Agentic AI Enterprise Outlook: What SAP and ServiceNow Forecast in 2026

LONDON — February 9, 2026 — Enterprise buyers are prioritizing agentic AI platforms that can orchestrate end-to-end workflows, as vendors including SAP, ServiceNow, Snowflake, and Databricks refine strategies to operationalize autonomous task execution across core business processes.

Executive Summary

• Enterprises evaluate agent frameworks that connect LLMs to systems of record, per Gartner and Forrester analyses.
• Data control and observability drive platform selection, emphasizing integrations from Snowflake, Databricks, and Palantir.
• Vendors position domain-specific agents in ITSM, ERP, HCM, and industrial operations via ServiceNow, SAP, Workday, and Siemens.
• Governance requirements (GDPR, SOC 2, ISO 27001) and FedRAMP drive architectures, according to IDC and Stanford HAI guidance.

Key Takeaways

• Agentic AI is moving from pilots to core workflow infrastructure across IT and operations, with platform breadth and ecosystem depth as differentiators (Gartner).
• Data stack alignment and security certifications remain gating criteria for scale, strengthening the position of data-platform-first vendors (Forrester).
• Industry-specific agents are gaining traction in service management, finance, HR, and industrial automation (IDC).
• Boards weigh ROI against risk; observability and policy engines are now table stakes for procurement (Stanford HAI).

Lead: From Copilots to Operators Reported from London — In a January 2026 industry briefing, analysts noted enterprises are consolidating around platforms that embed agents directly into core workflows spanning IT service, finance, HR, sales, and industrial operations (Gartner; Forrester). On January 24, 2026, ServiceNow emphasized workflow-native agents as part of its platform evolution, underscoring the need for decisioning, guardrails, and system integrations in production environments (ServiceNow newsroom). Per January 2026 vendor disclosures, SAP and Workday described agentic patterns that align with their ERP and HCM data models to ensure policy compliance (SAP News; Workday Blog). According to demonstrations at recent technology conferences, early adopters are prioritizing autonomous task chains that implement approvals, write-backs, and audit logging across systems of record, with data platforms like Snowflake and Databricks providing model hosting, retrieval, and governance controls (Snowflake Blog; Databricks Blog). On January 12, 2026, Siemens highlighted agent-driven co-creation in industrial engineering workflows via its software portfolio and partner ecosystems (Siemens Press). Figures are directionally consistent with independent assessments from IDC and Stanford HAI; market statistics are cross-referenced across multiple analyst estimates. Key Market Trends for Agentic AI in 2026

Trend	Adoption Direction	Enterprise Priority	Source
Workflow-native agents (ITSM/ERP/HCM)	Accelerating	High	Gartner
Data platform integration (RAG, vector, lineage)	Accelerating	High	Forrester
Guardrails, policy, and observability	Expanding	High	Stanford HAI
Industrial/OT agents	Emerging	Medium	Siemens Press
Vendor-neutral agent frameworks	Consolidating	Medium	IDC
Regulated cloud deployments	Standardizing	High	ISO 27001

Context: Platform Strategies and Stack Alignment As documented in IDC’s worldwide technology outlooks, buyers are aligning agent deployments with existing data estates and identity systems, elevating the role of Snowflake, Databricks, and security controls that meet SOC 2 and ISO 27001 requirements (IDC). On January 18, 2026, Palantir reiterated that its AIP strategy focuses on secure orchestration on enterprise networks, coupling policy enforcement with model routing (Palantir News). According to Forrester’s Q1 2026 landscape assessments, business leaders prefer embedded agents in existing SaaS suites from ServiceNow, SAP, and Workday to minimize integration cost. Per Gartner’s 2026 research notes, the most effective implementations emphasize autonomy bounded by business rules, human oversight, and step-level logging for audit trails (Gartner). Based on analysis across deployments in multiple industries, enterprises are standardizing on agent patterns that combine planner-executor loops with tool use and event-driven triggers, while ensuring all write-backs pass through entitlements and approvals (Stanford HAI). These insights align with broader Agentic AI trends tracked across enterprise technology stacks.

