ServiceNow Podcasts

Most organisations know they're not getting value from their data and AI investments, but few are willing to name the real culprit: the boardroom. In this episode, Kyle Winterbottom joins Juan and Tim to argue that the mandates handed to CDAOs are fundamentally broken because the people hiring them don't understand what good looks like. Boards continue to build capability without starting with the end in mind, creating a culture where data leaders are rewarded for building things rather than delivering outcomes. The result? An entire industry that has learned to play the wrong game. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the takeaway episode with Kyle Winterbottom where he argues that the mandates handed to CDAOs from the board are fundamentally broken because the people hiring them don't understand what good looks like. The result? An entire industry that has learned to play the wrong game. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is Agentic AI — and what can it actually do for your business? In this episode of the podcast, host Bobby Brill brings together three conversations with the people building Agentic AI at ServiceNow into one 20-minute briefing. Whether you're leading a team, managing a platform, or just trying to understand what your company is investing in - this episode gives you the full picture. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ WHAT WE COVER ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ RITA CASTILLO — VP of Design, Platform & AI The clearest explainer of Agentic AI you'll find. Rita walks through the full evolution from scripted automation to agentic systems, what makes agentic different, and how the orchestrator-and-agent hierarchy works at ServiceNow. AMRUTHA RAMESH — Visiting Researcher, ServiceNow Amrutha built Agent Ada — a real AI agent designed to turn enterprise data into actionable insights. She explains how Ada understands your goal, adapts to who's asking, and delivers analysis your team can actually use. ISSAM LARADJI & ANITHA RAGHAVAN — Research Scientist & Product Manager, ServiceNow How do you know if your AI's insights are trustworthy? Issam and Anitha built InsightBench — a benchmark that uses AI to evaluate AI — to answer exactly that question. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ CHAPTERS 0:00  Introduction1:30  What Is Agentic AI? — Rita Castillo, VP of AI Design6:00  How Agents Work as a Team10:30  Meet Agent Ada — Amrutha Ramesh, Visiting Researcher16:00  Can You Trust Your AI? — Issam Laradji & Anitha Raghavan21:30  Wrap-Up ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ GUESTS ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Rita Castillo — VP, AI Design at ServiceNow Amrutha Ramesh — Visiting Researcher, ServiceNow Issam Laradji — Research Scientist, ServiceNow Anitha Raghavan — Product Manager, ServiceNow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ LEARN MORE ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ServiceNow Agentic AI: https://www.servicenow.com More episodes: Narrative Analytics with Agent Ada: https://youtu.be/k1P9o2glq90 InsightBench & AgentPoirot: https://youtu.be/0_ikQQ82qAk Understanding Agentic AI with Rita Castillo: https://youtu.be/JyFdcQChYLs ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ABOUT THIS PODCAST ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Hosted by Bobby Brill. ServiceNow INsights podcast explores the people, technology, and ideas shaping the future of work. #AgenticAI #ServiceNow #AIAgents #ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfWork #EnterpriseAI #DataAnalytics #NowAssist #MachineLearning #PodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stop treating AI governance like a compliance checkbox handed down from the boardroom. Kierra Dotson joins Juan and Tim to argue that the chasm between ambitious AI strategy and messy technical reality exists precisely because we've made governance someone else's problem. The fix? Empower engineers, data scientists, and product owners to own their role in shaping ethical, sustainable AI — not as a burden, but as the thing that makes the work actually matter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the takeaway episode with Kierra Dotson where she argues that the chasm between ambitious AI strategy and messy technical reality exists precisely because we've made governance someone else's problem. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AI is the New UI… But Is Anyone Getting Value? Big summer. New roles. Same obsession with transformation. In this episode, Pete and Kat compare notes on what happens when you step into new gigs right as AI goes from “this is cool” to “okay… but is it actually doing anything?” They get into: How AI is still, inconveniently, a people problem Why “AI is the new UI” is about to stop being a slogan Why most organisations don’t have an AI problem… they have a focus problem And yes… the AI reckoning that’s coming when everyone looks up and goes “oh no...what have we done?” A sneak peek at what’s coming at Knowledge (it’s big 👀) And Pete bravely preparing for a life without proper Australian coffee (thoughts and prayers) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does dentistry have to do with data analytics? More than you'd think. Thais Cooke went from cleaning teeth to cleaning datasets and her unconventional path turned out to be a superpower. In this episode, Thais joins Juan and Tim to talk about why subject matter expertise is the ultimate force multiplier, how to build trust with stakeholders (hint: "I don't know" is a valid answer), and why the best data professionals aren't technical specialists — they're problem solvers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the takeaway episode where Thais Cooke joins Juan and Tim to talk about why subject matter expertise is the ultimate force multiplier. Oh, and what does dentistry have to do with data analytics? More than you'd think!