What is ServiceNow Arc? The personal AI agent explained.

ServiceNow Arc is a personal, long-running AI agent for everyday work across ServiceNow workflows, email, and Microsoft Teams. IT controls what it can do through policies on the ServiceNow instance. As of 22 October 2026, Arc is generally available as part of ServiceNow EmployeeWorks and runs as a desktop app on Apple M-series Macs. Several governance pieces announced alongside it ship later. This guide separates what works today from what is announced.

• Available today: the Mac app, instance policies, and approval gates, per the Arc documentation.
• Cost: the launch release lists no added license fee, and user-initiated requests draw on the Assist pool you negotiate at renewal.
• Later: Windows support, plus AI Passport, expected in Q4 2026.

How does ServiceNow Arc work?

ServiceNow Arc is an enterprise autonomous AI agent that runs as a native macOS application and takes its rules from a connected ServiceNow instance. The Arc runtime plans a task, runs each step inside an isolated sandbox on the device, checks the result, and adjusts when a step fails. Instance policies decide which actions Arc may take.

Arc ships as part of ServiceNow EmployeeWorks, the SKU covered in our guide to EmployeeWorks, Otto, and Employee Slate. The governing side is Super Intelligence Control Tower (previously AI Control Tower), ServiceNow's product for discovering, securing, governing, observing, and measuring AI. ServiceNow announced Project Arc as powered by ServiceNow Action Fabric, the agent interface ServiceNow opened at Knowledge 2026.

Is ServiceNow Project Arc the same product?

Yes. Project Arc was the early-preview name ServiceNow used when it introduced the agent at Knowledge 2026 on 5 May 2026. The May release governed it through AI Control Tower and ran its actions inside NVIDIA OpenShell. NVIDIA's announcement the same day described a long-running, self-evolving desktop agent for knowledge workers. General availability under the name ServiceNow Arc followed on 21 October 2026, and ZDNET's launch report traces it back to the May announcement.

Which ARC is this?

ServiceNow's Anonymous Reporting Center (ARC) in GRC and its Anonymous Report Center (ARC) in Employee Relations are separate features for anonymous employee reports. Edgile's ServiceNow Automated Regulatory Compliance (ArC) is a third-party compliance content service, also unrelated to the personal agent.

What can Arc do today?

Arc accepts a goal, plans the steps, runs them across connected systems, checks its own work, and retries when a step fails. ServiceNow's Arc overview page adds skills, reusable workflows, sub-agents, long-term memory, and approval gates that IT configures. Policies decide which actions run automatically and which wait for a person.

According to eWeek's launch report, assignments can run for minutes or days, Arc surfaces pending approvals and follow-ups from the inbox, meetings, and backlog, and it can write a new integration when no connector fits. ServiceNow's Arc overview page also describes two memory layers: long-term memory for preferences, decisions, and facts across sessions, and a knowledge graph of people, projects, decisions, and action items. Skill packs repair their own scripts when they fail.

Approvals come in two forms. Hard gates block an action until someone approves it. Soft gates let the action run with approval still available, and an Auto mode routes lower-risk calls past the approval prompt. Arc's tools reach ServiceNow APIs, Microsoft 365, file systems, and GitHub, and the local MCP server controls show users can also connect Model Context Protocol servers that run on their own device.

What is generally available, and what is announced for later?

Arc's core is available today: the Mac app, instance policies, approval gates, the local OpenShell sandbox, and the kill switch. Windows support, AI Passport, and hardware enforcement on NVIDIA BlueField are announced for later. The table gives each item's status on 22 October 2026 and names the page that states it.

Project Arc entered early preview on 5 May 2026. A June 2026 ServiceNow staff Community post described every critical Project Arc action running inside OpenShell.

What hardware and operating system does Arc need?

Arc needs a Mac with an Apple M-series processor. ServiceNow's Arc download and install page says Arc is "only available for macOS that uses M-series processors, such as M1, M2, M3, and M4." Windows support is announced. The documented install runs Arc and its sandbox locally on the Mac.

The launch release, as distributed on Business Wire, says Arc "can run on its own computer inside a secure NVIDIA OpenShell runtime or on an employee's desktop." The docs describe only the desktop app today. During first-time Arc setup, the Mac starts an OpenShell gateway and a MicroVM sandbox.