Analysis: Governance, Architecture, and ROI

According to Gartner analyst guidance, “Enterprises are shifting from pilot agents to production-grade operators at a rapid pace, but only when observability and policy enforcement are integral to architecture,” noted Avivah Litan, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner (analyst profile). During a Q1 2026 technology assessment, researchers found that grounded retrieval, lineage, and red-teaming remain critical for regulated industries (Stanford HAI). As documented in peer-reviewed research published by ACM Computing Surveys, agent tool-use reliability improves with explicit state management and environmental feedback (ACM Computing Surveys). “Workflow is the system of action, and AI agents must live inside it,” said Bill McDermott, Chairman and CEO of ServiceNow, as emphasized in the company’s January communications (ServiceNow newsroom). Christian Klein, CEO of SAP, stated that AI agents tied to ERP context can “deliver outcomes with compliance and consistency,” per the company’s press statements in January 2026 (SAP News). According to Rowan Curran, Senior Analyst at Forrester, “Agent adoption in regulated sectors increases when vendors provide prebuilt policy templates and connectors,” as outlined in Forrester’s Q1 2026 guidance (Forrester Research). Company Positions: Platforms and Differentiators Data-centric stacks remain pivotal. Snowflake positions Cortex services and native governance as a foundation for agentic workloads with secure data access and feature stores (Snowflake Blog). Databricks emphasizes lakehouse-native agents, model governance, and retrieval patterns integrated with Unity Catalog and lineage features, as outlined in its January 2026 technical posts (Databricks Blog). According to corporate regulatory disclosures and compliance documentation, both providers highlight SOC 2 and ISO 27001-aligned controls to meet enterprise security benchmarks (Snowflake Legal; Databricks Trust Center). Workflow and domain SaaS are accelerating embedded agents. ServiceNow integrates agents into incident, request, and change workflows for ITSM and beyond, while Workday focuses on finance and HR agents that operate within defined data models (ServiceNow newsroom; Workday Blog). In operational technology, Siemens and Honeywell explore agentic systems for engineering, maintenance, and building automation (Siemens Press; Honeywell Newsroom). Per management commentary in investor presentations, Palantir underscores policy-led agent orchestration for sensitive environments (Palantir News). Company Comparison

Vendor	Agent Framework	Data Integration Focus	Governance & Certs
ServiceNow	Workflow-native, ITSM-first	Platform connectors, IT data	SOC 2; policy/approvals (source)
SAP	ERP-context agents	Finance, supply chain	ISO-aligned controls (source)
Workday	Finance/HR agents	HCM/financials	Security by design (source)
Snowflake	Data/feature store centric	Secure data sharing	SOC 2, ISO 27001 (source)
Databricks	Lakehouse agents	Unity Catalog lineage	Governance suite (source)
Palantir	Policy-led orchestration	On-network deployment	Gov-focused controls (source)
Siemens	Industrial/OT agents	Engineering/PLM data	Industrial safety (source)

Implementation Playbook: Best Practices and Pitfalls As documented in IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing (2026), robust agent systems rely on capability-based access control, strong identity, and compensating controls when acting on enterprise systems (IEEE TCC). Based on hands-on evaluations by enterprise technology teams, buyers are adopting planner-executor loops with explicit tool schemas, approvals, and rollback mechanisms embedded in orchestration layers from ServiceNow and data stacks from Databricks (ServiceNow newsroom; Databricks Blog). This builds on latest Agentic AI innovations tracked across sectors. “Enterprises need pragmatic autonomy—bounded, auditable, and measurable,” said Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks, during January management commentary highlighting governance in agent workflows (Databricks Blog). John Roese, Global CTO at Dell Technologies, observed that AI infrastructure requirements are reshaping data center architectures for agent workloads, with emphasis on GPUs and memory bandwidth, as reported by Business Insider (Business Insider). Per federal regulatory requirements and recent commission guidance, organizations deploying agents in government contexts are prioritizing FedRAMP High and data residency controls (FedRAMP). Outlook: What to Watch According to Forrester’s Q1 2026 landscape, key signals include the maturation of vendor-neutral agent frameworks, standardization of safety benchmarks, and procurement templates that bundle observability and red-teaming into SLAs (Forrester). As highlighted in annual shareholder communications, vendors will emphasize ecosystem extensibility—SDKs, prebuilt policies, and certified integrations across ERP, CRM, and OT systems from partners like SAP and Siemens (SAP News; Siemens Press). Enterprises weighing build vs. buy should map agent capabilities to existing approval flows, identity governance, and compliance obligations aligned to ISO 27001 and SOC 2 (ISO 27001).

Disclosure: BUSINESS 2.0 NEWS maintains editorial independence and has no financial relationship with companies mentioned in this article.

Sources include company disclosures, regulatory filings, analyst reports, and industry briefings.

Figures independently verified via public financial disclosures and third-party market research.

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