New controls aim to prevent unauthorised agent actions while unifying AI discovery, security oversight and cost-to-value measurement.
ServiceNow has introduced AI Passport, a new runtime governance mechanism designed to verify what first- and third-party AI agents are authorised to do as they execute enterprise workflows. The launch expands the company’s Super Intelligence Control Tower, addressing a growing challenge for organisations moving AI agents from experimentation into production: maintaining control over their actions, access and costs.
Unlike conventional audit trails that record activity after it occurs, AI Passport is designed to enforce permissions at runtime. Cryptographically signed credentials define an agent’s authorised scope, grounded in enterprise business context, including ServiceNow’s Configuration Management Database, governance policies and workflow approvals. If an agent moves beyond its permitted scope, organisations can redirect or restrict its activity, restore the necessary context or terminate it.
“Enterprises need confidence that every AI agent is operating within its authorized scope.” — Jon Sigler, Executive Vice President and General Manager, AI Platform, ServiceNow
The approach also extends to multi-agent workflows and third-party agents, where permissions must remain verifiable as tasks move between systems. ServiceNow has named NVIDIA a design and launch partner, with an implementation using the NVIDIA Open Agent Safety Platform, including OpenShell runtime software and the NVIDIA Sentry security framework.
Beyond agent authorisation, ServiceNow is expanding discovery and monitoring capabilities across its platform. New features include shadow AI detection, more than 400 out-of-the-box connectors, access mapping and continuous observability of agent behaviour. Cost governance and value intelligence are intended to link AI consumption with spending, quality and business outcomes, while graduated policy enforcement can escalate from alerts to throttling or blocking.
The governance push is particularly relevant to regulated sectors. ServiceNow’s 2026 Banking AI Maturity Index found that while all surveyed banks reported using AI, only 24% said they had governance capabilities to match that adoption.
AI Passport, shadow AI detection and AI Cost Management are expected in Q4 2026. ServiceNow’s Operational Resilience solution for financial services is available now. The effectiveness of the broader approach will depend on how consistently organisations integrate these controls across their AI tools, identities and infrastructure.