Do you need NVIDIA RTX Spark for Arc?

The documented install targets Apple M-series Macs, which have no NVIDIA GPU, so RTX Spark is not required for the install ServiceNow documents today. The launch release PDF presents RTX Spark as the local inference option: Arc is designed to handle everyday work with local models and turn to frontier models for more demanding tasks.

When does ServiceNow Arc support Windows?

ServiceNow's launch announcement on Business Wire says "Windows support is expected to roll out within weeks." ServiceNow has not published a Windows date or Windows hardware requirements.

Does ServiceNow Arc cost extra?

ServiceNow's launch release says Arc is included at no additional cost with Foundation, Advanced, and Prime SKUs as part of EmployeeWorks. Two ServiceNow documentation pages add conditions: Arc requires a separate subscription, and user-initiated requests consume Assists. Confirm entitlement and Assist budget with your ServiceNow account team before you switch Arc on.

One reading that fits all three: EmployeeWorks is the separate subscription, Arc adds no license fee on top of it, and Arc usage draws down Assists like other ServiceNow AI features. ServiceNow has not published that reading, per-task Assist rates, or usage caps for Arc.

Assist-consuming calls appear in the Generative AI Log under the feature name ServiceNow Arc Execution, which gives platform owners a place to measure spend. The Foundation, Advanced, and Prime packaging that ServiceNow introduced in April 2026 meters AI usage in Assists. For how that metering works by skill action, see how Now Assist assists are metered.

How does IT govern Arc?

IT governs Arc through policies authored on the ServiceNow instance. The instance merges every policy that applies to a user into one bundle, and each Arc client enforces that bundle in code before every action. Arc runs nothing until it has a policy, and Super Intelligence Control Tower holds traces, an asset record, and a kill switch.

Is Super Intelligence Control Tower the same as AI Control Tower?

Super Intelligence Control Tower is the new name for ServiceNow AI Control Tower. CIO.com reported on 15 October 2026 that ServiceNow gave AI Control Tower "a new name, Super Intelligence Control Tower (SICT)." The Super Intelligence Control Tower product page still sits at /products/ai-control-tower.html.

Some ServiceNow pages still use the old name. The Arc architecture page says connectors run only when "AI Control Tower policy" allows them, and a June 2026 ServiceNow staff post calls it AICT. The AI Control Tower expansion at Knowledge 2026 added Veza identity governance and an AI Gateway for MCP traffic. The AI Control Tower release notes date AI Gateway availability to the September 2026 release. The product ties AI assets to the CMDB, the groundwork covered in getting your CMDB ready for AI agents.

How do Arc policies, approval gates, and the Default Policy work?

Every instance ships a Default Policy that is active, applies to all users, and covers all seven policy components. Admins can't edit it. The Arc agent policy creation page sets the Default Policy at priority 999 and new policies at 1,000. To override the Default Policy, enter a number lower than 999. If the instance becomes unreachable, the client keeps enforcing the last policy it retrieved.

What sandbox, network, and connector limits can IT set?

ServiceNow's environment and capability controls page says "By default, Arc blocks all outbound traffic except to the hosts, domains, and ports in the network allow list." Connector scopes narrow what a credential can do, such as blocking mail writes while keeping calendar access. Users can narrow their own permissions within the scopes IT turns on. File type rules set read, write, or deny access per extension. The Arc reference section also covers preventing changes to sandbox files and testing a policy change.

Local MCP servers need a deliberate decision. ServiceNow's local MCP page says a local MCP server runs outside the Arc sandbox, performs actions on the device without approval for each one, and persists when Arc restarts. Admins switch them off per user or group through a capability override on the policy.

Where are Arc traces, telemetry, and the kill switch?

When a user signs in, Arc registers on the instance as the ServiceNow Arc Agent asset in the Super Intelligence Control Tower inventory. Per trace evaluation for Arc, Arc sends traces in OpenTelemetry (OTel) format, and Super Intelligence Control Tower shows them only after an administrator moves the asset to the Managed state. An Explicit Block policy ends a named user's active Arc session. The architecture page adds a periodic heartbeat from each installation and a kill switch that stops Arc from taking further actions.

What is ServiceNow AI Passport, and does Arc need it?

