ServiceNow Buys Passage AI, Pursues Partner-Led Vertical Strategy

ServiceNow has signed an agreement to acquire Passage AI, a conversational artificial intelligence platform that enables customers to build chatbots in multiple languages.

ServiceNow automates workflow for IT, customer service support and other functions to enhance worker productivity. The company has been on a journey for several years to incorporate automation into its workflows to boost worker efficiency and improve customer satisfaction. It has pursued a strategy of acquisition to bring that AI capability in-house.

The acquisition of Passage AI will enable ServiceNow to automate key customer service tasks, such as responding to customer questions. Passage AI also enables ServiceNow to enlist virtual agents to respond to customers, even in multiple languages.

Passage AI uses a “conversational interface to submit tickets, handle queries and take direct action through APIs [application programming interfaces],” according to the company’s website.

ServiceNow expects to complete the acquisition by the end of the first quarter.

The acquisition announcement follows another from Jan. 26, when the company said it’s acquiring Loom Systems, an Israel-based AIOps (artificial intelligence for IT operations) company. Loom Systems’ core product is Sophie, an AIOps-powered log analytics technology that analyzes log data for IT incidents and provides potential resolution before customers are affected.

ServiceNow’s Jeff Hausman

“Today, IT departments struggle to meet performance expectations and keep pace with the growth in demand for new, great digital services,” said Jeff Hausman, vice president and general manager of IT operations management at ServiceNow. “By bringing together Loom Systems’ ability to analyze log and metrics data with ServiceNow’s AIOps and workflow automation capabilities, IT departments will be able to proactively pinpoint and resolve operational issues, enabling seamless experiences for their customers and employees.”

ServiceNow’s move to incorporate AI into its portfolio complements its efforts to accelerate its partner engagements into vertical markets, a strategy launched this week. It will initially focus on banking and telecommunications workflow automation. Launch partners include Deloitte and Accenture.

“By creating industry-specific solutions, delivered through a partner-led model, we can better address the unique challenges that companies in key vertical markets face as they look to digitally transform their businesses,” said ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott.

These new vertical-specific technologies are expected to be available late this year. Additional partnerships targeting health care, manufacturing, media, technology and other industries will be announced in the “near future,” the company added.