ServiceNow’s CEO Bill McDermott on Wednesday dismissed what he called the “Saaspocalypse” — the idea that artificial intelligence will render traditional software-as-a-service businesses obsolete — as “nonsense,” even as he unveiled an ambitious plan to more than double the company’s revenue and rolled out a new AI product intended to change how the company charges customers. The announcement came at ServiceNow’s annual Knowledge conference in Las Vegas, where executives laid out a roadmap to grow revenue to at least $30 billion by 2030 and introduced Action Fabric, a tool that lets AI agents interact directly with ServiceNow applications and supports a new usage-based monetization model.
The forecast is a fresh, bold target for a company that has grown rapidly under McDermott: annual revenue rose from $3.46 billion in 2019 to $13.3 billion in 2025 and, he said, is on track to surpass $15 billion this year. Yet investors remain unconvinced. ServiceNow shares have tumbled 39% so far this year and are down more than 55% from their 52-week high; the stock climbed less than 1% after the company released its growth projection on Monday.
McDermott, 64, who spoke to Fortune by phone from the Las Vegas conference, argued that the market’s fears reflect a misunderstanding of enterprise needs. “It’s nonsense,” he said of the Saaspocalypse framing, adding that AI is a tailwind that amplifies the value of integrated platforms rather than a force that eliminates them. He contrasted what he sees as Wall Street skepticism with “Main Street customers” who continue to buy ServiceNow’s workflow and automation tools.
At the conference, ServiceNow detailed several product and partnership updates built around generative AI. Action Fabric was presented as a way to let AI-driven agents take actions across ServiceNow’s workflow applications — a capability the company says can increase automation and shift more enterprise tasks from human agents to AI-enabled processes. Crucially for investors, Action Fabric also introduces a usage-based pricing option that departs from ServiceNow’s traditional seat-based licensing, signaling a broader strategic shift in how the company intends to monetize AI-driven activity.
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McDermott emphasized his personal commitment to the firm’s trajectory, disclosing a $3 million purchase of ServiceNow shares in February and saying that more than 90% of employees are also buying stock. He framed the ownership moves as evidence of confidence that, when the market narrative changes, ServiceNow will achieve far higher valuation. “I explained very clearly to our company that when this thing breaks loose, it will break loose, and we’ll be a trillion dollar company,” he said, adding that it is only a matter of timing.
ServiceNow’s messaging comes amid a broader industry debate over how AI will affect legacy enterprise software vendors. Since the late-2022 arrival of ChatGPT-style models, tech companies have raced to show how generative AI can be commercialized, while investors have punished firms they fear may be slow to adapt or unable to monetize new AI capabilities. McDermott is betting ServiceNow’s focus on workflow automation, new monetization mechanisms and tight integration of AI agents into core apps will make it a beneficiary of the shift rather than a casualty.
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For now, however, Wall Street remains skeptical: the modest stock reaction after the company’s guidance suggests investors want concrete proof that usage-based AI revenue will scale and translate into sustained profit expansion. ServiceNow’s new roadmap and Action Fabric lay out a blueprint for that proof; McDermott’s stake — financial and rhetorical — makes clear he intends to be at the forefront of delivering it.
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