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ServiceNow, Inc.

Enterprise Cloud SoftwareFounded 2003
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026
Independent Editorial Analysis
8 historical events · Editorial analysis

ServiceNow Company Profile: Revenue, Business Model & Strategy

Research depth: 8 milestones · 10 FAQs

ServiceNow reported $13.278 billion in 2025 revenue, up 21%, and $3.987 billion in Q2 2026 revenue, up 24%. Subscriptions made up $12.883 billion of 2025 revenue, and the company had 29,187 employees at the end of 2025.

How ServiceNow makes money: ServiceNow makes money by selling multi-year subscriptions to the Now Platform, its single cloud platform with a shared data model and CMDB.

Revenue & employeesCEO historyFoundersBusiness model
Annual Revenue (FY2025)$13.3B
Employees29,187
CEOBill McDermott
Founded2003
IndustrySoftware
By Swet ParvadiyaLast reviewed:
Share
Data sources: annual reports, SEC filings, methodology
Industry:Software

ServiceNow, Inc. key figures

ServiceNow, Inc. had revenue of $13.3B for fiscal year 2025, up 20.9% from FY2024. Net income was $1.7B, a net margin of 13.2%.

Source: ServiceNow, Inc. annual report (Form 10-K, SEC EDGAR, filed 2026-01-29) · Last reviewed October 2026

Revenue growth, FY2016 to FY2025
+28.5% a year
Compound annual rate, $1.4B to $13.3B
Peak revenue year
FY2025
The latest annual year is the highest in this series
Revenue per employee
$454,929
FY2025 revenue divided by 29,187 employees; headcount may use another date
Current chief executive
Bill McDermott
In the role since 2019 (7 years)
Documented transactions
5
Between 2021 and 2026
Founded
2003
23 years ago
Where was ServiceNow founded?
ServiceNow was founded in San Diego, California, United States in 2003.
When did ServiceNow start?
ServiceNow was founded in 2003.
How old is ServiceNow?
ServiceNow is 23 years old as of 2026.
In-Depth Analysis
277 words · 2 min read

ServiceNow began in 2003, when former Peregrine Systems CTO Fred Luddy started Glidesoft in San Diego to build a browser-based workflow platform. Early customers mostly used it to replace on-premise IT help-desk software, so the company renamed itself Service-now.com in 2006 and focused on cloud IT service management (ITSM).

From help desk to enterprise platform

The mid-2000s ITSM market belonged to on-premise suites from BMC, HP and CA, which needed long installations and costly upgrades. ServiceNow delivered ITSM from a multi-tenant cloud with one codebase and one data model. That model let it add IT operations, asset management, security, HR, customer service and App Engine low-code products for customers who had started in IT. It went public on the NYSE in June 2012 under CEO Frank Slootman.

Revenue and profitability

Revenue grew from $1.39 billion in 2016 to $13.278 billion in 2025, and subscriptions made up about 97% of the 2025 total. In 2025 ServiceNow earned $1.748 billion in GAAP net income and generated $4.636 billion of free cash flow. In Q2 2026 revenue rose 24% to $3.987 billion, and total remaining performance obligations reached $29.0 billion.

The AI and security push

Under CEO Bill McDermott, who joined from SAP in 2019, ServiceNow calls itself the AI control tower for business reinvention. It bought Moveworks for about $2.85 billion in December 2025, then Veza in March 2026 and Armis for $7.75 billion in cash in April 2026. ServiceNow AI passed $1 billion in annual contract value in Q2 2026, and the company launched the Otto AI experience at Knowledge 2026. The open question is whether AI agents grow the platform faster than they shrink per-seat software budgets.

Table of Contents

ServiceNow, Inc. Key Facts

CompanyServiceNow, Inc.
Annual revenue change+20.9% (FY2024–FY2025)
Financials$13.3B (FY2025, last reviewed October 2026)
Market Cap$134.3B
FY2025 net income$1.7B
Last reviewedBy Swet Parvadiya, Founder & Editor - October 2026
Founded2003
Founder(s)Fred Luddy
CEOBill McDermott
HeadquartersSanta Clara, California, United States
IndustrySoftware
Employees29,187+

ServiceNow Company Profile: Revenue, Business Model & Strategy

"ServiceNow's growth comes from a simple enterprise truth: the hardest work is often trapped between systems. The Now Platform makes those handoffs visible, automated, measurable, and increasingly AI-assisted."

Why ServiceNow, Inc. Wins

ServiceNow wins by becoming the workflow layer that connects IT, employee, customer, security, and creator work across enterprise systems.

ServiceNow, Inc. operates in a competitive market alongside Salesforce, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation. Analysts frequently compare ServiceNow, Inc. and Salesforce, Inc. due to their overlapping products, target markets, and strategic positioning. See full comparison →

ServiceNow reported $13.278 billion in 2025 revenue, up 21%, and $3.987 billion in Q2 2026 revenue, up 24%. Subscriptions made up $12.883 billion of 2025 revenue, and the company had 29,187 employees at the end of 2025.

Revenue

$13.3B

Founded

2003

Employees

29K+

Market Cap

$134.3B

Author: CorpDigest Research DeskCompany Research

Explore ServiceNow In Depth

Detailed research across every dimension of ServiceNow — history, financials, leadership, and strategy.

Company History

A founder-led ITSM product became a platform for enterprise workflows and AI orchestration.

Full ServiceNow history →

Revenue & Financials

ServiceNow had $13.3B in revenue for fiscal year 2025. Data covers 10 fiscal years. Market capitalization stands at approximately $134B.

ServiceNow financials →

Founders

ServiceNow was founded by Fred Luddy in 2003. Explore each founder's background, motivations, and their role in building the company.

