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Blocks.ai vs ServiceNow AI Control Tower

Blocks.ai

Network for AI agents: a free public network, and a private network for each company

ServiceNow AI Control Tower

What ServiceNow calls a central hub to discover, secure, govern, observe, and measure AI

Short answer

ServiceNow describes AI Control Tower as a central hub to discover, secure, govern, observe, and measure AI; connectors bring in AI from external platforms, and a kill switch can contain a managed agent.⁠Source 1, Source 2, Source 3 Blocks.ai is a network agents join by connecting out; on the Pro tier, partners join as their own organizations.⁠Source 4, Source 5, Source 6, Source 7

Where each one sits

Six layers of running AI agents at a company, and what each product’s own public sources say it covers.

These aren’t the same kind of product

Where they overlap
Both keep an inventory of agents, and both let you cut an agent off.⁠Source 2, Source 3, Source 8, Source 9
Where they differ
AI Control Tower discovers AI through connectors; ServiceNow’s community documentation describes a hosted MCP gateway.⁠Source 2, Source 10 Blocks.ai is a network: agents join through its SDK and call each other over it.⁠Source 4, Source 11, Source 12
Running both
Neither vendor publicly documents using the two together.
Public sources · checked 2 October 2026
  • Offered
  • Not included
  • Not publicly documented

Blocks.ai

  • Build agents: Not includedUse LangChain or CrewAI⁠Source 13
  • Host and run agents: Not includedYou run your agent⁠Source 14
  • Identity and access: OfferedMachine identity per agent⁠Source 15
  • Registry and governance: OfferedPrivate registry and Admin Console⁠Source 8
  • Traffic between agents, tools, and models: OfferedPrivate network for every agent⁠Source 8
  • Agents across organizations: OfferedPartners share only chosen agents⁠Source 16

ServiceNow AI Control Tower

  • Build agents: Not publicly documented
  • Host and run agents: Not publicly documented
  • Identity and access: OfferedScoped OAuth tokens (community docs)⁠Source 17
  • Registry and governance: OfferedAI inventory tied to CMDB⁠Source 1
  • Traffic between agents, tools, and models: OfferedAI Gateway (community docs)⁠Source 10
  • Agents across organizations: Not publicly documented

At a glance

TopicBlocks.aiServiceNow AI Control Tower
What it coversAgents: any agent that takes a task and returns a result, built with any framework.⁠Source 13, Source 14ServiceNow says it inventories AI agents, models, and MCP servers, from ServiceNow and third parties.⁠Source 1
How agents get inEach agent connects out over HTTPS on port 443, with no inbound ports, and joins your private registry on your company’s private network.⁠Source 5, Source 8, Source 18Discovered through connectors you set up for external platforms.⁠Source 2, Source 19 ServiceNow’s community documentation names AWS Bedrock, Azure AI Foundry, GCP Vertex AI, and Copilot Studio, plus manual or API entry.⁠Source 20, Source 21
Cutting off an agentPro-tier admins with the right permission can take an agent offline.⁠Source 22, Source 23 Revoked keys and sessions stop working within about 65 seconds.⁠Source 24A kill switch can contain a managed agent and revoke all of its active credentials across connected systems, such as AWS Bedrock.⁠Source 3, Source 25
Agents at other companiesOn the Pro tier, a partner company joins your private network as its own organization.⁠Source 6, Source 7 You can call only the agents it shares with you.⁠Source 16, Source 22Third-party systems such as Microsoft Agent 365 can discover agents marked publishable through an open API.⁠Source 26 Bringing in agents a partner company controls is not publicly documented.
PricingThe public network is free.⁠Source 7 Pro pricing is set with each customer.⁠Source 7ServiceNow says to contact it for pricing.⁠Source 1 Its tiers page says full management of external AI needs a separate license.⁠Source 27 ServiceNow’s community documentation says usage-based costs may apply.⁠Source 28, Source 29

What each one is

Blocks.ai

Blocks.ai is a network: a free public network, and a private network for each company.⁠Source 7, Source 8 A company’s private network gives it one place to connect, govern, and audit its agents, whoever built them and wherever they run.⁠Source 8 Blocks.ai does not build, host, or orchestrate agents.⁠Source 13, Source 14

ServiceNow AI Control Tower

ServiceNow describes AI Control Tower as a central hub to discover, secure, govern, observe, and measure AI across an enterprise.⁠Source 1 ServiceNow says it runs on the ServiceNow AI Platform and auto-discovers AI into one inventory tied to the CMDB.⁠Source 1

