OpenAI moves deeper into enterprise systems with expanded ServiceNow deal
OpenAI is moving deeper into the machinery of large corporations. On Tuesday, ServiceNow and OpenAI announced a multi-year expansion of their strategic partnership, positioning OpenAI’s latest models as a preferred intelligence layer inside ServiceNow’s enterprise workflows. The deal gives ServiceNow customers direct access to OpenAI’s frontier models, including speech-to-speech and multimodal capabilities, without the need for bespoke development.
On the surface, this looks like another enterprise AI collaboration. In reality, it signals something more important: OpenAI is no longer just selling models. It is embedding itself inside the operating systems of global companies.
ServiceNow runs much of the internal infrastructure that large companies rely on to function day to day. Its software underpins IT service desks, HR systems, security operations, procurement, and internal approvals across some of the world’s largest organisations. More than 80 billion workflows pass through its platform every year.
That scale is what makes the partnership significant.
By embedding OpenAI’s frontier models directly into these systems, the two companies are pushing AI closer to execution, not just assistance. The agreement gives ServiceNow customers access to OpenAI models for speech-to-speech interactions, multimodal reasoning, and automation without requiring bespoke development or custom integrations.
“ServiceNow leads the market in AI-powered workflows, setting the enterprise standard for real-world AI outcomes,” said Amit Zavery, president, chief operating officer, and chief product officer at ServiceNow. “As companies shift from experimenting with AI to deploying it at scale, they need the power of multiple AI leaders working together to deliver faster, better outcomes.”
For OpenAI, the deal reflects a broader strategic shift. Rather than focusing solely on consumer products or standalone APIs, the company is increasingly embedding its models inside enterprise platforms that already control how work gets done.
“ServiceNow is helping enterprises bring agentic AI into workflows that are secure, scalable, and designed to deliver measurable outcomes,” said Brad Lightcap, chief operating officer at OpenAI. “With OpenAI frontier models and multimodal capabilities in ServiceNow, enterprises across every industry will benefit from intelligence that handles work end to end in even the most complex environments.”
From pilots to production
Over the past two years, many enterprises have struggled to move beyond AI pilots. Chatbots and copilots proved useful, but difficult to govern, integrate, and scale safely.
This partnership is designed to address that gap. OpenAI’s models will be embedded natively within ServiceNow’s platform, drawing on enterprise data and executing actions inside existing workflows. ServiceNow’s “AI Control Tower” acts as a governance layer, giving organisations visibility into which models are used, how they interact with data, and what actions they trigger.
Among the use cases highlighted are real-time speech-to-speech agents that can operate across languages, and computer-use models that can automate legacy systems, including mainframes — an area where many large organisations remain heavily dependent on manual processes.
Why OpenAI is partnering so broadly
The ServiceNow deal is part of a wider pattern. OpenAI has been signing deep, long-term partnerships across cloud providers and enterprise software companies as it looks to stabilise revenue and expand distribution.
Training and running frontier models is capital-intensive. Enterprise contracts offer predictable usage, higher margins, and long-term lock-in. They also help OpenAI answer growing regulatory and customer concerns around control, auditability, and data governance.
By embedding its models inside platforms like ServiceNow, OpenAI shifts much of that responsibility to enterprise systems that already manage risk, compliance, and access controls.
Control is becoming the product
What stands out in this announcement is not just the intelligence of the models, but the emphasis on control.
As AI systems gain the ability to take actions — opening tickets, triggering approvals, orchestrating workflows — governance becomes more valuable than raw capability. ServiceNow positions itself as the layer that decides how AI operates inside an organisation. OpenAI supplies the intelligence, but not the rules.
There was no consumer launch, no viral demo, no sweeping promise about changing the world. Instead, this was an infrastructure announcement.
That is precisely why it matters. The future of AI is being shaped quietly inside enterprise software, in systems employees interact with every day, but rarely think about. OpenAI’s expanding network of partnerships suggests a company settling into a more regulated, monetised, and operational phase of its life.
As AI systems gain the ability to take actions — opening tickets, triggering approvals, orchestrating workflows — governance becomes more valuable than raw capability. ServiceNow positions itself as the layer that decides how AI operates inside an organisation. OpenAI supplies the intelligence, but not the rules.
The announcement matters not because it is dramatic, but because it places AI deeper inside systems that already control how organisations operate.
There was no consumer launch, no headline-grabbing demo, no promise of transformation. Instead, this was an infrastructure move, one that reflects where AI adoption is actually heading.
For OpenAI, the expanding web of enterprise partnerships points to a more regulated, monetised phase of growth. For large organisations, it signals something simpler and more consequential: AI is no longer an experiment. It is becoming part of the machinery that runs the business.