ServiceNow is acquiring Element AI to further meld artificial intelligence (AI) with automated workflows, the IT service management (ITSM) software company disclosed today. Financial terms were not disclosed.
This is M&A deal number 493 that ChannelE2E has tracked so far in 2020. Find a full list of M&A deals here.
Element AI was founded in 2016 by CEO Jean-Francois Gagné, Anne Martel, Nicolas Chapados, Jean-Sebastien Cournoyer, Yoshua Bengio, and Philippe Beaudoin.
In some ways, Element AI was a system integrator for the artificial intelligence market, TechCrunch notes. Venture capitalists believed in the vision. The startup raised $151.3 million in 2019 to accelerate its AI. Fast forward to present day, and Element AI knows how to apply artificial intelligence to text and language, chat, images, search, question response, and summarization, ServiceNow says.
As part of the acquisition, ServiceNow will launch an AI Innovation Hub in Canada. ServiceNow already has development centers in Chicago, Hyderabad, Kirkland, Wash., San Diego, and Silicon Valley.
ServiceNow has been busy pumping AI into its Now software platform. The effort includes Now Intelligence. Also, the company acquired such AI firms as Loom Systems, Passage AI, and Sweagle. Moreover, ServiceNow has partnered with IBM to integrate Watson AI with ITSM.
ServiceNow Acquires Element.ai: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the Element.ai deal, ServiceNow Chief AI Officer Vijay Narayanan said:
“AI technology is evolving rapidly as companies race to digitally transform 20th century processes and business models. ServiceNow is leading this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make work, work better for people. With Element AI’s powerful capabilities and world class talent, ServiceNow will empower employees and customers to focus on areas where only humans excel – creative thinking, customer interactions, and unpredictable work. That’s a smarter way to workflow.”
Added Element AI Founder and CEO Jean-Francois Gagné:
“Element AI’s vision has always been to redefine how companies use AI to help people work smarter. ServiceNow is leading the workflow revolution and we are inspired by its purpose to make the world of work, work better for people. ServiceNow is the clear partner for us to apply our talent and technology to the most significant challenges facing the enterprise today.”
ServiceNow expects to complete the acquisition in early 2021.
ServiceNow: ITSM and AI for MSPs?
ServiceNow remains mostly enterprises focused, but large and midmarket MSPs are quietly adopting the platform as well. As a result, MSP-centric software platforms such as Liongard are developing ServiceNow integrations. And midmarket MSPs such as Fully Managed have bet their businesses on ServiceNow.