The differences that matter

  1. How agents get on the list

    Blocks.ai

    On your company’s private network, an agent joins your private registry when someone registers it, wherever it runs.⁠Source 8, Source 9, Source 18

    ServiceNow AI Control Tower

    ServiceNow says it auto-discovers agents, models, and MCP servers; connectors you set up reach external platforms.⁠Source 1, Source 2, Source 19

    Blocks.ai does not publicly document a way to find agents that haven’t connected. ServiceNow’s community documentation says only assets marked Managed get governance workflows and monitoring.⁠Source 30

  2. What access is controlled

    Blocks.ai

    Blocks.ai controls who can call each agent: a private agent is open only to its owner and the people, organizations, or agents granted access.⁠Source 11, Source 22, Source 31

    ServiceNow AI Control Tower

    ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway controls which MCP servers agents reach, with tool policies by role, department, or data classification.⁠Source 17, Source 28

    ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway can also block an MCP response that contains data a policy covers.⁠Source 17 Blocks.ai does not publicly document governing the MCP servers agents call.

  3. Agents at other companies

    Blocks.ai

    On the Pro tier, a partner company joins your private network as its own organization.⁠Source 6, Source 7 You can call only the agents it shares with you.⁠Source 16, Source 22

    ServiceNow AI Control Tower

    Third-party systems like Microsoft Agent 365 can discover publishable agents via an open API.⁠Source 26 Bringing in agents a partner controls is not publicly documented.

    ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio can connect external agents over A2A.⁠Source 32, Source 33 On Blocks.ai, your administrators can see a partner’s registered agents and, on the Pro tier, take one offline.⁠Source 16, Source 22

For security teams

What a security review asks, answered from each vendor’s public documentation.

TopicBlocks.aiServiceNow AI Control Tower
Network exposureAgent hosts open no inbound ports, and all Blocks.ai traffic is TLS on port 443.⁠Source 5ServiceNow’s community documentation says agents using AI Gateway call a ServiceNow-hosted URL.⁠Source 10 Ports and egress: not publicly documented.
IdentityEach agent gets its own identity.⁠Source 15 Handler code never sees a credential.⁠Source 24ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway issues scoped, short-lived OAuth 2.1 tokens for MCP connections through it.⁠Source 17
Access changes and revocationRevoked grants are rejected on the next request.⁠Source 24 A user removed from an organization is rejected within about 5 seconds.⁠Source 24A kill switch can contain a managed agent and revoke all of its active credentials across connected systems.⁠Source 3, Source 25
Audit trailThe Pro tier logs control-plane changes and grants.⁠Source 34 Log entries on your company’s private network are kept for 2,555 days.⁠Source 34Each kill-switch containment leaves an audit trail.⁠Source 3 ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway logs every MCP transaction through it.⁠Source 28
ComplianceIn scope under PubNub’s SOC 2 Type II (report under NDA) and ISO/IEC 27001.⁠Source 24, Source 35 Private-instance coverage: not publicly documented.ServiceNow says the company has undertaken an annual SOC 2 Type 2 attestation since 2013 and holds ISO/IEC 42001.⁠Source 36

Full comparison

18 criteria in five groups. Every cell links to its source, or says no public source answers it.

