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Okta for AI Agents vs ServiceNow AI Control Tower

Okta for AI Agents

Okta offering that gives AI agents a first-class identity so organizations can discover, onboard, protect, and govern them

ServiceNow AI Control Tower

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

Short answer

Okta says Okta for AI Agents gives AI agents a first-class identity; ServiceNow calls AI Control Tower a central hub to discover, secure, govern, observe, and measure AI.⁠Source 1, Source 2 Okta lets admins define which resources each agent can access; AI Control Tower’s kill switch can contain a managed agent and revoke all of its active credentials.⁠Source 3, Source 4, Source 5

By Blocks.ai teamLast checked

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, can record their owners, can cut off an agent’s access, and can log agent events.⁠Source 2, Source 4, Source 6, Source 7, Source 8
Where they differ
Okta says it registers agents in Universal Directory, alongside workforce users; ServiceNow says AI Control Tower tracks AI assets, including models and datasets, as configuration items in the CMDB.⁠Source 2, Source 9
Running both
Okta’s docs say it can import agents from ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio.⁠Source 10
Public sources · checked 2 October 2026
  • Offered
  • Preview
  • Not publicly documented

Okta for AI Agents

  • Build agents: Not publicly documented
  • Host and run agents: Not publicly documented
  • Identity and access: OfferedAgent identity and credentials⁠Source 7
  • Registry and governance: OfferedUniversal Directory with human owners⁠Source 9
  • Traffic between agents, tools, and models: PreviewAgent Gateway for MCP tools⁠Source 11
  • Agents across organizations: Not publicly documented

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 12
  • Registry and governance: OfferedAI inventory tied to CMDB⁠Source 2
  • Traffic between agents, tools, and models: OfferedAI Gateway (community docs)⁠Source 13
  • Agents across organizations: Not publicly documented

At a glance

TopicOkta for AI AgentsServiceNow AI Control Tower
What it tracksOkta says agents are registered in Universal Directory alongside workforce users.⁠Source 9 Custom-built agents can be added by hand; agents from builder platforms can be imported.⁠Source 14ServiceNow says it auto-discovers agents, models, copilots, MCP servers, and datasets into one inventory tied to the CMDB.⁠Source 2 Connectors reach platforms outside ServiceNow.⁠Source 15
Agent identityAgents added by hand identify to Okta with a client ID, secret, key pair, or metadata document; agent-to-agent tokens are scoped and expire.⁠Source 7, Source 16ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway issues scoped OAuth 2.1 tokens on MCP connections through it.⁠Source 12 For containment, the kill switch can block a person’s access through their Okta-managed identity.⁠Source 5, Source 17
Stopping an agentOkta says deactivating an agent immediately blocks new sessions; removing a resource connection denies the agent’s future access requests to that resource.⁠Source 8, Source 18ServiceNow says its kill switch can immediately contain a managed agent and revoke all of its active credentials across connected systems.⁠Source 4, Source 5
Pricing modelA separate subscription that can be added to an Okta suite plan.⁠Source 1, Source 19 A list price is not publicly documented.Included in its Foundation, Advanced, and Prime product tiers.⁠Source 20 The product page says to contact ServiceNow for pricing.⁠Source 2
Generally availableOkta announced general availability in a post dated 29 April 2026.⁠Source 6 Okta says customers can request Agent Gateway, in preview, as a research release.⁠Source 21ServiceNow announced general availability on 6 May 2025.⁠Source 22 ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway became generally available on 10 September 2026.⁠Source 23

What each one is

Okta for AI Agents

Okta for AI Agents is an Okta product, sold as a separate subscription, to discover, manage, and secure the AI agent lifecycle in an Okta org.⁠Source 1, Source 24 Okta says agents are registered in Universal Directory alongside workforce users; admins can define which resources each can access.⁠Source 3, Source 9

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 2 ServiceNow says it inventories agents, models, and MCP servers from ServiceNow and third parties; its kill switch can contain a managed agent.⁠Source 2, Source 4

The differences that matter

  1. What each one tracks

    Okta for AI Agents

    Okta says it registers agents in Universal Directory alongside workforce users; custom-built agents can be added by hand, and builder-platform agents imported.⁠Source 9, Source 14

    ServiceNow AI Control Tower

    ServiceNow says AI Control Tower auto-discovers agents, models, MCP servers, and datasets into one CMDB-linked inventory; connectors reach outside platforms.⁠Source 2, Source 15

    Okta ISPM, which discovers agents from several sources, is excluded from the Core SKU for regulated environments; ServiceNow’s community documentation says only assets marked Managed get governance workflows and monitoring.⁠Source 25, Source 26, Source 27

  2. Controlling what agents can access

    Okta for AI Agents

    Admins set which resources each agent can access; for agents added by hand, they list which apps, services, and other agents may call it.⁠Source 3, Source 7

