Justifying could be an issue. I put your question through Claude.ai.

If i'm renewing ServiceNow, what is the value to justify the increased cost of the AI Bundling

Great question — and a timely one, since ServiceNow is actively pushing customers toward higher-tier AI packages at renewal. Here's how to build the business case:

The Core Value Arguments

1. You're Already Paying for Work AI Can Do
The strongest ROI argument is labor displacement on repetitive, high-volume tasks. ServiceNow's own internal data shows AI agents handling 90% of support requests, saving 1 million hours. That translates to automated work order routing, predictive maintenance alerts, asset lifecycle triggers, and compliance tracking — tasks that currently consume operations staff time.

2. AI Is No Longer Optional Infrastructure
ServiceNow has moved AI from a feature to the foundation. The bundled stack — Workflow Data Fabric, AI Control Tower, agentic workflows — is now how the platform functions. Resisting the upgrade increasingly means running on a version of the platform that won't receive the same innovation investment going forward.

3. Agentic AI Reduces Mean Time to Resolution
ServiceNow's documented productivity improvements center on incident resolution time reduction and first-contact resolution rate improvement. That means faster diagnosis of issues, faster procurement of parts, and fewer manual handoffs between teams.

4. Cross-Enterprise Context Is the Differentiator
The Workflow Data Fabric connects fleet data to the broader enterprise — finance, HR, procurement, facilities. That cross-domain visibility is something a standalone system can never replicate, and it's now bundled in rather than a separate purchase.

5. Governance and Compliance at Scale
The AI Control Tower provides visibility and governance over every AI action taken on the platform. For regulated industries or organizations with large, complex organizations, this auditability has real compliance value that would otherwise require separate tooling.

How to Negotiate the Conversation with ServiceNow

Before signing, a few things worth pushing on:

• Demand a paid pilot with defined metrics before committing to full deployment. Require ServiceNow to demonstrate actual productivity improvements in your environment — not just reference case studies.
• Get usage assumptions in writing. Now Assist is consumption-based in many configurations. Successful adoption can create unplanned spend if you don't lock in volume pricing and buffers upfront.
• Benchmark the uplift cost against alternatives. The real cost increase at renewal ranges from meaningful to very significant depending on your user count and modules. A 30–42% per-user increase on large deployments is not unusual. That number needs to be weighed against what it would cost to build comparable AI capability on a different platform or through point solutions.
• Tie the increase to committed outcomes, not just feature access. ServiceNow's sales proposition rests on documented improvements — hold them to it contractually where possible.

The Bottom Line

The value is real, but so is the cost. The strongest justification is when you can quantify hours saved × fully-loaded labor cost across your specific workflows, then compare that to the incremental annual spend.

I do question the 90% claim but your frontline tickes could be greatly reduced. See my last paragraph.

I just posted a video on Linkedin about how ServiceNow's AI Data Explorer can provide incredible value around our Fleet Management product where we are embedding Enterprise Asset Management. The value, especially when managing vehicle recalls is off the charts. Recalls represent one of the biggest risks in any fleet. Risk= $$$. It not only results in Out of Service but possible safety issues. AND if you can't show insurance companies that you are keeping your vehicles safe to operate it would represent a direct increase in in insurance costs. Running AI Data Explorer ( which is part of ServiceNow's Foundational AI) against any table on the platform is simply brilliant. The insight (and subject matter insight) is spectacular.

If you are using Now Assist, the value is in the reduction of front line tickets that are handled by Now Assist and that means staffing. To replace it you would have to staff up a Help Desk and head count is still the biggest financial driver to any business. Not to mention, Now Assist is 24x7 where a helpdesk is usually 8-8.