AI-powered chatbots are transforming how we handle IT and service requests, and ServiceNow’s Virtual Agent with Now Assist takes things to a whole new level. By combining Virtual Agent’s conversational capabilities with Now Assist’s generative AI, you get smarter, more natural interactions that help users find answers faster—while reducing the workload on support and development teams.

Why Use Now Assist in Virtual Agent?

Instead of relying solely on predefined decision trees and NLU intents and entities, Now Assist leverages large language models to understand user intent and generate dynamic, context-aware responses. This means fewer rigid topic flows, more flexible conversations, and a better overall user and agent experience.

Integrating Now Assist with Virtual Agent Provides several key benefits:

• Improve Deflection Rates: A well-trained AI assistant can handle more inquiries independently, reducing the number of cases requiring human intervention. This means users get faster resolutions, and service teams can focus on more complex issues.
• Reduce Development Time: Traditional Virtual Agent topics usually require extensive NLU tuning to ensure correct topic discovery. LLM-powered topics streamline the process by using LLMs to understand user requests more efficiently, minimizing the need for extensive configuration.
• Craft Dynamic Conversations: Generative AI makes conversations more natural and adaptable. Instead of following strict, predefined paths, Now Assist can generate context-based responses, making interactions smoother and more intuitive.
• ‍Dynamically Access Knowledge: The Virtual Agent can easily interact with information sources such as your ServiceNow Knowledge Bases based on user input.

Setting Up Now Assist for Virtual Agent

Before configuring, make sure you have the plugin “Now Assist in Virtual Agent” (sn_nowassist_va) installed and updated to the latest version. Once ready:

1. Open ServiceNow, click All and type Now Assist
2. Under Now Assist Admin, select Overview
3. Click Now Assist Features, then choose Platform from the list
4. Ensure that Conversational Experience skills are active
5. Click Set Up Now Assist in Virtual Agent to navigate to the Assistants page
6. Enable the default assistant or create a custom one, following the on-screen setup instructions
   1. Assistants function like Chat Experiences in the traditional NLU-based Virtual Agent, allowing you to configure different greetings, promoted topics, and conversation flows
   2. When selecting portals to display the Assistant, note that the NLU-powered Virtual Agent will be replaced by the LLM-powered one

Authoring LLM Topics in Virtual Agent

If you already have NLU/keyword-based topics, ServiceNow has provided a migration tool to transfer them to LLM topics. You can find this option in the sidebar of the Virtual Agent Designer

When migrating, some topics may have issues due to script use. 

If one of your topics has these issues, check the nodes the message provides and either adjust the scripts (if needed) or replace the node with an LLM input/output.

When creating or migrating topics, remember that LLM topics rely on the Topic Description for Topic Discovery, so crafting clear and compelling descriptions is crucial.

• Start with action verbs: Use words like get, order, resolve, fulfill, and summarize to define the task clearly‍
• Be specific: Clearly outline the purpose of the topic and what action it performs
• Avoid third-party references: Keep descriptions focused on internal ServiceNow capabilities

When crafting the topic, you can use up to 15 LLM-enabled user inputs to collect information from the user utilizing platform data. Using the "Tell the LLM how to respond" field, you can customize how Now Assist responds. This allows you to set the response’s tone, style, format, or restrictions.

For instance, if you want responses to follow a structured format, you might use an instruction like:  "Respond in a friendly tone. Provide Incident data in this order: Number, Short Description, and Description."

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By integrating Now Assist with Virtual Agent, organizations can deliver more efficient, intuitive, and AI-driven self-service experiences. With LLM-powered topics, flexible authoring tools, and a streamlined setup, it’s easier than ever to create a chatbot that truly understands user needs. If you’re looking to reduce support workload while improving response quality, Now Assist in Virtual Agent is a game-changer. The product is rapidly evolving, so check regularly for "Now Assist in Virtual Agent" plugin updates to get the most out of it.

Exploring AI applications in your environment? Check out more resources or reach out to chat@rapdev.io.