If you were at Knowledge 2025, you’ll know it was a huge, well-organized event. With 25000 attendees, it was even bigger than last year, and this time around, we also got to experience the Sphere with Gwen Stefani!
We were regular attendees of Knowledge 2024 and were impressed. Back then, we had numerous conversations with people who encouraged us to come with a booth in 2025.
Why?
- First, not many companies were focusing on CMDB data quality. For us, it is one of the most prominent areas.
- Second, while data has been the new oil for some time, Data Quality is now finally getting attention as never before due to the rise of AI as the core topic of the event. We focus squarely on Improving Data Quality in ServiceNow.
- Third, while there are shining examples of advanced companies whose AI trains are moving fast, many, if not most, are still struggling with the basics. Our tool helps you get on the AI train.
So, in 2025, we attended with a booth, and the experience exceeded my expectations.
AI Agents Everywhere
At the event, it seemed that pretty much all of the sessions were somehow related to AI. I returned to look at the session catalog on the ServiceNow website. There are 116 results tagged for AI Agents. Compare that to the following three highest numbers, clicking through the Solutions categories:
- AI Agents: 116
- IT: 24
- Platform and App Development: 23
- CRM: 16
I know not every session is available online, but it’s obvious where the focus is.
My take is that the discussion is now very much moving from theoretical to practical. We’re seeing a focus on real-world applications. For example, the Day 1 keynote featuring AstraZeneca resonated with me.
The other thing that was hard to miss was the introduction of the AI Control Tower. Governance, oversight, compliance, and efficiency. How do you manage all the Agents you “employ” as your new workforce?
The Big Promise
AI and the efficiencies it promises are, and will be, center stage for a long time with ServiceNow. The investment in AI is enormous, and the time is coming when those promises must be fulfilled. However, the promises cannot be fulfilled if the underlying data is not good enough for AI to operate on.
Consequently, the CMDB has now become a focus area. If you, as a human, cannot trust your CMDB, how could you expect your AI Agents to be able to work off it either?
Our focus on improving data quality in ServiceNow clearly resonated – many people were drawn to our booth, and the quality of our discussions was outstanding.
Data Quality Focus is Critical
AI Agents cannot work if the data quality is not high enough. This is clear to ServiceNow, too, since at Knowledge 2025 they announced the acquisition of data.world, “The enterprise data catalog that CIOs, governance professionals, data analysts, and engineers trust in the AI era.”
The problem with data not being up to the task is so enormous that:
“Gartner predicts that through 2026, organizations will abandon 60% of AI projects unsupported by AI-ready data.”
Source: Lack of AI-Ready Data Puts AI Projects at Risk
Some advanced companies, like AstraZeneca, have undoubtedly invested seriously in their data quality since they can already utilize AI Agents. That’s fantastic. We rely on these leading examples to show what’s possible and inspire others to follow.
However, most people we talk to are not quite there yet. Many are not even close, and the day-to-day struggle is more about figuring out who owns Business Applications and how to align with CSDM.
A vast amount of non-discoverable data still requires human input – a person to decide how things are and how they should be. The big question is how to engage those who should provide and maintain that data.
For that, we have developed the DCM Data Quality Workspace, which helps engage, for example, Business Application owners and other business users who usually want to improve their data but may not know where to begin.
Let’s not forget CSDM 5!
Amid AI everything, it was almost easy to overlook one of the most important releases in many years: Version 5 of the Common Service Data Model.
CSDM 4 has been around for about 4 years, and version 5, released at Knowledge 2025, is its direct successor. It adds a lot, but most of the CSDM 4 fundamentals remain. This means that the investment made into earlier versions of CSDM will not go to waste. Instead, they provide the foundation to continue building and improving your data models.
We provide a CSDM Content Pack for DCM, which includes predefined, CSDM-compliant Blueprint templates. These can significantly boost CSDM alignment.
With version 5 finally out, we will update all of our templates to be CSDM 5 compliant and add templates to cover all of the new additions.
Get the fresh CSDM 5 Whitepaper from the ServiceNow community
... and check out our article CSDM 4 vs 5: What’s New, What Endures, and Recommendations.
The CSDM 5 launch drew in a huge crowd.
Data Content Manager
So, with everything going on, where does Data Content Manager fit in?
DCM is focused on improving data quality in ServiceNow. The typical use cases are within the CMDB and Foundation Data. Key use cases are aligning with CSDM and establishing data ownership.
Data arranged according to CSDM is now central to the ServiceNow AI universe, and DCM helps you align with it. Data ownership must be established, and DCM is built to support clearly defined data ownership.
DCM is at the core of getting data AI-ready in ServiceNow.
Where do we go from here?
Investment and hype alone will ensure we will see all kinds of AI Agents soon. I want to believe this will bring genuine improvement rather than dystopia. I don’t think we’ll all be out of jobs, nor will we be terminated as in some movies.
I agree with Bill McDermott that AI agents will do much of the “soul-sucking” work people endure today. That must generally be a good thing, and perhaps it will allow humans to focus on bigger and better things.
At the same time, I’m with Conan O’Brien, who said in the Day 3 keynote that he is 52% optimistic, not 100%. There will be adverse outcomes for some, for sure. Not everyone will enjoy the luxury of focusing on bigger and better things. Many will lose their jobs. Many will need to re-educate themselves.
This is how it has always been with technological advancements. This time, changes seem to be happening faster than ever, and the effects may be more profound. However, that’s no reason to be overly pessimistic. Nothing is forever and change always brings opportunity.
I choose to be 52% optimistic.
I look forward to seeing you at Knowledge 2026. In the meantime, contact us if you want to improve your data in ServiceNow!
Gwen Stefani at the Sphere—what a way to end Knowledge 2025!