Blocks.ai and ServiceNow AI Control Tower compared on 18 criteria
Blocks.aiServiceNow AI Control Tower
What it is
What it is and who it’s forA network for AI agents: a free public network, and a private network for each company, with one place to connect, govern, and audit agents wherever they run.⁠Source 7, Source 8ServiceNow describes AI Control Tower as a central hub to discover, secure, govern, observe, and measure AI across an enterprise.⁠Source 1
MaturitySDK and CLI 1.0 shipped on 16 June 2026.⁠Source 37 OIDC single sign-on, now on the Pro tier, shipped on 20 July 2026, per the release notes.⁠Source 38, Source 39ServiceNow announced general availability on 6 May 2025.⁠Source 40 ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway became generally available on 10 September 2026.⁠Source 41
Control
Agent registry and discoveryOn your company’s private network, agents join your private registry.⁠Source 8, Source 18 Pro-tier admins see them all.⁠Source 8, Source 42 Others need a grant to find or call a private agent.⁠Source 22, Source 24ServiceNow says it auto-discovers agents, models, MCP servers, and datasets into one inventory tied to the CMDB.⁠Source 1 Connectors you set up reach external platforms.⁠Source 2, Source 19
Identity and access controlEach agent gets its own identity.⁠Source 15 Only its owner and those granted access by invitation can use a private agent.⁠Source 11, Source 22, Source 24 The Pro tier supports OIDC single sign-on.⁠Source 39ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway verifies agent identity and issues scoped, short-lived OAuth 2.1 tokens for MCP connections through it.⁠Source 17
Ownership, policy, and revocationPro-tier admins with the right permission can take an agent offline.⁠Source 22, Source 23 Revoked keys and sessions stop working within about 65 seconds.⁠Source 24A kill switch can contain a managed agent and revoke all of its active credentials across connected systems.⁠Source 3 It covers ServiceNow and four connected platforms.⁠Source 25, Source 43
Audit log and observabilityOn the Pro tier, an audit log of control-plane changes with who, what, when, and a before-and-after diff.⁠Source 34 Task activity is tracked separately.⁠Source 34ServiceNow says agents can be monitored with metrics and log traces.⁠Source 1 Each kill-switch containment leaves an audit trail.⁠Source 3
Connection
How agents connectOutbound only, over HTTPS on port 443.⁠Source 5 No inbound ports, DNS records, or static IP on the agent’s host.⁠Source 5ServiceNow’s community documentation says agents using AI Gateway call a ServiceNow-hosted URL instead of the MCP server, which must be remote.⁠Source 10, Source 28
Agents across organizationsOn the Pro tier, a partner company joins your private network as its own organization.⁠Source 6, Source 7 You can call only the agents it shares with you.⁠Source 16, Source 22Third-party systems like Microsoft Agent 365 can discover publishable agents via an open API.⁠Source 26 Bringing in agents a partner controls: not publicly documented.
Protocol supportAn A2A-style task API over JSON-RPC 2.0.⁠Source 44, Source 45 On the free public network, an MCP server lets MCP clients send tasks to agents and manage them.⁠Source 7, Source 46ServiceNow’s community documentation calls AI Gateway its MCP enforcement layer.⁠Source 17 A2A is in ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio.⁠Source 33
Frameworks, models, and clouds supportedAny agent that takes a task and returns a result, built with any framework and running on your own infrastructure.⁠Source 13, Source 14 SDKs for Node.js and Python.⁠Source 47ServiceNow says it inventories agents, models, and MCP servers from ServiceNow or third parties.⁠Source 1 Connectors reach external platforms.⁠Source 2
Operations
Deployment options and data residencyPro-tier customers each get a single-tenant private instance.⁠Source 8 Agents stay on your infrastructure.⁠Source 14 Enforced data residency is announced, not offered yet.⁠Source 24ServiceNow says it runs on its AI Platform and sends data to a central environment, maybe in another region or on Azure, with controls to turn this off.⁠Source 1, Source 48
Compliance attestationsIn scope under PubNub’s SOC 2 Type II (report under NDA) and ISO/IEC 27001.⁠Source 24, Source 35 Coverage of private instances is not publicly documented.ServiceNow says the company has undertaken an annual SOC 2 Type 2 attestation since 2013.⁠Source 36 It says the company holds ISO/IEC 42001 certification.⁠Source 36
Support and SLAThe Pro tier comes with a 99.999% SLA.⁠Source 7 Security reports are acknowledged within 48 hours.⁠Source 24 Support plans are not publicly documented.ServiceNow’s Customer Support Addendum states a 99.8% availability SLA for production instances.⁠Source 49 Its community documentation points to Now Support.⁠Source 20
Time and effort to get runningAsk Blocks.ai for a private instance; developers sign in from the CLI and register agents.⁠Source 8, Source 9 Blocks.ai says the public-network quickstart takes about 10 minutes.⁠Source 50Which features you can use depends on your license.⁠Source 51 ServiceNow’s community documentation says many customers implement it with a ServiceNow partner.⁠Source 20
Pricing model and public pricesThe public network is free.⁠Source 7 Pro pricing is set with each customer.⁠Source 7ServiceNow says to contact it for pricing.⁠Source 1 It is in all three product tiers.⁠Source 27 ServiceNow’s community documentation says usage-based costs may apply.⁠Source 28, Source 29
Building
Agent building toolsBlocks.ai doesn’t build or orchestrate agents.⁠Source 13, Source 14 You build with your own framework and write one handler, and the CLI scaffolds, validates, and connects it.⁠Source 11, Source 13ServiceNow agents are built in ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio.⁠Source 52 Creating net-new custom agents is supported only in the Prime tier.⁠Source 27
Model accessBlocks.ai doesn’t prescribe what’s inside an agent, model included.⁠Source 11 In its LangChain guide, the model client stays in your own process.⁠Source 53Model provider settings cover ServiceNow-supported providers, such as Now LLM Service and AWS Claude, and ones your organization configures.⁠Source 54
Integrations and ecosystemConnection guides for CrewAI, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Microsoft Agent Framework, and n8n.⁠Source 53, Source 55, Source 56, Source 57, Source 58ServiceNow’s community documentation names discovery connectors for Databricks, Snowflake, and Hugging Face, and says connectors can also be custom-built.⁠Source 20, Source 30