ServiceNow AI Passport is a cryptographically signed credential that Super Intelligence Control Tower issues to each AI agent, within an authority layer that also controls what MCP servers may do. ServiceNow's AI Passport announcement says "AI Passport, shadow AI detection, and AI Cost Management are expected to be available in Q4 2026."

Arc runs today on instance policies, the sandbox, and the kill switch. The Arc launch release sets out the enforcement chain. ServiceNow issues the passport, NVIDIA OpenShell reads it at runtime, and NVIDIA Sentry on BlueField reads it in hardware. The release PDF on ServiceNow's investor site says revocation can propagate across both layers "within approximately one second" and places passport enforcement in OpenShell and BlueField in "a future release."

NVIDIA states the same capability differently. Its OpenShell Reference Architecture announcement says enterprises can revoke an agent's access across software and hardware "within seconds," and that "NVIDIA Sentry quarantines and stops it in milliseconds." ServiceNow places this enforcement in a future release. NVIDIA's announcement describes it in the present tense. Tech Times reports that Sentry is "on track for general availability in early 2027." NVIDIA OpenShell is the runtime layer Arc uses today.

Where does Arc's data go?

Arc's runtime, memory, and tool execution stay on the Mac. ServiceNow's Arc architecture documentation lists three flows that leave the device: requests from the LLM client to the large language model, policy sync and registration with Super Intelligence Control Tower, and data that connectors send to connected systems such as Slack, Microsoft 365, and GitHub.

Generative AI Controller logs every LLM call Arc makes. The Arc landing page says some features are unavailable in FedRAMP, NSC DOD IL5, Australia IRAP-Protected, self-hosted, or other restricted environments (KB0743854). The same page notes that data can move from your instance to a central ServiceNow environment in another region, which may run on a third-party cloud provider such as Microsoft Azure.

How does Arc fit with ServiceNow Otto, EmployeeWorks, and Action Fabric?

Arc ships as part of EmployeeWorks, the employee front door, one of two places where ServiceNow Otto can first be experienced. Otto is ServiceNow's unified AI experience. ServiceNow's May release described Project Arc as powered by Action Fabric, which gives AI agents access to the ServiceNow system of action. AI specialists handle role-based work in the Autonomous Workforce.

ServiceNow's Otto announcement says Otto "combines the intelligence of Now Assist, Moveworks, and AI Experience" and that "ServiceNow Otto can be first experienced in ServiceNow EmployeeWorks and the AI Control Tower." ServiceNow has not documented how Arc appears inside Otto or Employee Slate. Virtual Agent is changing too, covered in moving Virtual Agent from NLU to LLM topics.

The Action Fabric launch release describes a generally available Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, with Anthropic as the first design partner. Constellation Research's Knowledge 2026 recap describes AI specialists that work with humans on end-to-end processes and resolve cases autonomously. For another 2026 ServiceNow AI launch that connects to EmployeeWorks, see our explainer on Flow by ServiceNow.

Identity sits with Veza. The Super Intelligence Control Tower page lists Veza from ServiceNow for human, non-human, and AI agent identities, and CRN Asia reports the Veza acquisition closed in March 2026. No ServiceNow source links Veza to Arc directly.

What should IT set up first for ServiceNow Arc?

IT should activate the ServiceNow Arc plugin, assign roles, and review the Default Policy and network rules before anyone installs the Mac app. Users then install Arc on an M-series Mac, sign in, and confirm the sandbox checks. Watch the Generative AI Log from the first task.

ServiceNow's Configure section for Arc lists plugin activation, install, setup, policy creation, policy configuration, and trace evaluation, in that order.

1. Activate: install the Arc plugin (sn_app_cowork) from All > System Applications > All Available Applications > All.
2. Assign: give sn_app_cowork.admin to policy owners and sn_app_cowork.user to employees who will run tasks.
3. Review: read the Default Policy, then create a policy below priority 999 in Arc policy management docs.
4. Restrict: set the network allow list, connector scopes, and file type rules, and decide on local MCP servers.
5. Install: download the Mac installer from All > ServiceNow Arc > Downloads per the Arc install steps.
6. Sign in: enter the instance URL and sign in with a password, PIN, or SSO through the browser.
7. Verify: confirm "Rootfs image ready", "OpenShell gateway started", and "MicroVM sandbox ready" per Set up ServiceNow Arc.
8. Monitor: track ServiceNow Arc Execution entries in the Generative AI Log and move the Arc asset to Managed to see traces.

