ServiceNow is introducing AI Passport, a cryptographically signed credential that determines, at runtime, what AI agents and MCP servers can do. Nvidia is the design and launch partner. ServiceNow is also introducing shadow AI detection, AI cost management, and an Operational Resilience solution for banks.
With AI Passport, ServiceNow gains a new layer of authorization. It determines what AI agents and Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers are permitted to do at every point in a multi-agent workflow. During runtime, an agent consults the passport to verify its authorized scope.
If the agent stays within those limits, it can perform its tasks freely. If it deviates, the system takes measures: rerouting, restricting, or providing the correct context again. And if absolutely necessary, a kill switch intervenes. The Super Intelligence Control Tower issues the passport based on the CMDB, GRC policies, and workflow approvals.
How does this differ from an audit trail? An audit trail shows what happened after the fact. AI Passport is designed to prevent an agent from overstepping its boundaries in the first place. This is especially relevant for third-party agents: instead of relying on what an agent claims about its own permissions, you get a verifiable record.
“As AI agents proliferate across the enterprise, visibility alone isn’t enough. Enterprises need confidence that every AI agent is operating within its authorized scope,” says Jon Sigler, EVP and general manager of the AI Platform at ServiceNow.
AI Passport is built on open specifications. This allows any governance tool, identity provider, or enforcement point to issue and verify credentials, even for third-party agents. Nvidia is building a production-ready implementation on the Nvidia Open Agent Safety Platform, using the open-source runtime OpenShell and the Nvidia Sentry security framework.
Shadow AI and costs
In addition to the passport, ServiceNow is introducing shadow AI detection to identify unapproved agents on the network. More than 400 connectors are designed to enable AI discovery across platforms and vendors.
AI Cost Management, part of IT Asset Management, consolidates costs for frontier models, SaaS AI, hyperscalers, and data center GPUs into a single overview. Policy enforcement can escalate from a warning to throttling and ultimately blocking.
For the financial sector, ServiceNow is launching an Operational Resilience solution. According to its own Banking AI Maturity Index 2026, 100 percent of banks use AI, but only 24 percent have the necessary governance in place. That discrepancy is striking. The solution helps banks triage incidents within legal reporting deadlines, contain them, and revoke access.
Operational Resilience is available immediately. AI Passport, shadow AI detection, and AI Cost Management are expected to follow in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Tip: ServiceNow patches four vulnerabilities in Now Platform and AI Platform