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your dashboards show you what's happening. Process mining shows you why — and what to do about it. In this episode, Bobby Brill sits down with Dan Grady to demystify process mining: what it is, how it works within the ServiceNow platform, and why organizations using it are uncovering years of hidden inefficiency they never knew existed. Dan walks through real customer stories — from a double approval process for printer toner that was costing 2 days per request to a single form-field change that saved 7 years of manual work per month — and explains how process mining moves you from raw data to actionable insight faster than any traditional approach. Dan Grady has a technology career that spans over 25 years. The last 10 spent at ServiceNow. In his current role as Director of Product Management, he is focused on helping customers identify process improvement opportunities through the use of ServiceNow's Process and Task Mining solution. Outside of the office, he enjoys spending time with his wife and 3 girls, public speaking, bad NY sports teams, a good happy hour deal, and storytelling. Whether you're new to ServiceNow or a seasoned admin, this episode will change how you think about your workflows. 🔗 Get started with Process Mining: https://www.servicenow.com/community/process-mining-article/servicenow-process-mining-formerly-process-optimization-faq/ta-p/2309083 📄 Learn more about ServiceNow: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ 🎓 ServiceNow Docs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQjE37R-Y4DTq7kUWPO83Wg Chapters0:00 – Introduction & Dan Grady's Background 1:13 – What Is Process Mining? (The X-Ray for Your Business) 2:08 – Why Dashboards Alone Aren't Enough 3:56 – From Raw Data to Actionable Insights 4:59 – The Printer Toner Story: Removing a Step, Saving Two Days 6:01 – The Spaghetti Bowl: Visualizing Your Processes 7:34 – The "47 Years" Moment That Shocks Every Customer 8:43 – Finding Automation Opportunities with Process Mining 10:49 – Best Practices: How to Avoid Getting Overwhelmed 12:35 – Getting Started: First Steps on the Platform 15:11 – Real Customer Use Cases (Approvals, Routing & More) 17:59 – Why You Never Stop Needing Process Mining 20:50 – The Analytics Stack: Operational Reporting → Platform Analytics → Process Mining 22:45 – Closing & Where to Learn MoreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Want to get the honest no bs scoop of what happened at the Gartner Data & Analytics in Orlando, then this short and sweet episode is for you. This was an impromptu recording where Sanjeev Mohan and Ryan Dolley join Juan and Tim to share what they learned. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Juan and Tim rant about whats on their mind going into Gartner Data and Analytics conference: "Context" is going to be the word of the week, The Execution Gap, Decision intelligence might be the bridge and the thing nobody's talking about yet: context lock-in. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Human in the Loop | Ethical AI with Di Le ServicveNow Insights Podcast - hosted By Bobby Brill What does it actually mean to build AI responsibly? Not the buzzword version. The real version. In our latest episode, I sat down with Di Le — AI Ethicist and Human-Centered AI Strategist at ServiceNow — and she broke it down in a way I hadn't heard before. Most people use Ethical AI, Responsible AI, and Human-Centered AI interchangeably, and Di breaks down exactly where each one lives and how they apply to building AI that aligns with our societal values. Fairness. Transparency. Bias. Beyond evaluation and technical talking points, these are also design decisions with real consequences for real people — and operationalizing them is harder than most organizations want to admit. One line from Di that stopped me: "People have crossed oceans and built monuments in honor of our capability to think. And I just want people to preserve that and not surrender it so freely." That's the episode in one sentence. To learn more about Ethical AI and reseatch from Di Le and more - https://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=sighci2025 https://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=sighci2024  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhVY-85A-Wk&t=5s ServiceNow Insights Podcast 🎧 The Human in the Loop — now available wherever you listen to podcasts. 0:00 – Introduction & Di Le's Background 1:35 – Is Ethical AI Just About Preventing Skynet? 2:22 – Responsible AI vs. Ethical AI vs. Human-Centered AI 6:34 – Why All Three Are Deeply Interconnected 8:39 – When "Amazing" Tech Goes Wrong: The Adobe Example 10:07 – Fairness, Transparency & Accountability Explained 12:06 – The Mug Factory: Understanding Bias in AI 14:52 – Transparency & Interpretability in AI Design 16:48 – Keeping Humans Genuinely in the Loop 18:06 – Accountability & Human Oversight 20:39 – Why Bias Isn't a Bug You Can Just Fix 22:30 – How ServiceNow Approaches Responsible AI 23:11 – Why Di Chose ServiceNow (The Origin Story) 27:09 – One Thing Everyone Should Do With AI 28:38 – ClosingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most data and AI initiatives don't fail on technology — they fail on meaning. In this episode, Juan and Tim chat with Säde Haveri, who makes the case that metadata is the bridge between systems and people: the language and structures that help humans understand, trust, and use data in their daily work. Her focus isn't on building