Three Execution Bets That Will Define ServiceNow’s Platform Future
Reflections from Knowledge 25
I recently attended Knowledge 25 as a guest of ServiceNow, which included the opportunity to speak with industry luminary and company co-chair, Nick Tzitzon.
The event, from its ambition to its narrative confidence, left no doubt that market momentum and customer traction is lifting ServiceNow to industry defining levels. Not just for AI, but more importantly for the platform architecture that will become the dominant technology framework of this generation.
The Now Platform has evolved from a single storyline into something closer to a multiverse. It has rich verticals, powerful AI engines, and a growing web of cross-functional orchestration. What once felt like a collection of solutions now moves with the cohesion of a platform built for enterprise-scale storytelling.
Ambition and architecture are only part of the equation. What matters now is execution. Given the scale and breadth of the Now Platform, where to start?
After some reflection, it’s clear that for ServiceNow to fully realise its platform vision, change is needed across the system that supports, delivers, and enables it. That’s why I’ve focused on three areas that, in my view, will generate the greatest return for ServiceNow and for the organisations building on its platform: the CIO role, the partner model and the sales engagement model.
1. Reclaim the Centre: Help CIOs Lead the Platform (and AI) Future
One of the clearest messages from Knowledge 25 was a reframing of the CIO role, returning it to its architectural roots, but with a mandate fit for the AI era.
Not merely as a technical operator, but as the strategic architect of how AI becomes woven into the operating model of the enterprise.
This isn’t a return to the old CIO role. That role is no longer welcome. It’s a new, expanded mandate to design the intelligent core of the organisation.
The rationale is that Agentic AI cannot simply be layered onto fragmented systems and siloed processes. It requires trust, integration, and systemic governance. It demands architecture. And historically, that has been the CIO’s domain.
Given how hollowed-out the CIO role has become over time, ServiceNow is making a bold and necessary bet that the rise of enterprise AI will restore the CIO to strategic relevance. But for that to happen, a new CIO archetype must emerge.
This archetype isn’t about returning to command-and-control models or protecting infrastructure. It’s about stepping forward as the orchestrator of intelligent workflows, the custodian of platform coherence, and the translator between AI potential and business value. It’s a role that blends technical fluency with strategic influence. And it’s one the enterprise desperately needs. Because right now, there is a vacuum at the center.
Years of decentralisation and the push for business-IT “alignment” have steadily eroded CIO authority. Decision-making has migrated to functional leads. CIOs have been encouraged to become service providers rather than enterprise architects. And in many organisations, that shift has left no one with both the mandate and the mindset to lead the AI-enabled platform future.
This is a significant tension.
For customers, it means reflecting on some pretty hard questions, like whether their CIO is empowered to lead the platform conversation. And if not, who is?
For ServiceNow, it means the CIO opportunity is bigger than it has ever been. It speaks directly to their base. But only if backed by serious investment in enablement, narrative elevation, and structural support.
Because without a credible owner, the platform they’re building risks becoming ungoverned. And without someone at the center, AI in the enterprise may remain a series of disconnected initiatives that are equally promising and incoherent.
2. Rethink the Ecosystem: Partners, Like Customers, Must Shift from Implementers to Platform Architects
Knowledge 25 is a customer event, so it was no surprise to hear a strong push for organisations to move beyond siloed, function-specific use cases and start thinking in horizontal flows. But here’s the contradiction: many ServiceNow partners still sell vertically.
That’s not to say they’re off-message. In fact, most partners fully support the transformation narrative. But in practice, the ecosystem still responds to narrow demand. It’s familiar ground. Necessary, but incomplete. The missed opportunity is both architectural and commercial.
And turning that around takes time because it’s not just about changing what you sell. It’s about realigning how you operate. Many partners aren’t resisting the vision. They are managing the practical complexity of being tied into a dozen other major vendor ecosystems. Most of them carry Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, AWS, Google, and more. And in that world, success isn’t always about the best tech. It’s about the strongest ecosystem fit.
ServiceNow has built an award-winning partner program. But to truly align with the scope of the platform vision, that program is asking partners to rethink their go-to-market strategy. It is often in direct contrast to how they’ve operated for decades. This isn’t a messaging tweak. It’s an industry model being turned on its head.
And practically, that means the role of the partner must evolve. They must either:
Sell ServiceNow as a horizontal, cross-functional platform that orchestrates workflows across the enterprise, or
Sell ServiceNow as the architectural layer that extends and unlocks value from ERP, positioning it as a strategic complement solution (i.e. +1) to SAP, Oracle, Workday etc. projects.
In both cases, ServiceNow isn’t the app. It’s the architecture. That’s the key difference.
If partners continue to behave like system implementers, solving problems for a single department or project, they’ll still make their billions but risk abandoning ServiceNow into just another silo.
If instead, they behave like platform architects and solve for flow, integration, and orchestration, they become enablers of enterprise-wide transformation. Doing it this way (#2), I’m pretty sure they’d make countless more billions than they are now. I wrote more about this topic here.
And this imperative links directly to the CIO dilemma. Current customers, especially those working with large SIs and MSPs in the global outsourcing market, should be asking if their partners are helping them to scale the platform across the enterprise, or just delivering a point solution for one function.
3. Redefine the Sales Model: Segment by Platform Maturity, Not Industry
Going “all in” on ServiceNow will look different for every customer. It’s a platform, not an ERP suite. It will never be about using every product. It’s about adopting a platform mindset focused on orchestration, integration, and flow.
For some, that means pairing ServiceNow with ERP. For others, it means using it to unify workflows across the business. For others both.
Either way, it is their role and journey within an overall architecture that matters, not the module or unit count. Where the platform architecture is strongest, sustained multi module adoption follows over time. It is rarely the other way around.
That’s why traditional sales segmentation models are no longer enough.
If ServiceNow wants to scale its platform vision, it must move beyond industry, headcount, and geography as its primary sales filters. Those may define who can buy but say very little about who can actually transform.
What matters now is platform maturity. That is the ability of an organisation to think architecturally, operate with systemic discipline, and act with cross-functional intent.
What does that practically mean for a ServiceNow sales person? It means a 5,000-person mining company with strong digital leadership may be far more aligned to the Now Platform than a 250,000-person telco still trapped in legacy ITSM patterns.
Likewise, a platform-oriented mid-market business may be a more strategic customer than a multinational still treating ServiceNow as just another ticketing tool.
They must focus on transformation potential, not procurement power. This is not a sales tweak. It’s a strategic shift. And I think it might just be quantifiable.
It also means messaging based on architectural maturity, not industry. It means implementation based on readiness, not company size. It means guiding transformation using maturity maps, not marketing plans.
Bottom Line
The core message from Knowledge 25 was clear. Enterprise capability is no longer about individual applications. It’s about architecture. PaaS architecture to be precise.
Within the macro shift to HYPA (hybrid platform architectures) occurring in the market this is clearly the right direction. The shift will be difficult. It requires different thinking, different delivery models, and different leadership.
To scale as a true HYPA company, ServiceNow needs more than a great product. It needs alignment across customer leadership (CIO), delivery (partners), and engagement (sales).
These aren’t just executional levers either. The relationship between them is systemic. None of these changes will succeed in isolation. They are the structural conditions for success.
The most interesting part is that they are already doing it. They are already a highly successful company. They are growing fast, expanding their footprint, and winning in key markets. And that’s before the full alignment of CIO leadership, partner delivery, and sales engagement.
Which makes the real takeaway from K25 even more compelling. If this is what growth looks like now, oh boy. Imagine what happens when the entire ecosystem begins to fire and play as a team.