The activation page offers a no-charge evaluation on a non-production instance through the Now Support Service Catalog, which suits a pilot group. Scope that pilot with a four-step AI POC method for ServiceNow, and check instance readiness before an AI rollout.

What are analysts questioning about Arc?

Analysts question whether AI Passport enforcement and ServiceNow's cost controls will match the announcements, and how much early evidence says about Arc's accuracy. Hardware enforcement also depends on NVIDIA BlueField-4 DPUs, which Tech Times says are uncommon in enterprise server racks, and on NVIDIA Sentry, reported for early 2027.

Frank Dickson, principal analyst at Dickson Research, told CIO.com in its AI Passport coverage: "A passport is only as trustworthy as the office that issues it." On cost controls he said "a meter you can watch is not a brake." Melody Brue of Moor Insights & Strategy said what matters now is how consistently ServiceNow "can enforce boundaries and verify outcomes" across the systems agents touch.

eWeek reported a ServiceNow Research experiment alongside its launch story and wrote: "The experiment does not establish Arc’s accuracy or cost savings." For how Echelon builds trust controls into its own agents, see trust infrastructure for AI agents in ServiceNow.

Frequently asked questions.

Is ServiceNow Arc included with EmployeeWorks?

ServiceNow's launch release says Arc is generally available as part of EmployeeWorks and included at no additional cost with Foundation, Advanced, and Prime SKUs. The activation documentation also says Arc requires a separate subscription, and the architecture page says user-initiated requests consume Assists. Confirm your entitlement and Assist pool with your ServiceNow account team, and review what ServiceNow publishes about assists.

How do ServiceNow Arc and NVIDIA work together?

ServiceNow defines policy in Super Intelligence Control Tower, and NVIDIA OpenShell enforces it at runtime inside the sandbox on the Mac. Later, NVIDIA Sentry on BlueField DPUs will read AI Passport status in hardware. NVIDIA's partnership blog on ServiceNow agents describes ServiceNow building on and contributing to OpenShell, the open-source runtime for sandboxed, policy-governed agents.

Can Arc run on FedRAMP or self-hosted instances?

ServiceNow's Arc landing page says some features are unavailable in FedRAMP, NSC DOD IL5, Australia IRAP-Protected, self-hosted, or other restricted environments, and points to KB0743854. ServiceNow has not published an Arc-specific list for those environments. Check KB0743854 and the Arc reference topics with your account team before a regulated rollout.

What is the difference between ServiceNow Otto and Arc?

ServiceNow Otto is the unified AI experience ServiceNow announced on 5 May 2026, combining Now Assist, Moveworks, and AI Experience. Arc is a personal desktop agent that ships as part of EmployeeWorks and acts on an employee's behalf under instance policies. The Otto release says Otto will roll out across all ServiceNow products in the year ahead.

Can administrators stop Arc in the middle of a task?

Yes. ServiceNow's architecture documentation describes a kill switch in AI Control Tower (now Super Intelligence Control Tower) that stops Arc from taking further actions. An Explicit Block policy ends a named user's active session and helps prevent new ones. The AI Control Tower release from Knowledge 2026 describes the kill switch for agents that operate out of bounds.

Which ServiceNow roles does Arc use?

Arc uses two roles. sn_app_cowork.admin sets policies and approval gates, governs connectors and MCP servers, and controls which models are available. sn_app_cowork.user runs tasks, answers approval prompts, and uses skills, workflows, and sub-agents. Policy creation requires the admin role, per the Arc agent policy procedure.

Can I try Arc before buying a subscription?

Yes, on a non-production instance. The Arc evaluation and activation steps say you can evaluate the feature without charge by requesting it from the Now Support Service Catalog. An admin then activates the sn_app_cowork plugin from All Available Applications. Plan the evaluation like any AI pilot, with a success metric set before the build.

Arc works for one employee at a time. Echelon is the AI workforce for ServiceNow delivery: its autonomous AI developers for ServiceNow build and test work inside the instance, with programmatic and LLM-as-judge validation at each execution phase.

If your team is preparing instance work around Arc, Otto, or Super Intelligence Control Tower, book a scoping call with Echelon. In 30 minutes, you watch Echelon scope, build, and test work against your backlog.