smarter pipelines, but on turning complexity into shared understanding so that data actually drives decisions and behavior change. Because if your data doesn't speak your language, it simply won't work for you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the takeaway episode with Säde Haveri where she makes the case that metadata is the bridge between systems and people. Most data and AI initiatives don't fail on technology — they fail due to the lack of meaning. If your data doesn't speak your language, it simply won't work for you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AI is transforming how businesses operate and how early-career talent grows. In this episode, UTG Unlocked, Mark Stockford (GVP, Global Cloud Operations) and Alyssa Gerhart (former intern, now full-time employee) share how AI is reshaping work at ServiceNow—from strategic impact to day-to-day execution. Our guest hosts Jorden Shelton and Cynthia Mathenge guide the conversation and explore real AI use cases like Unity, RAG-based duplicate detection, and intent detection, while emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and strong fundamentals.  In this episode, designed not just for recent interns, you’ll learn how AI is expanding career paths, how teams like Global Cloud Services power innovation behind the scenes, and what interns and early-career professionals can do now to grow: stay curious, use AI intentionally, seek mentors, and don’t just consume—contribute.  UTG is the engine behind the scenes here at ServiceNow — enabling innovation, maintaining production environments, supporting internal teams, and driving operational excellence. It connects strategy to execution by combining engineering, cloud operations, and technology operations to deliver stable, high-performing systems that allow the business and customers to succeed.  For more information about the Early Careers program visit - https://careers.servicenow.com/early-careers/  00:00 Welcome & What ‘UTG Unlocked’ Is All About 02:50 Meet the Panel: Mark, Alyssa, Jorden & Cynthia 04:29 Segment 1: How AI Is Impacting the Business (Customers vs. Employees) 06:26 Skills That Matter in an AI-Powered Workplace 09:52 Real AI Use Cases: Unity, Agents, and Faster Ops 13:57 AI and Career Growth: New Roles, New Paths, Partnering with AI 18:56 Advice for Early-Career Talent: Stay Curious, Build, Contribute 20:41 Segment 2 Kickoff: Rapid-Fire Fun28:50 Pulling Back the Curtain: What is GCS 30:37 GCS as a Superhero: Operating in the Shadows Like Batman  31:35 The Hidden Work: Solving Customer-Created Problems & Root-Cause Hunting 33:37 Alyssa’s Journey: Intern to FTE, Mentorship, and Scaling Developer Productivity 35:38 What’s Next: Emerging Tech on the Radar (AI to Quantum Computing) 37:15 Closing Takeaways: Keep Learning, Use AI Wisely, Ask Questions, and Give Back 40:12 Final Words & Where to Learn More See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Juan and Tim are back for a LIVE episode with Nachiket Mehta, an experienced data leader who has lived and breathed the “shift left”. In this episode we unpack how ontology, events and culture unlock enterprise AI.  We discuss the gap between what your systems think is happening and what's actually happening on the ground and dive into real world examples: a trailer with expensive merchandise sat forgotten in a yard for weeks. $35M in delayed orders. The math added up, but nobody saw it coming. Why? Because we're obsessed with cleaning data and building dashboards, but nobody mapped the happy path vs. the exceptions actually happening on the ground.  What is delivery when the customer isn't home? What's "lost in transit" versus "sitting in our own yard"? The solution? Send your ontologist to the fulfillment center. Build tiger teams. Shift your data teams left to act like software product teams. And most importantly: connect the five why's back to your OKRs, or you're just building features nobody needs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the takeaway episode with Nachiket Mehta, an experienced data leader who has lived and breathed the “shift left”. In this episode we will unpack how ontology, events and culture unlock enterprise AI. We discuss why your ontologist needs to visit the fulfillment center, how to shift data teams from afterthought to proactive partner, and why the five why's matter more than your tech stack.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim and Juan unpack why Vaibhav Gupta, co-creator of BAML, states that most agentic AI code out there is dumb. It's ugly, fragile, and built by people who've never had to wrestle with probabilistic systems before. But here's the thing: we've seen this movie before. Remember when building websites was painful? Then jQuery showed up... then React... then Tailwind. Abstraction always wins. It just takes time (and about 50 bad frameworks for every good one). The gaming industry also figured out about unreliable systems decades ago. The takeaway is that the real bottleneck isn't abstracting the AI, instead it's abstracting the failure. Oh, and this episode has a live demo (first time we ever do this!). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the takeaway episode with Vaibhav Gupta, co-creator of BAML, where we unpack why most agentic AI code out there is dumb. If you like what you hear, you should listen to the full episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Juan and Tim grab a beer and rant about decision intelligence and context graphs, MCP vs Skills, and how companies really have a work problem (not a data/AI problem) and what is the maturity model to get that work doneSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tired of executives breathlessly asking "what's our AI strategy?" while your data team drowns in 1,000 dashboards that nobody uses? In this episode, Juan and Tim cut through the noise with Juan Gorricho a data and analytics executive with more than 25 years of experience delivering business value at TD Bank, Visa, The Walt Disney Company We cover: Why do data leaders keep building vanity metrics instead of business value? How do you go from being an "order-taking reporting team" to a trusted decision intelligence partner? And why does every data governance initiative feel like building policies nobody wants to follow? The secret? Do it by slice. Not top-down. Not bottom-up. By slice—connecting each data product to real business outcomes while building reusable foundations underneath. If you're ready to turn your data team's NPS around and build trust that actually sticks, this one's for you. Spoiler: It starts with being brave enough to tell executives the truth. And btw, "I bet 40 columns drive 90% of your business."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the takeaway episode of our chat with Juan Gorricho, a data and analytics executive with more than 25 years of experience delivering business value at TD Bank, Visa, The Walt Disney Company. We cover: Why do data leaders keep building vanity metrics instead of business value? How do you go from being an "order-taking reporting team" to a trusted decision intelligence partner? And why does every data governance initiative feel like building policies nobody wants to follow? And so much more. If you liked these takeaways, listen to the full episode!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Juan and Tim got together for a beer to rant about what's on their mind, the latest in the data world and share Data Day Texas takeawaysSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Irina Steenbeek is a data practitioner, and author of multiple books including Data Lineage from a Business Perspective. In this episode, Juan and Tim discuss with Irina the practical realities of implementing data lineage and its relationship to Data and AI governance. For example, do you really need to have a comprehensive technical lineage? A lot of honest no-bs nuggets in this episode!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the takeaway episode with Dr. Irina Steenbeek, a data practitioner, and author of multiple books including Data Lineage from a Business Perspective. In this episode, Juan and Tim discuss with Irina the practical realities of implementing data lineage and its relationship to Data and AI governance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A conversation with Jody Elliott, Head of IT Risk and Sustainability at National Grid, on embedding responsible AI and sustainability at scale.  In this episode of the ServiceNow Executive Circle Podcast, Jody Elliott, Head of IT Risk and Sustainability at National Grid, explores how sustainability, risk, and AI can work together to create real business value. Operating across critical national infrastructure in the UK and US, Jody shares why “good green operations are just good operations” and why sustainability and responsible AI must be embedded by design, not treated as standalone initiatives.  The conversation covers:  How IT sustainability, e-waste policy, emissions reduction, and regulatory compliance can drive efficiency, trust, and innovation  Practical, real-world AI use cases, including how generative AI can improve compliance and risk oversight by analysing large volumes of unstructured data  The importance of AI literacy, human-in-the-loop governance, and strong control frameworks  How organisations should prepare for emerging regulation, including the EU AI Act and CSRD  What’s next—from rising energy demand and supply chain risk to the next wave of responsible technology  Tune in now for a practical, real-world look at how responsible AI and sustainability can drive efficiency, trust, and innovation at scale.  If you’ve got an idea for a topic, would like to propose a guest for the show or discuss any of the points raised in this episode with a ServiceNow representative, just send an email to [email protected]   And if you are not already an EXECUTIVE CIRCLE member and would like to learn more about our exclusive membership and all the benefits it brings, please visit.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AI, Skills, and the Future of Work at Aviva  In this episode of the ServiceNow Executive Circle podcast, Kat Finch is joined by Dan Godfrey, Group People Transformation and Talent Director at Aviva, to explore how people strategy, technology, and AI are coming together to reshape the future of work. Dan shares how Aviva’s scale, legacy, and long history influence its approach to transformation, and why operational readiness, adoption, and change management are just as critical as the technology itself. From learning and recruitment to people technology and data analytics, the conversation highlights how HR and IT must work in lockstep to deliver meaningful outcomes for both colleagues and customers.  The discussion also dives into the evolving role of AI in skills development, workforce planning, and customer experience. Some key topics include:  The evolving role of AI in skills development, workforce planning, and customer experience  Highlighting how Aviva is using AI to surface skills and support “squiggly careers”  Showing how AI helps colleagues navigate future career paths and learning opportunities  Emphasising the importance of human-in-the-loop governance, trust, and responsible use of AI  Looking ahead to how AI could democratise financial services by making financial knowledge more accessible  Reinforcing why investing in peoples capability remains the most critical transformation for organisations  If you’ve got an idea for a topic, would like to propose a guest for the show or discuss any of the points raised in this episode with a ServiceNow representative, just send an email to [email protected]   And if you are not already an EXECUTIVE CIRCLE member and would like to learn more about our exclusive membership and all the benefits it brings, please visit.