If you go to production and start using all this AI technology without control, AI will control you. So, you're controlling AI, right? So, that changes the mindset. The people who are doing this real in the production environment and taking it to scale are getting huge benefits.
Today, we are joined by Amit Zavery, President, Chief Product Officer, and Chief Operating Officer at ServiceNow. With over three decades of experience building and leading cutting-edge tech teams at the world's biggest enterprise software companies, Amit is now steering ServiceNow's platform, shaping how organizations work smarter in the age of automation and generative AI. Amit, thank you so so much for joining us today. Appreciate you making the time and being here. So, what has the last entire like I think last 8 hours been like at the summit today?
Uh it's been amazing. I mean, I think the amount of energy and interest and the people activity here, I've not seen this level of so fast. Really? I mean, today has been very busy. Uh a lot of interest. I mean, we have a booth here as well showing some of the AI technologies. It's packed all day. Plus, I met with a lot of customers and a lot of partners here, few uh media interviews and everything else, and a lot of activity.
You recently wrote that AI doesn't replace enterprise software. It redefines it. In one sentence, what is the single biggest thing enterprises are getting wrong about AI right now?
I think this AI is a good technology foundation, but it does not run the business by itself. That's what they're getting wrong, that you need a lot of context to use inside an enterprise. And AI is just one part of the technology, but you have to wrap it around with a lot of security, governance, audit, compliance, but also the context of business operations. That's I think what people are missing out on.
Right. And they ignore that part thinking that it's just a replace business. But, do you think AI is here to take the jobs of people?
I'm sure in some cases, just like with any technology shift, there will be some jobs that will be lost. This happened with every technology shift, so there's no doubt, right? But there'll be a lot of new jobs creation.
So, upskilling would be the way to go?
For sure. I think there need to be a lot of lot of upskilling, but also also understanding the impact and the value of it. You can't ignore technology shift. The worst thing you can do is just say, you know, somehow it'll disappear. This is moving fast enough that you can't ignore it. But then if you use it and adapt it well, it could really be beneficial.
So, you were born and raised in India, and you spent 30 years building some of the world's most powerful enterprise platforms right from Oracle to Google Cloud and now ServiceNow.
Yeah. And you started as a software engineer and became president, CPO, and COO to see India hosting this summit. It makes me very proud. When I was growing up, the access to any kind of technology, I left the US for my undergrad in 1989. And to see India at the superpower it is, and the amazing amount of innovation happening here, definitely makes me very proud and gets me really excited to be part of that and be able to contribute somewhat back to India in many ways. I mean, all of my jobs I had at Oracle, Google, as well as now ServiceNow, large presence in India. So, it feels good to be connected and be part of a lot of these changes happening and it's to be originating a lot in India as well. So, I feel very good about it and to be able to come back here and talk about things I got to learn and then contribute. Uh it's great.
Leaving Google Cloud right as it was hitting its stride, what did you see at ServiceNow? And in this AI moment, what made that move like a year ago?
Few things. I was at Google for 6 years. We built a business. I joined when we were less than 5 billion or so in revenue. By the time I left, we were 45 billion. So, it was a very good fast growth, and I think I learned a lot from it. It was exciting place, as well as we got we got to do something which nobody expected. So, it was a very very exciting to see me get happen. But, one thing I was seeing with that change at Google that AI was becoming forefront of how companies will use enterprise software. At Google, I got to learn about infrastructure and build out the platform. I thought with ServiceNow, I followed ServiceNow as a company for many years. It's an amazing what they've done. And to be able to now transform how companies operate in enterprise level, right? And be able to really automate the business processes, really make the AI work for people versus as just a technology, it gave me an exciting opportunity to come in here and take that learnings I've had and apply it to a very well-defined company which has been doing so much good for a lot of enterprises and take it to the next level. So, that was really the opportunity for me.
So, before we move on to more AI-driven questions, what is the one thing that you've taken from the culture at Google which is going to be a part of your DNA for the rest of your life?
Innovation. Google is a very innovative company. Also, it questions a lot of things. And the third part I really loved about Google was it tries to do the right thing. Which is what I really appreciate when I think about anything here at ServiceNow or in my life in general. Are we doing the right thing for people? Are we doing the right thing as I think you have here for the I Summit, like what are you doing for the planet? What are you trying to do from progress perspective? Are you helping? Is it going to make an impact? So, I take what we learned at Google, what I did there, and that culture into ServiceNow and just in my daily life as well.
So, you've made agentic AI and autonomous workflows the centerpiece of ServiceNow's strategy. What does agentic AI actually mean and why does it matter more than the chatbots and co-pilots everyone's been talking about?
Yeah, I think agentic and I know it's kind of all these buzzwords that can can be very confusing. And we love to do it just because it sounds exciting, interesting. How can you make things happen in an automatic way without you having to prompt and do things with it? What autonomous is doing decisioning as well as the full end-to-end task completion without any human interaction. I mean assistance is great for employees, but for enterprises, it's really automation in a much more scaled way. So, we're moving away from the day of like day-to-day assisting kind of work for employees, which is great for your individual, but sometimes doesn't help the company. But if you want to help the company, how do you really make them efficient? And that's what this autonomous work we are doing, that Gentex is basically using AI agents, but tying them together end to end, not just one part of the solution. And then connecting humans to it, of course, as needed. But this autonomous opportunity the deliver things we're building out at ServiceNow is really operating the business at the next level now.
So, a lot of enterprises are experimenting with AI, building pilots, testing tools. You've said that the key is moving from experimentation to execution.
What is the difference between companies that are experimenting with AI and companies that are actually transforming with it?
Technology shift is huge that you have to be aware that you can't do things which might disrupt your business and make it wrong. So, you need security, you need some kind of oversight, you need control. So, that's kind of what getting to real production thing is to put those things in first. Because if you go to production and start using all this AI technology without control, AI will control you. So, you're controlling AI, right? So, that changes the mindset. The people who are doing this real in the production environment and taking it to scale are getting huge benefits, right? They're getting efficiency gains and it's helping the top line and bottom line. So, we've seen many customers of ours really scale once they start one or two use cases, they do many, which is I think because they see the value fast. I think the experimentation part is good, but then be deliberate and thoughtful.
You've scaled enterprise software businesses at Oracle Google Cloud, and that's over $60 billion in combined revenue under your leadership. But from where you sit, what is the gap between what CEOs and boards think they need to do with AI and what actually drives businesses.
I think there is definitely the fear of missing out, right? So, the CEOs and board Boards are pushing everybody to say, "Hey, this this AI technology is real. There's a lot of people benefiting it." The difference is that a lot of times you don't understand the implications or where to start. So, when I talk to a lot of the C-suite, they're like, "Everybody's telling me to do something with AI. Where should I start? Then how do I do it? How do I measure outcome? And do you know whether it's really going to deliver value to me?" So, that I think people don't know enough. And that's why I think the biggest thing and the barrier to entry has been about control, visibility, security, because they're worried as well. Do I lose my IP? So, that has been the missing part for many companies. So, if you remove that barrier for them, then they move fast.
But do you think the awareness is spreading fast and there's less apprehension today for C-suites to like take this on and
