist.
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If you need to customize or adapt existing skills, you can use the AI Skill Kit to build, customize, and test generative AI skills that are tailored to your organization's workflows. With features like a prompt editor, visual builder, and evaluation tools, it helps you fine-tune
performance and ensure quality. It also integrates with the AI Data Kit and AI Guardian for testing and governance, making it a flexible and secure way to extend AI across the ServiceNow platform.  
Roles and responsibilities:

[Now Assist Admin \[sn_nowassist_admin.nsa_admin\]](m8Atp90NFh78hht_YK1qqQ#roles-installed-with-now-assist-admin "Certain roles are required to use AI Admin Hub functionality.")
:   This role is required to install Now Assist plugins, activate skills, and configure Now Assist preferences and settings.

[Skill Kit admin \[sn_skill_builder.admin\]](1Jf73n0gaXJe8XsAv0vZ_w#na-skill-kit-roles "Certain roles are required to use AI Skill Kit functionality.")
: This role is required to create, update, and publish skills in AI Skill Kit.  
For more information about these tools and features, see:

* [AI Admin Hub console](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/~fbrpMgaJ6df0iCmtGlePA "The AI Admin Hub console provides quick and effortless access to the important information that you need to set up, configure, and monitor Now Assist applications and features.")
  * [Now Assist panel](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/hbn2oSb_JmQ6YZBXB1LIvA "With the Now Assist panel, you can get assistance from generative AI experiences to solve customer issues faster. Use this conversational interface to summarize a chat, case, or incident, get help, or generate resolution notes so that you can get the context of this information more quickly.")
  * [Manage large language models](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/ud5nbQeoJ4KZubAu5ahFug "Access and select the LLM (large language model) provider used for various Now Assist skills. The selection impacts all the skills within the capability.")
  * [Analyzing Now Assist performance](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/EEnrxDdVPNAU6FzSlZbWXA "Use the AI Analytics dashboard to monitor the usage and performance of generative AI features and capabilities offered under Now Assist.")
  * [Multilingual service for Now Assist](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/08bAvAEDKHFSejB861dC7w "Now Assist applications use the multilingual capabilities of large language models (LLMs) to translate user-generated content.")
  * [ServiceNow Otto for Mobile](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=now-assist-mobile-landing&version=yokohama&pubname=yokohama-mobile&ft:locale=en-US)
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* [AI Skill Kit](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/dxWc7_6kndyvOpbI~VgDhA "Use ServiceNow AI Skill Kit to create and publish custom prompts and skills for Now Assist. Creating custom skills and prompts enables you to have greater flexibility with Now Assist's generative AI capabilities.")
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## Agentic AI {#sn-ai-impl-overview-tools__section_pb5_cph_bhc}

In an agentic AI system, autonomous agents perform complex tasks by reasoning, planning, and executing actions across multiple steps. These agents are not just reactive; they can break down goals, make decisions, and coordinate
with other agents or systems to complete workflows. In AI Agent Studio, AI agents and agentic workflows are built to handle tasks such as resolving incidents, managing requests, or navigating service catalogs using generative AI and orchestration logic. For a list of
available agentic workflows by product, see [Now Assist agentic workflows](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/j6XHEYCMi3d5qsY6w32lnw "You can customize Now Assist AI agents agentic workflows to meet the needs of your users in different workflows. For example, you can use agentic AI to help resolve tasks, execute routine but variable procedures, and investigate root causes or analytical trends.").  
Use AI Agent Studio to perform the following tasks:

* Build or modify AI agents and agentic workflows using intuitive list views and guided setup tools.
* Simulate tasks and view execution logic to refine agent behavior.
* Access execution logs and version control to track performance and changes.
* Use the Settings page to enable AI Guardian for runtime safety, including detection of offensive content and prompt injection.
* Use the AI Agent Analytics dashboard to view usage stats, efficiency gains, and execution volume to help measure value.
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The Model Context Protocol (MCP) client enables you to access the Model Context Protocol tools that are hosted externally and published using an MCP Server. MCP facilitates communication between an AI host application (like AI Agent Studio) and one or more MCP servers that expose specific capabilities such as tools.

The MCP Server Console is a tool for administrators to set up and manage Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. These servers provide AI applications with access to ServiceNow features like incident lookups, case summaries, and workflow actions. The console lets you choose which capabilities to make available, ensuring everything stays secure and compliant.
Then, from an MCP client, users can request information from the server and automate functionality using the available tools and data that the server returns.  
Roles and responsibilities:

[AI Agent Admin \[sn_aia_admin\]](WO73Bu~fn5yaZgpwRak1ew "Find more information about user roles, tables, and the different properties that are installed in Now Assist AI agents.")
:   This role is required to create, manage, update, test, and delete AI agents and agentic workflows.

[MCP Client Admin \[sn_mcp_client.admin\]](kcs7LfA64X6druQe0z5nkw "Find more information about user roles, tables, and the different properties that are installed with the Model Context Protocol Client application.")
:   This role is required to administer the MCP client in AI Agent Studio. It is inherited from the AI Agent Admin \[sn_aia.admin\] role.