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ontologies are suddenly everywhere but they didn’t come out of nowhere. In this episode, Juan and Tim chat with Professor Oscar Corcho, who has been doing ontology engineering since the early 2000s (check out his book Ontological Engineering from 2003), to demystify what ontologies actually are, where they came from, and why that history still matters today. If you’re new to ontologies or feeling lost in the current hype, this episode gives you the grounding you didn’t know you needed to understand where the field has been and where it should be going next.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the takeaway episode of our conversation with Professor Oscar Corcho, who has been doing ontology engineering since the early 2000s where we demystify what ontologies actually are, where they came from, and why that history still matters today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Juan and Tim rant about Context Graphs and categorizations of how companies work with data.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim and Juan chat with Tony Baer and Matt Housley, hosts of the “It’s About Data” podcast about what are the trends they are seeing with the start of 2026. We talked about AI magical thinking, Agentic architectures, Graphs, careers and much more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the takeaway episode about the chat that Tim and Juan have with Tony Baer and Matt Housley, hosts of the “It’s About Data” podcast about what are the trends they are seeing with the start of 2026. We talked about AI magical thinking, Agentic architectures, Graphs, careers and much more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the opening episode of 2026, Juan and Tim discuss what happened in the data world during 2025 and what they are looking forward to in 2026. We discuss semantics, ontologies, context, tool/vendor consolidation, data teams, platform convergence, governance, and of course... AI! In the episode we mention the talk we gave at BigDataLDN "Why Data Teams Must Lead the Next AI Revolution" which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULfcjlXxyXgSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Exploring Leadership and AI with Anand Tharanathan In this engaging episode of our podcast, we delve into the world of leadership and Artificial Intelligence with Anand Tharanathan, GVP of Product Research and Insights at ServiceNow. Anand shares his journey from an individual contributor to a leadership role, emphasizing the importance of empathy, mentorship, and learning from failure. He discusses his unique perspective on leadership drawn from his experiences in sports and how this has influenced his professional growth. Anand also provides insights into the rapidly evolving field of AI, comparing it with human automation and highlighting the importance of keeping the human element in the loop. He addresses the challenges and nuances of designing AI systems that enhance human capabilities rather than replace them. Additionally, Anand discusses how to strike a balance between being product-centric and people-centric, and the crucial role of adaptability in navigating technological advancements. Towards the end of the conversation, Anand outlines a framework for effectively using AI and advises on avoiding common pitfalls when integrating AI into new products. This episode is a must-watch for anyone interested in leadership, AI, and the future of technology. Join us and gain valuable insights from industry experts! Guest - Anand Tharanathan, GVP of Product Research and Insights at ServiceNowGuest Host - Apurva Korde 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:24 Discussing UX Research and AI01:18 Leadership Journey and Insights03:45 The Role of Mentors and Managers09:59 Design Leadership vs. Conventional Leadership13:56 Balancing Product and People-Centric Leadership17:55 Adapting to Rapid Technological Changes18:56 Navigating the AI Revolution19:14 Staying Calm and Curious in the AI Era20:45 Insights from a Tech Leader on AI21:42 Designing Human-Centric AI Experiences26:32 The Importance of Human in the Loop31:24 Frameworks for AI Use and Misuse34:25 Building AI-Powered Products36:37 Balancing AI and Business Goals38:45 Concluding Thoughts on AISee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim and Juan chat with Lena Hall, the Senior Director of Developer Relations at Akamai, and an AI practitioner where we dive into what it means to build AI agents. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the takeaway episode with Lena Hall, the Senior Director of Developer Relations at Akamai, and an AI practitioner where we dive into what it means to build AI agents. If you like what you heard, you should check out the full episode!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim and Juan chat with Arielle Rolland, a Data & AI Strategy Manager and Data Product Enthusiast and dive into how many teams are overcomplicating data products. We discuss what makes a good data product initiative and a good data product. Is a waterfall approach actually that bad? And how to balance between strategy and delivery. If you are scratching your head about data products and feel lost, this episode is for you!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.