ServiceNow
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software, Cloud computing |
| Predecessor | Glidesoft, Inc. |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Founder | Fred Luddy |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara, California , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Bill McDermott (CEO), Gina Mastantuono (President and CFO) |
| Products | Cloud computing platform for business workflow automation |
Number of employees | 23,000 (2023) |
| Website | servicenow |
ServiceNow, Inc. is a U.S.-based software corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California, specializing in a cloud computing platform designed to automate business workflow processes. Established in 2003 by Fred Luddy, the company is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker NOW and is a constituent of both the S&P 100 and S&P 500 indices. In 2018, it was recognized by Forbes as the most innovative company worldwide.
History
Originally launched as Glidesoft, Inc. in 2003 by Fred Luddy—who previously served as CTO at Peregrine Systems—ServiceNow was created to revive services from the now-defunct Peregrine. Beginning as a one-person operation, a $2.5 million venture capital funding round in 2005 facilitated team growth. The company adopted the name Service-Now.com in 2006 and achieved $13 million in revenue by 2007, the same year it inaugurated its first Silicon Valley office and reached positive cash flow.
By 2011, ServiceNow had expanded to 275 employees distributed across several locations in the United States and Europe, formed a partnership with Accenture’s extensive consulting division, and appointed Frank Slootman as CEO. The firm went public in June 2012 with an initial public offering of $210 million under Morgan Stanley’s lead, shortly after relocating its headquarters from San Diego to Santa Clara.
In October 2019, former SAP CEO Bill McDermott took over as CEO from John Donahoe and named Gina Mastantuono CFO in January 2020. Under their leadership, ServiceNow exceeded $10 billion in revenue by 2024, with subscription revenues expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 26% between 2020 and 2024, earning a position on the Fortune Global 500. In 2025, Mastantuono was elevated to President while continuing her role as CFO.
In May 2023, ServiceNow forged a strategic alliance with Nvidia to deliver AI services customized for large enterprises using proprietary data, distinguishing itself from other AI providers such as OpenAI.
As of December 2023, ServiceNow employed nearly 23,000 individuals worldwide. In early 2024, a configuration error resulted in a data breach affecting over one thousand corporate users’ knowledge base modules. That year also saw ServiceNow announce a $1.5 billion investment to develop data centers in London and Newport, UK, aimed at supporting AI advancements and enabling localized data processing.
Acquisitions
- July 2013: Mirror42, software developer based in Amsterdam
- July 2014: Neebula Systems, cloud tools provider from Israel
- February 2015: Intréis
- June 2016: Brightpoint Security
- January 2017: DxContinuum, machine learning startup
- October 2017: Telepathy, San Diego-based human-centered design firm; doubled internal design team size
- October 2017: SkyGiraffe, enterprise mobility firm; foundation for Mobile Platform launched March 2019
- April 2018: VendorHawk, SaaS management company
- May 2018: Parlo, AI startup
- October 2018: FriendlyData, data analytics company
- May 2019: Appsee Ltd., analytics startup
- November 2019: Fairchild Resiliency Systems, enhancing risk management solutions
- January 2020: Loom Systems, Passage AI, Attivio; expanded AI and chatbot capabilities
- June 2020: Sweagle, Belgian configuration management startup
- November 2020: Element AI, artificial intelligence startup
- March 2021: Intellibot, robotic process automation (RPA) startup based in India
- May 2021: Lightstep, observability platform provider
- August 2021: Swarm64 (database performance) and Mapwize (indoor mapping)
- October 2021: Gekkobrain, ERP migration and modernization specialist
- June 2022: Hitch, AI-driven skills mapping platform
- October 2022: Era Software, unified observability strategy provider
- July 2023: G2K, AI-powered platform enhancing retail and various industries
- December 2023: UltimateSuite, task mining and intelligent automation platform
- March 2024: 4Industry, operational excellence software provider
- July 2024: Raytion GmbH; improved GenAI-powered search and knowledge management on Now Platform
- November 2024: Mission Secure; enhanced OT asset visibility solutions
- January 2025: Cuein AI; AI-native conversation data analysis platform accelerating agentic AI initiatives
- February 2025: Quality 360°, quality management solution acquired from Advania
- March 2025: Moveworks; AI assistant startup purchased for nearly $3 billion to broaden AI capabilities
- April 2025: Logik.ai; AI-driven configure-price-quote (CPQ) system bolstering CRM offerings
- May 2025: Data.World; data cataloging platform acquired shortly after Moveworks
These acquisitions underscore ServiceNow’s consistent commitment to advancing its expertise in AI, automation technologies, analytics solutions, and enterprise workflow enhancements to maintain competitive leadership and expand its global footprint.
Platform
ServiceNow functions as a platform-as-a-service that facilitates IT service management and help desk operations through the use of automated workflow processes. Its pricing structure is based on a monthly fee per user (seat), with initial costs starting below .
The platform includes collections of applications known as "modules," each designed to address specific business workflows such as Governance, risk management, and compliance, audit, business continuity planning, disaster recovery, vendor management, and environmental, social, and corporate governance. A significant strength lies in the seamless integration among these modules—for instance, the Integrated Risk Management (IRM) suite can automatically generate issues and allocate tickets derived from audit and risk assessments, which may originate from either manual inputs or automated procedures like evidence collection. Furthermore, Performance Analytics delivers robust data visualization and reporting tools.
Developed using JavaScript, ServiceNow’s platform manages database interactions through a unique object-oriented API termed Glide. In July 2023, the company expanded its capabilities by introducing a generative AI speech-to-code feature, enhancing its portfolio of AI-powered automation solutions.