Davos 2026: Enterprises move beyond AI pilots, seek trusted platforms over fragmented tools, says ServiceNow
The World Economic Forum annual meeting, scheduled to be held from January 19 to 23, will convene nearly 3,000 leaders from more than 130 countries.
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Enterprises are moving beyond the early experimentation phase of artificial intelligence and are now demanding measurable outcomes, with ServiceNow vice-chairman Nick Tzitzon saying customers are fatigued by a year of AI proofs-of-concept and are shifting focus towards trusted platforms that can deliver return on investment, he informed Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Tzitzon said the first wave of AI adoption across organisations was marked by widespread experimentation, but boardrooms are now prioritising meaningful business impact and return on investment from solutions they trust, rather than continuing with disconnected pilots. His remarks come against the backdrop of an MIT study that found 95 per cent of enterprise generative AI pilots fail to deliver measurable business impact or return on investment.
The World Economic Forum annual meeting, scheduled to be held from January 19 to 23, will convene nearly 3,000 leaders from more than 130 countries, including around 400 political leaders and 850 chief executives.
ServiceNow is positioning its platform as an AI control tower designed to orchestrate workflows and business outcomes across large enterprises, particularly as the number of AI agents operating within organisations continues to rise. Tzitzon referred to projections from industry research firm IDC that estimate more than one billion AI agents will be active across the global economy by 2029, raising critical questions around governance, access control and oversight.
He said enterprises will need clear visibility into which AI agents are permitted to access specific data and systems, and stated that ServiceNow’s role as an AI control tower places it at the centre of enterprise governance and security discussions.
Tzitzon further said enterprises are increasingly favouring a platform-led approach rather than deploying multiple disconnected AI tools, as customers want AI delivered in a way that is easy to use, well governed and capable of demonstrating measurable return on investment.
He added that ServiceNow is beginning to see a clear productivity case emerge, including within its own operations, with tasks that previously required manual intervention on both sides now being handled autonomously through coordinated AI agents.
According to Tzitzon, this shift is enabling productivity gains of 10 to 30 per cent, allowing employees to redirect time towards innovation and growth initiatives.
Looking ahead to 2026, he highlighted growth, reinvestment and workforce upskilling as key priorities, aligned with ServiceNow’s stated objective of deploying artificial intelligence in ways that meaningfully support people and organisations.
