Artificial intelligence is changing the way organisations do business and deliver IT services. AI-powered tools have enabled many tasks to be performed faster than previously required a rigorous and tiring manual effort. This has led to an important question among professionals: “What is the future of ServiceNow administrators?”

The truth is, AI isn’t stealing anything away from the ServiceNow admins. It is changing how they do their work. It also frees up time to handle repetitive tasks and helps administrators focus on improving processes, supporting business goals, and managing platform performance. Let’s explore the evolving role of ServiceNow administrators and why they remain relevant in today’s organisations.

The Conventional Role of a ServiceNow Administrator

ServiceNow admins have been keeping the platform running smoothly for many years. Their day-to-day work usually involves:

• Administration of users and permissions
• Managing incidents and service requests
• Workflow configuration
• Monitoring of platform performance
• Generate reports and dashboards
• Keeping the system healthy
• Helping users of the platform

These are still important responsibilities. But how they’re done is starting to change as AI capabilities become more widely available.

How AI is changing our daily routines

Today, artificial intelligence can support many routine activities in ServiceNow.

For example, AI can categorise tickets, recommend solutions, identify patterns and common problems, and direct requests to the appropriate teams. Machine learning models can also analyse large amounts of data and find patterns that are not immediately obvious to administrators.

This saves time in repetitive manual work. Instead of manually sorting tickets or monitoring every alert, administrators can focus on reviewing outcomes and making improvements where needed.

Maintenance Beyond the Platform

As AI takes on more of the workload, expectations for ServiceNow administrators are changing as well.

Today’s organisations require professionals who can do more than maintain the platform. What they need are people who understand business requirements, can improve workflows and support digital transformation initiatives.

ServiceNow administrators today are more involved with:

• Improving the process
• Planning automation
• Workflow enhancements
• Improved service delivery
• Governance of platforms
• Business alignment

Their role is becoming more strategic in ensuring that technology effectively supports organisational objectives.

The Need for Human Supervision

AI can suggest and automate, but you still need a human check to maintain accuracy, reliability, and compliance. ServiceNow admins play a critical role here by monitoring those automated runs.

They review the system’s outputs, validate automated decisions, and confirm that the workflows are still operating as intended. This type of ‘human in the loop’ arrangement allows organisations to reap the real benefits of automation, while greatly reducing the risk of errors or unforeseen consequences.

In many cases, admins are the bridge between technology and the business users to ensure these automated processes don’t just run… they continue to add value.

Security and Governance Matter More Than Ever

As businesses move to AI-driven operations, security and governance become more important.

Increasingly, ServiceNow administrators are expected to have a grasp on areas like:

• Access management
• Identity controls
• Data protection
• Duties of compliance
• Risk treatment
• Security monitoring.

Rules for AI governance

Organisations need to ensure that automated systems comply with both legal and corporate regulations. By managing permissions, monitoring activities, and supporting secure operations, administrators help enforce these requirements.

This makes governance a necessary part of the modern-day ServiceNow administrator’s responsibilities.

Skills Future ServiceNow Administrator Must Grow

The Future is about platform knowledge, but also about broader technical skills.

While ServiceNow skills remain in demand, administrators can increase their job prospects by learning other technologies and practices.

Some valuable skills are:

• Automation of workflow
• Scripting & development
• Cloud platform
• DevOps practices
• Data Analyses
• Machine Learning and AI Ideas
• Critical thinking & problem solving

Familiarity with the current technology landscape, such as Python, PowerShell, AWS, Azure, Docker, and Kubernetes, can also be a plus.

The Future as it Looks

ServiceNow administration is not about doing less work in the future. It’s less about doing different types of work, more about a change in how you fill your time. AI will take over the monotonous tasks, leaving administrators more room to focus on service improvement, governance, and business support, while also ensuring that the automation is truly delivering the results they want and not just running.

But organisations will still need people who really understand workflows, integrations, security, compliance and platform performance. Those parts cannot be fully automated because they still rely on business knowledge, judgement and real decision-making.  

So, the ServiceNow admins who embrace AI, keep up with new technologies and sharpen their strategic thinking skills will be in a good place for what’s ahead.

Summary

The ServiceNow administrator role is moving from a system steward to a platform leader. Administrators can still play a vital role by applying their technical and automation skills alongside governance-oriented thinking and business awareness to help organisations succeed.

The winners of the future will be those who are ready to learn, adapt and partner with AI, not those who try to beat it.

FAQs

1. Will AI replace ServiceNow Administrators in the future?

No. AI is automating repetitive tasks but there is still a need for ServiceNow administrators to manage workflows, governance, security and platform performance.

2. What role does AI play in helping ServiceNow administrators?

AI is used to automate tasks like ticket categorisation, request routing, issue detection, and data analysis, allowing administrators to focus on more valuable work.

3. What new skills should a ServiceNow admin learn?

Skills like workflow automation, scripting, cloud technologies, DevOps practices, data analysis, and AI fundamentals are in increasing demand.

4. Why is governance critical in ServiceNow environments powered by AI?

Governance helps ensure automated processes are secure, compliant and aligned with organisational policies and business needs.

5. What will the future job of a ServiceNow administrator look like?

The role will be more strategic, with an increased focus on automation oversight, process improvement, platform governance, and support for digital transformation initiatives.