    ServiceNow AI Control Tower

    ServiceNow’s community documentation says agents using AI Gateway reach only approved, active MCP servers, and tool policies can follow role, department, or data classification.⁠Source 12, Source 28

    Each also has an MCP gateway: Okta’s Agent Gateway is in preview, and ServiceNow’s community documentation dates AI Gateway’s general availability to 10 September 2026.⁠Source 11, Source 13, Source 21, Source 23

  3. Cutting off an agent

    Okta for AI Agents

    Okta says deactivating an agent immediately blocks new sessions; removing one resource connection denies the agent’s future access requests to that resource.⁠Source 8, Source 18

    ServiceNow AI Control Tower

    ServiceNow says its kill switch can immediately contain a managed agent and revoke all of its active credentials across connected systems.⁠Source 4, Source 5

For security teams

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

TopicOkta for AI AgentsServiceNow AI Control Tower
Network exposureWhether agents need an inbound endpoint is not publicly documented. Okta’s Agent Gateway, in preview, has an Okta-hosted URL.⁠Source 29ServiceNow’s community documentation says agents using AI Gateway call a ServiceNow-hosted URL.⁠Source 13 Ports and egress: not publicly documented.
IdentityManually added agents identify with a client ID, secret, key pair, or metadata document; agent-to-agent tokens are resource-scoped and expire.⁠Source 7, Source 16ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway issues scoped, short-lived OAuth 2.1 tokens for MCP connections through it.⁠Source 12
Access changes and revocationOkta says deactivating an agent immediately blocks new sessions, and expanded kill switch capabilities at the runtime layer are planned.⁠Source 8ServiceNow says its kill switch can immediately contain a managed agent and revoke all its active credentials across connected systems.⁠Source 4, Source 5
Audit trailAgent events land in Okta’s System Log; log streaming sends them to Amazon EventBridge or Splunk Cloud.⁠Source 24, Source 30Kill-switch containments leave an audit trail; some workspace configuration changes are logged.⁠Source 4, Source 31 Named SIEM export: not publicly documented.
ComplianceOkta says the company holds SOC 2 and ISO 27001; its Core SKU is generally available for FedRAMP and HIPAA.⁠Source 26, Source 32ServiceNow says the company has undertaken an annual SOC 2 Type 2 attestation since 2013 and holds ISO/IEC 42001.⁠Source 33