[MCP Server administrator \[sn_mcp_server.admin\]](Nj_Vmz2F5CGi6c9nf9~yQg "Several types of components are installed with activation of the MCP Server Console application, including tables and user roles.")
: This role is required to administer the MCP Server Console.  
For more information about these tools, see:

* [Now Assist AI agents](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/zFjWc7J1q~Y_Nd5Qmtpr0w "The ServiceNow Now Assist AI agents are entities that mimic human-like intelligence by using large language models (LLMs). AI agents can perform tasks that range from simple automated responses to complex problem solving. By using AI agents, you can reduce the workloads of your live agents and help increase their productivity.")
  * [AI Agent Studio](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/rdXoaJO~2fK5SMRAVqGkog "Create, manage, or test AI agents and agentic workflows so that you can create self-executing workflows to help you achieve your business goals.")
  * [Implement access control in Now Assist AI agents](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/QldBGdiAHP~SIHA17XzjVw "Implement security controls for AI agents and agentic workflows through access control lists (ACLs) and user identities to increase alignment with the access control-based security measures in the agentic system.")
  * [AI Agent Analytics dashboard](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/V36tvKzz2w1IW3mOyqq2_g "Track the AI agent use and efficiency gain on your instance through the AI Agent Analytics dashboard. The dashboard can reveal trends in how AI agents are used to improve the time to resolution and the number of tasks closed.")
  * [Examples of using AI agents](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/gGZEx7u2_86YZaE8FxE3XA "Review different ways that you can leverage the Now Assist AI agents application in agentic workflows across the platform.")
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* [Model Context Protocol Client](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/ubEXmaz~9Au56Xi0lW3PjA "The ServiceNow Model Context Protocol Client (MCP) enables users of the ServiceNow AI Agent Studio to access the Model COntext Protocol tools that are hosted externally and published using an MCP Server.")
* [MCP Server Console](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/eK1VwDQNQmUaBKDf9m4eUQ "MCP Server Console enables secure and governed access to functionality on a ServiceNow instance for AI applications with Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. MCP servers extend ServiceNow AI Platform functionality into any external MCP client and employee experience over the Model Context Protocol.")
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## Conversational AI engagement {#sn-ai-impl-overview-tools__section_zf1_hph_bhc}

Now Assist in Virtual Agent acts as the conversational front door to your organization's AI capabilities. It enables users to interact naturally with AI-powered assistants that understand intent, recommend actions, and deliver
synthesized responses---all within familiar channels like the service portal, mobile app, and Microsoft Teams. This conversational layer connects users to a wide range of AI-powered resources, including AI agents, generative AI skills, catalog items, Virtual Agent topics, Q\&A Genius results from AI Search, and even custom subflows and actions.

By integrating with the AI agent framework, Virtual Agent can discover and trigger agentic workflows that dynamically solve problems based on context. For example, a user might ask about ordering a device, and the system can invoke a multi-turn catalog
ordering skill, refine the request, and complete the task, all in one conversation. Similarly, Q\&A Genius capabilities allow users to ask open-ended questions and receive actionable answers, links, or follow-up options,
improving deflection rates and reducing the need for live agent intervention.

Now Assist in Virtual Agent also makes it easier to discover content without needing to know exact keywords. Users can search for and interact with catalog items, AI agents, and Virtual Agent topics using natural language. LLM
topic discovery and Knowledge Graph slot-filling can return personalized responses and reduce repetitive questions.

To configure Now Assist in Virtual Agent, you set up an assistant. An assistant is a container for a specific conversational experience that can be delivered in portals on your instance, mobile apps, Microsoft Teams, and Slack. Use the Assistant Designer to create, configure, and manage these assistants, as well as link them to conversational assets in Virtual Agent.  
To implement Now Assist in Virtual Agent, admins use guided setup that requires no deep technical expertise. Assistant configuration includes the following options:

* AI agent enablement and orchestration
* Search sources
* Knowledge Graph schema usage
* Conversational assets, such as Virtual Agent topics, subflows, actions, generative AI skills, and AI agents
* The portals, channels, or apps the assistant will be used in
* Branding: the look and feel of the assistant
* Chat experience, such as greeting, closing, and fallback messages
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You can also customize an assistant for the Now Assist panel. The Now Assist panel is available in workspace experiences and is typically used for contextual assistance within a specific workflow or record. Now Assist panel assistants have different configuration options and skill availability.  
Roles and responsibilities:

Virtual Agent \[virtual_agent_admin\]
:   This role, or the admin role, is required to install Now Assist in Virtual Agent and set up and manage assistants in Assistant Designer. It is also required for users who create and manage Virtual Agent topics and assets.

[Now Assist Admin \[sn_nowassist_admin.nsa_admin\]](m8Atp90NFh78hht_YK1qqQ#roles-installed-with-now-assist-admin "Certain roles are required to use AI Admin Hub functionality.")
: This role is required to turn on and configure the Now Assist panel in the AI Admin Hub console.  
For more information about these tools, see:

*
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
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* [ServiceNow Otto for Mobile](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=now-assist-mobile-landing&version=yokohama&pubname=yokohama-mobile&ft:locale=en-US)
* [Now Assist panel](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/hbn2oSb_JmQ6YZBXB1LIvA "With the Now Assist panel, you can get assistance from generative AI experiences to solve customer issues faster. Use this conversational interface to summarize a chat, case, or incident, get help, or generate resolution notes so that you can get the context of this information more quickly.")
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