IBM and ServiceNow expand partnership to develop AI-ready data solutions
IBM and ServiceNow have expanded their partnership to develop joint solutions that modernize legacy systems and enable AI-ready data governance. The collaboration integrates IBM's software solutions with the ServiceNow AI Platform across three key areas: application modernization, enterprise data governance, and autonomous infrastructure operations. These solutions are expected to be available in the second half of 2026.
*this image is generated using AI for illustrative purposes only.
IBM and ServiceNow have expanded their partnership to develop joint solutions that modernize legacy systems and enable AI-ready data governance. The collaboration integrates IBM's software solutions with the ServiceNow AI Platform to help enterprises break through outdated systems and put their data to work for AI. The joint solutions aim to enable autonomous IT operations, allowing the world's largest enterprises to unlock the transformative value of agentic AI.
Decades of deeply interconnected legacy systems are the biggest barrier to moving fast on AI. IBM and ServiceNow are addressing this by helping organizations evolve existing systems rather than replace them, run AI on any model they choose, and unlock the full depth of their enterprise data. The partnership combines IBM's AI, data, and automation capabilities with the ServiceNow AI Platform.
"Most enterprises have the ambition to deploy agentic AI, but lack the foundation to run it at scale," said John Aisien, senior vice president and general manager, central product management, security & risk at ServiceNow. "IBM brings the tooling to modernize the systems and extend ServiceNow's data capabilities. ServiceNow provides the platform to put that data to work across every workflow in the business. Together, we're helping enterprises move from AI ambition to real, scalable outcomes."
"AI adoption at scale requires more than access to models. It requires rethinking the systems, data and workflows that support them," said Raj Datta, vice president of ISV and AI partnerships at IBM. "Together with ServiceNow, we're building an open, flexible foundation for AI that can scale across operations and deliver real business value."
The collaboration will create new solutions for customers across three key areas:
| Key Area | Description |
|---|---|
| Application modernization | Scans and refactors legacy systems using tools like IBM Bob, Enterprise Application runtime (Java) and IBM watsonx.data so enterprises will be able to bring aging applications into the AI era without starting from scratch. |
| Enterprise data governance | Extends ServiceNow Workflow Data Fabric with IBM watsonx.data to unlock key capabilities like Data Quality, Observability, Master Data Management – leveraging ServiceNow Data Catalog so that mutual customers can keep their data AI-ready. |
| Autonomous infrastructure operations | Integrates Red Hat Ansible, IBM Bob, Instana, Hashicorp Terraform, and Hashicorp Vault into ServiceNow IT workflows to detect, remediate, and resolve issues before they affect the business. |
These joint solutions are expected to be available in the second half of 2026.
How will this partnership impact the competitive landscape for other legacy modernization and AI platform providers?
What are the potential risks or challenges enterprises might face when integrating these joint solutions into their existing deeply interconnected systems?
Could the delay in availability until the second half of 2026 hinder IBM and ServiceNow's ability to capture early market share in the agentic AI space?
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