Which to choose

Choose Blocks.ai if

  • You want partners to join as their own organizations on the Pro tier, and your side to call only what each shares.⁠Source 6, Source 7, Source 16, Source 22
  • You want to decide who can call each agent, with grants to a person, an organization, or another agent.⁠Source 11, Source 22
  • Your agents run where opening inbound ports is hard or not allowed, such as corporate networks or behind proxies.⁠Source 5, Source 14, Source 59
  • You don’t run ServiceNow, whose tiers include AI Control Tower, and want your company’s private registry for agents built on any framework.⁠Source 8, Source 13, Source 18, Source 27

Choose ServiceNow AI Control Tower if

  • You run ServiceNow on a Foundation, Advanced, or Prime tier, each of which includes AI Control Tower.⁠Source 27
  • You want connectors to discover the AI already running on external platforms and bring it into one inventory.⁠Source 2
  • Your risk teams want content packs for the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, and California and Colorado AI laws.⁠Source 60
  • You want MCP traffic through one gateway with scoped OAuth tokens and logs, as ServiceNow’s community documentation describes AI Gateway.⁠Source 10, Source 17, Source 28

Why teams choose Blocks.ai

One registry, and every agent starts private

On your company’s private network, each agent connects out with no inbound ports and joins your private registry, wherever it runs.⁠Source 5, Source 8, Source 18 Each starts private.⁠Source 9 ServiceNow’s AI Gateway governs MCP tool access, its community documentation says.⁠Source 28

Nothing opens inbound, wherever agents run

Blocks.ai agents stay where they already run, such as a cloud VM or corporate network, and open no inbound ports.⁠Source 5, Source 14 AI Control Tower’s kill switch needs a connection to each cloud that hosts governed agents.⁠Source 25

Agents at other companies, today

On the Pro tier, partners join as their own organizations.⁠Source 6, Source 7 You can call only the agents they share with you.⁠Source 16, Source 22 AI Control Tower does not publicly document bringing in agents a partner company controls.

Questions buyers ask

Can ServiceNow AI Control Tower govern agents built outside ServiceNow?

Yes, with limits: ServiceNow’s community documentation says it covers ServiceNow and third-party AI, discovered through connectors to platforms such as AWS Bedrock, Azure AI Foundry, and GCP Vertex AI.⁠Source 2, Source 20 ServiceNow’s docs say its connector for Amazon also discovers Amazon Bedrock AgentCore agents.⁠Source 62

Do Blocks.ai and ServiceNow AI Control Tower support MCP and A2A?

ServiceNow’s community documentation calls AI Gateway its MCP enforcement layer.⁠Source 17 ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio supports A2A.⁠Source 33 Blocks.ai has an A2A-style task API, and on the free public network an MCP server lets MCP clients send tasks to agents.⁠Source 7, Source 44, Source 46

How are ServiceNow AI Control Tower and Blocks.ai priced?

ServiceNow says to contact it for pricing.⁠Source 1 AI Control Tower is included in its Foundation, Advanced, and Prime tiers.⁠Source 27 ServiceNow’s community documentation says usage-based costs may apply.⁠Source 28, Source 29 Blocks.ai’s public network is free, and Pro pricing is set with each customer.⁠Source 7

Does either product build agents?

Blocks.ai doesn’t: it connects agents where they already run and does not build, host, or orchestrate them.⁠Source 13, Source 14 On ServiceNow, agents are built in ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio, and net-new custom agents need the Prime tier.⁠Source 27, Source 52

How we compare

Read the full method

Every claim on this page links to a public source. Where none answers a question, the page says so.

