From system of record to system of experience: How EY and ServiceNow are modernising enterprises

Tell us about the EY and ServiceNow alliance, what you are doing together, past projects, and what’s coming next.

Kundhavi: From an EY perspective globally, ServiceNow is one of our top three alliances. Globally, we are a billion-dollar alliance in that sense, so there are a lot of joint investments. When I say top three, it is not just in terms of numbers; it is in terms of investments that we make together in terms of building products together. We go to market together, we innovate together.

If I give an example of AI, because that is the theme of the topic today, we were the first to introduce an AI responsible risk framework. That is how we started the AI journey with ServiceNow, saying when everybody is looking at artificial intelligence, how do you look at responsible artificial intelligence, how do you look at risks and say how well organisations are managing the risk around deploying artificial intelligence, and that is how we started.

We work with them very closely on the AI control tower in terms of building those solutions out as organisations scale up and adopt AI. We work with them on multiple areas of product development. We ran a hackathon in India very recently, within our teams, where ServiceNow was present to look at the solutions that were being built by our teams using AI and generative AI. There were awards which were facilitated, and the final competition consisted of around 12 solutions on the AI side, which were fairly innovative beyond what we were looking at. There is a lot of partnership.

From a ServiceNow point of view, EY is one of our global elite partners, which is a top-tier partnership.

Sumeet: ServiceNow is an enterprise SaaS platform company. We build technology and solutions, but for organisations, enterprises, countries, and governments to get an outcome from these products and services, you need partners like EY who bring domain skills and capabilities to convert technology into outcomes.

That is where this partnership works very well for both parties because we are good at building technology and products, and EY, with their expertise and deep domain knowledge, can take this to industry and enterprises and convert that technology into real outcomes for people.

How does EY’s consultation and feedback influence the roadmap for ServiceNow?

Kundhavi: What we bring is domain experience. If we take human capital, we help organisations reimagine their human capital strategy completely — from how you engage with people before they come into the organisation, how you attract talent, retain talent, measure productivity, help them perform better, train them better, make off-boarding smoother, and continue to engage with people even after they leave the organisation.

If you think of all these aspects, the same applies to the supply chain and customer experience. When we redo all of this thinking, because we understand the domain and product effectively, two things happen. We have the ability to build products using the ServiceNow platform, and we have done that, and then we market them together. Alternatively, there could be an existing configuration solution, but there are improvements required where we collaborate proactively with them, saying this is how it should work, there are limitations here, enhancements are needed, there is an experience that can be brought in, and there is scope for automation.

We also have a product roadmap. We work with them in terms of structurally providing inputs, and if clarifications are required, we do that, and that becomes part of the roadmap.

Sumeet: As a product organisation, our philosophy is that we do not want to build products in isolation. We have a concept of design partners. Companies like EY, especially domain experts like Kundavi, help us validate whether what we are building makes sense in real-world scenarios.

They help answer questions such as what problem we are trying to solve, whether it is worth solving, and whether we are solving it the right way. They become early beta customers, deploy internally, gather feedback, and then take it to clients. They also provide insights on product strategy and roadmap, and suggest tweaks to make it more effective when we jointly go to customers.

With a sovereign AI focus and the DPDP Act, how are you helping Indian firms manage data and AI?

Sumeet: ServiceNow’s global product development happens from India. Thousands of people work here, and 50% of ServiceNow’s global product development comes from India. Hyderabad is our largest site worldwide from a technology centre perspective.

Kundhavi: From an EY point of view, we have around 1,400 people doing ServiceNow in India, including AI on ServiceNow. Across multiple platforms, we also have our own AI tools that we build and integrate with platforms like ServiceNow. These capabilities are built and delivered out of India, largely to Indian clients across segments.

ServiceNow is also working with the public sector and local data centres, including banks and BFSIs.

How does the partnership help banks modernise legacy systems?

Sumeet: Legacy systems are systems of record where data and transactions happen. To modernise services, banks need a system of experience, an engagement layer. That is where our partnership works.

When customers expect personalised service, banks need to deliver at scale. We combine workflow and AI in a secure and compliant manner to enable that. Replacing legacy systems entirely is not feasible due to capital and risk. The approach is to build engagement layers on top so they can gradually transform while elevating service.

Kundhavi: Banks have come a long way. We work with large banks across human capital engagement, risk and compliance modernisation, IT operations automation, cybersecurity, and customer experience.

Some systems get replaced, and some get integrated. ServiceNow has the ability to integrate with legacy systems so you can bring data together and deliver meaningful outcomes.

Sumeet: From a DPDP perspective, organisations first need visibility on where their data resides. Our solutions help with discovery, risk frameworks, breach detection, response, and customer rights, like data deletion.

Kundhavi: We also work on operational resilience, testing scenarios, recording results, detecting patterns, and strengthening resilience. Banks today are far more modernised, and India is a pioneer in digital banking with UPI and other digital platforms.

Sumeet: What works in India at scale often becomes applicable globally.

Will AI agents impact jobs across sectors?

Kundhavi: Technology waves like ERP and RPA changed roles rather than eliminated them. AI will impact most activities within the next two to five years. Agents will start learning and making decisions.

Workforce roles will evolve. Organisations are investing in upskilling. Traditional transaction roles will move toward training, governing, and validating AI systems. Humans will continue to play a central role in judgment and decision-making.

Sumeet: India has a young demographic that adopts technology quickly. AI is already integrated into daily life through digital services.

India also has a service deficit. AI will help scale personalised services across banking, healthcare, and government to the entire population. The idea is augmentation, not replacement.

Kundhavi: AI growth will require infrastructure, data centres, hardware, and networks, creating new job categories. The key factor will be adaptability.

Sumeet: Technological revolutions historically increase opportunity. Digital commerce expanded entrepreneurship across India, and AI will do the same.

How will data-centre incentives help MSMEs?

Kundhavi: Cloud and shared infrastructure significantly reduce cost compared to on-prem setups. They also improve security through managed services such as SOC operations. This enables MSMEs to adopt enterprise platforms at a lower cost.

Sumeet: More data centres enhance pay-as-you-go models and shift spending from CapEx to OpEx. Lower infrastructure costs lead to higher innovation and broader access for startups and entrepreneurs.

How do you build an AI-ready workforce?

Sumeet: The first step is awareness. AI already powers recommendations and digital experiences. Every profession will need to adapt.

AI enables personalised education and services at scale, which is powerful for a diverse country like India.

Kundhavi: We follow a three-pronged approach.
First, upskilling the existing workforce through structured learning programs and training investments.
Second, building new AI-driven products and solutions using trained talent.
Third, engaging future talent through campus programs and certifications before they join.

This ensures internal readiness, innovation at scale, and alignment with evolving client needs as organisations undergo AI transformation.