At ServiceNow Knowledge 2026, customer leaders from Standard Chartered, Hitachi Energy, and the State of Hawaii highlighted that governance—not development—is the major hurdle in deploying AI agents at scale across their organizations.
- Governance is the main barrier to scaling AI in regulated industries
- Standard Chartered’s AI virtual assistant achieved 77% case deflection
- Hitachi Energy scaled AI deployments to 70,000 users with governance focus
What happened
At the ServiceNow Knowledge 2026 conference in Las Vegas, representatives from Standard Chartered, Hitachi Energy, and the State of Hawaii joined a moderated panel to discuss their experiences with deploying AI agents using the ServiceNow platform. The discussion revealed a shared emphasis on AI governance as the most pressing challenge rather than the technology’s capabilities alone.
The panelists illustrated these challenges with stories from large enterprises, including a financial services CTO who built numerous AI agents but couldn't deploy any due to regulatory concerns and lack of governance. Similarly, a healthcare CIO canceled hundreds of AI pilots due to the inability to control and manage these initiatives safely across the enterprise.
Why it matters
For heavily regulated organizations like Standard Chartered, establishing clear accountability and decision-making structures around AI is essential to ensure compliance and trust. The bank’s early pilot of an AI virtual assistant achieved a 77% case deflection rate and has since expanded to 85,000 employees globally, demonstrating the operational value of well-governed AI deployments.
Hitachi Energy’s partnership with ServiceNow through its Lighthouse program allowed early influence on product development, including the AI Control Tower capabilities. Their rapid expansion of AI usage—reaching nearly 70,000 users—showcases how governance frameworks enable enterprises to rapidly scale AI while maintaining control and security.
What to watch next
Enterprises planning to adopt agentic AI should closely evaluate governance solutions like ServiceNow’s AI Control Tower, which offers centralized oversight across diverse AI agents and systems. Monitoring how these governance tools evolve will be critical to supporting broader AI adoption without compromising compliance or operational stability.
Further case studies from regulated industries, especially financial services and public sector organizations, will provide valuable insights about balancing AI innovation with risk management. Stakeholders should also watch for how the integration of governance impacts AI scaling timelines and business outcomes over the next few years.