Q&A: Serval CEO describes building an ‘AI-native’ alternative to ServiceNow

Since launching two years ago, Serval has positioned itself as an “AI-native” alternative to incumbent IT service management (ITSM) software vendors, promising to simplify the automation of helpdesk workflows. Serval’s ITSM platform includes a workflow builder that uses a natural language interface to build code-based workflows. While vendors such as Freshworks and ServiceNow also have workflow automation tools in their products, Serval claims its approach makes automating a recurring task quicker than completing it manually, resulting in more tickets resolved automatically. Serval — whose customers now include Spotify, Fox, and Live Nation — has received significant venture funding from Sequoia and others, and was most recently valued at around $1 billion. With its latest product update, Catalyst — made generally available last week — Serval promises to take on more of the work needed to build and deploy workflow automations. That includes analyzing ticket histories and other data to identify processes to automate, then configuring settings and connecting integrations to help put those automations into production. Catalyst also lets admins create long-running background agents th…

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