ServiceNow founders →

CEO & Leadership

ServiceNow is currently led by Bill McDermott. Explore the full CEO history — leadership transitions, tenures, and the strategic decisions of each chief executive.

ServiceNow CEO history →

Business Model

ServiceNow makes money by selling multi-year subscriptions to the Now Platform, its single cloud platform with a shared data model and CMDB.

How ServiceNow makes money →

Acquisitions

ServiceNow has completed 5 documented acquisitions. Explore the full acquisition history and strategic rationale behind each deal.

ServiceNow acquisitions →

Competitive Strategy

ServiceNow is growing on three fronts: selling more AI (Now Assist, AI agents, the Otto assistant and AI Control Tower), getting bigger in security and risk through Armis and Veza, and pushing CRM, customer service and…

ServiceNow strategy →

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 Research Profile

Our analysts compile business strategy profiles from public financial filings, press releases, and analyst reports. Each profile is reviewed for accuracy before publication by our editorial desk and updated on a rolling basis.

About the Author →Our Methodology →

Frequently Asked Questions About ServiceNow

What is ServiceNow, Inc. and what cloud software platform does it provide?

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE: NOW) is a global enterprise cloud software leader headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The company provides the 'Now Platform', an intelligent cloud operating system that connects disparate legacy enterprise systems and automates digital workflows across IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Operations (ITOM), Customer Service (CSM), Human Resources (HRSD), and Creator low-code workflows.

Who founded ServiceNow and when was the company established?

ServiceNow was founded as Glidesoft, Inc. by Fred Luddy in San Diego, California, in 2003 and incorporated in California in 2004. Luddy founded the company on the core premise that building and configuring enterprise business software applications should be as simple and intuitive as using a web browser.

Who is the Chief Executive Officer and leadership of ServiceNow?

Bill McDermott serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ServiceNow, leading the company since November 2019. The former CEO of SAP, McDermott has accelerated ServiceNow's growth toward becoming the defining enterprise software platform for the artificial intelligence era.

What is the Now Platform and why is it known as the 'Platform of Platforms'?

The Now Platform is a unified single-codebase, single-data-model (CMDB) cloud architecture. It acts as the 'Platform of Platforms' by sitting above fragmented legacy enterprise software systems (such as SAP, Salesforce, Oracle, and Microsoft), orchestrating end-to-end digital workflows across the entire enterprise.

What is Now Assist and how does generative AI operate within ServiceNow?

Now Assist is ServiceNow's integrated generative AI engine powered by proprietary domain-specific large language models (Now LLMs). It automatically summarizes IT incidents, drafts resolution notes, generates code for low-code developers, creates customer service responses, and powers conversational self-service virtual agents.

What are ServiceNow's core product workflow suites?

ServiceNow organizes its offerings into four primary workflow suites: Technology Workflows (ITSM, ITOM, IT Asset Management, Security Operations), Customer and Industry Workflows (CSM, Financial Services, Healthcare), Employee Workflows (HR Service Delivery, Workplace Service), and Creator Workflows (App Engine low-code development).

How many of the Fortune 500 companies use ServiceNow?

ServiceNow says 85% of the Fortune 500 use its platform. It had about 8,700 customers at December 31, 2025, and 658 customers paying more than $5 million in annual contract value as of June 30, 2026.

What is the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and Common Service Data Model (CSDM)?

ServiceNow's CMDB serves as the single source of truth for all digital IT assets, servers, cloud infrastructure, and software dependencies in an enterprise. CSDM provides a standardized data schema that connects physical IT assets directly to business services and financial capabilities.

How does ServiceNow make money?

ServiceNow earns about 97% of its revenue from subscriptions to the Now Platform, which brought in $12.883 billion of $13.278 billion total revenue in 2025. Customers pay per user, by capacity, or for premium AI tiers. The rest comes from professional services and training.

Who owns ServiceNow?

ServiceNow is a publicly traded company listed on the NYSE as NOW, so its shareholders own it. Most shares are held by institutional investors such as index and mutual fund managers. It has no controlling shareholder.

Analysis: How ServiceNow, Inc. Makes Money

Deep dive into the ServiceNow, Inc. business model, revenue streams, and strategic moats in 2026.

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Financial data on this page is sourced from SEC EDGAR filings, official earnings releases, and verified press statements. Revenue figures are reviewed and updated periodically. Read our full data methodology ->

Primary source: newsroom.servicenow.com/press-releases/details/2026/ServiceN

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Editorial Methodology

Company Research

We use company filings, annual reports, company statements and press reports, with primary sources preferred where available. Each financial row shows its recorded source. Full-year figures are separated from annualized run-rates, partial periods and forecasts; unaudited figures carry a label. Source detail varies by company, so check the linked material when the reporting basis matters.

1. Primary Sources

Public companies may provide filings and annual reports. Private-company figures may come from statements or press coverage. A missing figure stays missing, and a source link should identify where its number came from.

2. Expert Curation

We organize company records and review claims for strategic context, source quality and clarity. Pages show a review date where one is recorded.

3. Multi-Pass Audit

Technical checks flag inconsistent figures and missing links. Editorial review of the underlying source remains necessary for claims those checks cannot verify.

Swet Parvadiya
SEC filings & public records methodology
Sourced from public financial records

Explore Related Pages for ServiceNow, Inc.

History & FailuresTimeline, setbacks, and key milestonesBusiness ModelHow they make money and market productsFinancialsRevenue history and fiscal metricsCompetitive StrategyRivals, benchmarks, and SWOT analysis

Sources & References

The data and narrative synthesized in this intelligence report were verified against primary sources:

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.