ServiceNow CEO: we have a 'kill switch' to stop rogue AI agents

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ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott calls for move from "AI chaos to AI discipline"

Comments come after OpenAI model infiltrated Hugging Face

McDermott says ServiceNow tools come with a "kill switch" to prevent such incidents

ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott has laid out why his company's AI offerings have an advantage over the competition, partly because of built-in controls which can cut off access when needed.

Speaking to CNBC , McDermott said ServiceNow's tools are helping businesses move “from AI chaos to AI discipline.”

“We have a kill switch that stops AI agents that go rogue, so those things don’t need to happen, and they wouldn’t happen when companies run ServiceNow,” McDermott said

Not going rogue

McDermott's comments come shortly after the much-publicized incident which saw an OpenAI model breach online repository Hugging Face.

The incident was part of an experiment from OpenAI as part of its testing of GPT‑5.6 Sol and an “even more capable pre-release model” to see how well they would perform on the ExploitGym benchmark.

Hugging Face co-founder Thomas Wolf has called the event "a wake-up call", telling the BBC it, "will be one of the most common types of cyber attacks we see", adding that most firms are not aware that the "game has changed".

Many large software firms have experienced some disquiet over their increasing use of AI, however McDermott dismissed concerns this growing AI competition could affect ServiceNow retaining customers.

“If you look at the terms of our contracts, they’ve actually gotten longer,” McDermott said, noting that greater AI adoption should actually increase demand for tools such as those provided by ServiceNow.

“There’s going to be more AI. There’s going to be more incidents, and all these things drive more and more volume to ServiceNow,” he said.

The news came as ServiceNow reported its latest earnings, with subscription revenues of $3,877 million in Q2 2026, representing 24.5% year-over-year growth and 23% in constant currency