Strategic Automation in Government: Navigating ServiceNow's AI Control Tower and RPA Hub

AI Control Tower vs. RPA Hub: Understanding ServiceNow's Government Automation Platforms

State and local governments are rapidly scaling their automation efforts to meet citizen demands for faster, more efficient services. As agencies deploy everything from chatbots to automated permit processing, two critical questions emerge: How do we govern our growing AI portfolio? And how do we operationally manage our automation fleet?

ServiceNow addresses these challenges with two distinct but complementary solutions: AI Control Tower and RPA Hub. Understanding the difference between these platforms—and how they work together—is crucial for government agencies looking to scale intelligent automation while maintaining public trust.

The Strategic View: AI Control Tower

Think of AI Control Tower as the command center for your government's entire AI ecosystem. It provides comprehensive governance, management, and value realization for all AI initiatives—from simple chatbots to complex AI agents making decisions that impact citizens.

Key Government Applications:

AI Control Tower offers unprecedented visibility by monitoring and managing every AI agent, model, and workflow across your government—whether built internally or sourced from third parties. This centralized oversight ensures AI initiatives align with public policy objectives, deliver measurable value to taxpayers, and maintain compliance throughout their entire lifecycle.

The platform excels in proactive risk management, embedding governance directly into AI operations. For government use cases like benefit determinations, permit approvals, or public safety assessments, AI Control Tower tracks model performance in real-time, monitors for bias that could impact vulnerable populations, and maintains comprehensive audit trails that satisfy public records requests and legislative oversight.

Beyond governance, AI Control Tower measures the actual impact of AI investments, providing dynamic dashboards that validate performance against key metrics like reduced processing times, cost savings, and improved citizen satisfaction. This ROI tracking helps justify AI investments to legislators and taxpayers.

Most importantly, the platform takes a technology-agnostic approach—managing everything from simple rule-based automation to sophisticated AI agents. Whether your agencies deploy machine learning for fraud detection, natural language processing for citizen services, or AI agents for case management, the Control Tower provides unified oversight, lifecycle management, and performance optimization.

The platform's real power lies in connecting AI initiatives to core government services through ServiceNow's unified data architecture, ensuring AI doesn't operate in silos but integrates seamlessly with existing workflows while maintaining the governance frameworks required by federal mandates and state-specific regulations.

The Operational View: RPA Hub

While AI Control Tower focuses on governance and accountability, RPA Hub is ServiceNow's purpose-built platform for managing robotic process automation. If AI Control Tower is the oversight committee, RPA Hub is the operations center for your automation workforce.

Key Government Applications:

RPA Hub specializes in connecting legacy government systems that lack modern APIs—a critical capability for agencies still relying on mainframe systems for benefits processing, tax administration, or permit management. The platform automates time-consuming, UI-based interactions like data entry between systems, eliminating manual work that creates backlogs and errors.

Government IT teams can centrally orchestrate and manage both attended bots (which work alongside employees) and unattended bots (which run independently) through a single interface. For example, attended bots can assist DMV clerks with license renewals while unattended bots process tax filings overnight. The platform includes over 1,300 pre-built connectors, templates, and OCR capabilities specifically designed for government forms and documents.

RPA Hub provides real-time dashboards showing bot performance, queue status, and process execution details—critical for maintaining service levels during peak periods like tax season. This operational visibility enables agencies to quickly identify bottlenecks, schedule robot maintenance, and ensure consistent citizen service delivery.

The platform's analytics help demonstrate ROI to legislators and taxpayers by tracking metrics like reduced processing times, improved accuracy in benefit calculations, and decreased backlogs in permit applications.

Better Together: The Complementary Approach

The most successful government organizations use both platforms to address different aspects of their automation journey.

AI Control Tower ensures that automated decisions affecting citizens comply with legal requirements and ethical standards, while RPA Hub manages the operational aspects that keep government services running smoothly. Together, they provide end-to-end visibility—AI Control Tower offers the governance dashboard oversight bodies need, while RPA Hub provides operational metrics for efficient service delivery.

The combination enables robust risk management across the automation spectrum, with AI Control Tower establishing governance frameworks that satisfy regulatory requirements while RPA Hub ensures operational compliance through real-time monitoring.

Choosing Your Path Forward

For government agencies beginning their automation journey, the choice often depends on current needs and regulatory requirements. Agencies with established automation programs may find immediate value in RPA Hub's operational capabilities, while those embarking on AI initiatives that impact citizen decision-making or public safety might prioritize AI Control Tower's governance features.

However, mature government automation programs increasingly recognize that both platforms serve essential but different purposes. The most successful implementations treat them as complementary components of a comprehensive automation strategy.

Ready to Transform Your Government Services?

Whether you're just starting your automation journey or looking to scale existing initiatives, understanding how AI Control Tower and RPA Hub can work together is crucial for serving citizens effectively while maintaining public trust.

Take the next step with Servos:

• Assess your agency's automation maturity and compliance needs

• Evaluate how these platforms align with your service delivery goals

• Connect with Servos government experts who understand your unique challenges

• Schedule a demo tailored to government use cases

The future of government is automated, intelligent, and accountable. Make sure your agency is ready to lead in delivering modern citizen services while maintaining the transparency and governance the public expects.

About the Author

Megan Mulvihill is a Solution consultant that brings many years of ServiceNow expertise to the table. Whether she's exploring the “what-if” scenarios to unlock new possibilities, or showcasing platform capabilities through demonstrations, Megan's enjoys working with customers and helping them explore the art of the possible. When she's not working, she can be found cheering on her daughters at either a soccer pitch or a hockey arena.