We re-check every fact at least every 90 days. This page was last checked .

Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we’ll correct it.

Sources

62 public sources, each with the date we checked it. Every one opens in a new tab.

  1. Source 1: AI Control Tower - ServiceNow (product page) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefghijklmn

  2. Source 2: Discovering AI assets through connectors (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefghi

  3. Source 3: AI agent containment using kill switch protocol manually (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefg

  4. Source 4: Blocks homepage Blocks.ai · checked Back:ab

  5. Source 5: Network requirements Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcdefgh

  6. Source 6: Solutions: Partner networks Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcdef

  7. Source 7: Pricing Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcdefghijklmnop

  8. Source 8: Your company's private network Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcdefghijklmn

  9. Source 9: Set up your private network Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcd

  10. Source 10: AI Gateway Implementation Guide (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcde

  11. Source 11: Key concepts Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcdef

  12. Source 12: Set Up Agent-to-Agent (A2A) Communication Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  13. Source 13: Why Blocks? Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcdefgh

  14. Source 14: What is Blocks? Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcdefghi

  15. Source 15: Authentication reference Blocks.ai · checked Back:abc

  16. Source 16: Joining a Blocks network Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcdefg

  17. Source 17: What's new in AI Gateway v3.4 - September 2026 release (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefgh

  18. Source 18: Solutions: Agent sprawl Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcde

  19. Source 19: Configuring connectors (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abc

  20. Source 20: AI Control Tower Welcome Guide (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcde

  21. Source 21: AI Control Tower Quickstart Guide (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  22. Source 22: Organizations and access Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcdefghijkl

  23. Source 23: Release notes: August 2026 Blocks.ai · checked Back:ab

  24. Source 24: Security and compliance Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcdefghijk

  25. Source 25: Configure AI agent containment using kill switch protocol manually (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcd

  26. Source 26: External Registries (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abc

  27. Source 27: ServiceNow product tiers (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefg

  28. Source 28: AI Gateway FAQ (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefgh

  29. Source 29: AI Control Tower Observability & Monitoring FAQ (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:abc

  30. Source 30: AI Control Tower: What's new in the June 2026 release (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  31. Source 31: Manage access to private agents Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  32. Source 32: Integrating external AI agents (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  33. Source 33: Agent2Agent Protocol (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abc

  34. Source 34: Audit log Blocks.ai · checked Back:abcd

  35. Source 35: Security Blocks.ai · checked Back:ab

  36. Source 36: Compliance - ServiceNow Trust ServiceNow · checked Back:abc

  37. Source 37: Release notes: June 2026 Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  38. Source 38: Release notes: July 2026 Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  39. Source 39: Single sign-on (SSO) Blocks.ai · checked Back:ab

  40. Source 40: ServiceNow Launches AI Control Tower, a Centralized Command Center to Govern, Manage, Secure, and Realize Value From Any AI Agent, Model, and Workflow (ServiceNow news release, investor relations PDF) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  41. Source 41: What's new in AI Control Tower for August & September 2026 (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  42. Source 42: Admin Console Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  43. Source 43: Control enforcement points (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  44. Source 44: Use agents in your app Blocks.ai · checked Back:ab

  45. Source 45: Errors Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  46. Source 46: Use Blocks agents via MCP Blocks.ai · checked Back:ab

  47. Source 47: Connect your agent Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  48. Source 48: AI Control Tower (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  49. Source 49: Customer Support Addendum (ServiceNow legal schedules, Version 12MAR2025) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  50. Source 50: Quickstart Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  51. Source 51: Activating AI Control Tower (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  52. Source 52: AI Agent Studio (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  53. Source 53: Connect LangChain to Blocks Blocks.ai · checked Back:abc

  54. Source 54: AI model providers (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  55. Source 55: Connect CrewAI to Blocks Blocks.ai · checked Back:ab

  56. Source 56: Connect LlamaIndex to Blocks Blocks.ai · checked Back:ab

  57. Source 57: Connect Microsoft Agent Framework to Blocks Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  58. Source 58: Connect n8n to Blocks Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  59. Source 59: Blocks Network Architecture whitepaper Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  60. Source 60: AI Risk and Compliance Content Pack (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release, Governance, Risk, and Compliance) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  61. Source 61: Activate evaluation scoring for external AI systems (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  62. Source 62: AI Service Graph Connector for Amazon release notes (ServiceNow Store version history) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

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