Full comparison

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

Okta for AI Agents and ServiceNow AI Control Tower compared on 18 criteria
Okta for AI AgentsServiceNow AI Control Tower
What it is
What it is and who it’s forAn Okta product to discover, manage, and secure the AI agent lifecycle in an Okta org; Okta says it gives agents a first-class identity.⁠Source 1, Source 24ServiceNow describes it as a central hub to discover, secure, govern, observe, and measure AI across an enterprise, on the ServiceNow AI Platform.⁠Source 2
MaturityOkta announced GA in a post dated 29 April 2026.⁠Source 6 On 22 July 2026, Okta said customers could request Agent Gateway, in preview.⁠Source 21ServiceNow announced GA on 6 May 2025.⁠Source 22 ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway became generally available on 10 September 2026.⁠Source 23
Control
Agent registry and discoveryAgents are added by hand or imported from builder platforms.⁠Source 14 Okta says they sit in Universal Directory and can be given human owners.⁠Source 6, Source 9ServiceNow says it auto-discovers agents, models, MCP servers, and datasets into one inventory tied to the CMDB.⁠Source 2 Connectors reach outside platforms.⁠Source 15
Identity and access controlAgents added by hand use a client ID, secret, key pair, or metadata document, and admins list which apps, services, and other agents may call each one.⁠Source 7ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway verifies agent identity and issues scoped, short-lived OAuth 2.1 tokens on each MCP connection through it.⁠Source 12
Ownership, policy, and revocationAgents added by hand take optional owners, up to five individuals.⁠Source 7 Okta says admins can deactivate an agent and set which agents may call others.⁠Source 8, Source 21ServiceNow says AI assets can carry ownership.⁠Source 2 The kill switch covers agents on ServiceNow and four connected platforms, and people’s Okta access.⁠Source 17
Audit log and observabilityAgent events land in Okta’s System Log, which can stream to Amazon EventBridge or Splunk Cloud.⁠Source 24, Source 30 Agent Gateway, in preview, shows 30 days of tool calls.⁠Source 34Traces come via trace connections or SDK instrumentation.⁠Source 35 Kill-switch containments leave an audit trail.⁠Source 4 Named SIEM export: not publicly documented.
Connection
How agents connectOkta issues agent-to-agent tokens, and the caller sends its token to the agent it calls.⁠Source 16, Source 36 Agent Gateway, in preview, can be an agent’s remote MCP endpoint.⁠Source 29ServiceNow’s community documentation says agents using AI Gateway call a ServiceNow-hosted proxy, not MCP servers directly; only remote servers are supported.⁠Source 13, Source 28
Agents across organizationsNot publicly documented (checked 2 October 2026)Third-party systems like Microsoft Agent 365 can discover publishable agents via an open API.⁠Source 37 Bringing in agents a partner controls: not publicly documented.
Protocol supportMCP servers as agent resources; Agent Gateway for MCP tools is in preview.⁠Source 3, Source 11 Okta for AI Agents’ docs don’t mention the A2A protocol.ServiceNow’s community documentation calls AI Gateway its MCP enforcement layer.⁠Source 12 A2A is documented for ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio.⁠Source 38
Frameworks, models, and clouds supportedOkta says it manages agents from any vendor, agents built in-house with code such as Python or LangChain, and agents in purchased software.⁠Source 1, Source 10, Source 21ServiceNow says it inventories agents, models, and MCP servers from ServiceNow or third parties.⁠Source 2 Outside platforms need connectors you set up.⁠Source 15, Source 39
Operations
Deployment options and data residencyA subscription on an Okta org; Okta says its Core SKU registers agents inside an org’s regulated cell.⁠Source 26, Source 36 Okta’s Agent Gateway, in preview, has an Okta-hosted URL.⁠Source 29ServiceNow says it runs on the ServiceNow AI Platform.⁠Source 2 Data may go to a central ServiceNow environment in another region or a third-party cloud.⁠Source 40
Compliance attestationsOkta says the company holds SOC 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 certifications.⁠Source 32 It says its Core SKU is generally available for FedRAMP and HIPAA environments.⁠Source 25, Source 26ServiceNow says the company has undertaken an annual SOC 2 Type 2 attestation since 2013.⁠Source 33 It says the company holds ISO/IEC 42001 certification.⁠Source 33
Support and SLAOkta suites include online support 24 hours a day, five days a week; Premier Success Plans are sold separately.⁠Source 19ServiceNow’s company-wide Customer Support Addendum states a 99.8% availability SLA for production instances.⁠Source 41 Its community docs point to Now Support.⁠Source 42
Time and effort to get runningAn Okta org subscribed to Okta for AI Agents.⁠Source 36 Okta lists prebuilt integrations with Salesforce Agentforce, Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, and ServiceNow AI Platform.⁠Source 6Initial setup uses a Guided Setup widget.⁠Source 43 Discovering outside agents needs a connector and credentials you supply.⁠Source 15, Source 39 Features depend on your license.⁠Source 44
Pricing model and public pricesOkta says it is a separate subscription, which its pricing page lists as an add-on to suite plans.⁠Source 1, Source 19 A list price is not publicly documented.Included in every tier; full management of external AI needs a separate license.⁠Source 20 ServiceNow’s community documentation says usage-based costs may apply.⁠Source 28, Source 45
Building
Agent building toolsNot publicly documented (checked 2 October 2026)ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio creates, configures, and deploys agents.⁠Source 46 Creating new custom agents is supported only in the Prime tier.⁠Source 20
Model accessNot publicly documented (checked 2 October 2026)Model provider settings cover ServiceNow-supported providers, such as Now LLM Service and AWS Claude, and ones your organization configures.⁠Source 31
Integrations and ecosystemImports agents from apps such as ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio and Salesforce Agentforce.⁠Source 10 Okta lists Slack and Notion among Cross App Access apps.⁠Source 1ServiceNow’s community documentation names discovery connectors for Databricks, Snowflake, and Hugging Face, and says connectors can also be custom-built.⁠Source 27, Source 42

Which to choose

Choose Okta for AI Agents if

  • You want agents registered in Okta, which Okta says puts them alongside workforce users, with optional human owners.⁠Source 7, Source 9
  • Your agents come from many vendors and from in-house code, and you want one place to register them.⁠Source 6, Source 10, Source 21
  • You want to control which agents may call other agents, with Okta issuing resource-scoped tokens that expire.⁠Source 16, Source 21
  • You want agent events in Okta’s System Log, which log streaming can send to Amazon EventBridge or Splunk Cloud.⁠Source 24, Source 30

Choose ServiceNow AI Control Tower if

  • Your ServiceNow tier already includes AI Control Tower, which ServiceNow says ties AI assets to your CMDB.⁠Source 2, Source 20
  • You want one inventory that ServiceNow says covers agents, models, MCP servers, and datasets, with connectors to platforms outside ServiceNow.⁠Source 2, Source 15
  • You want a kill switch that can contain a managed agent and revoke all of its active credentials, with an audit trail.⁠Source 4, Source 5
  • You want AI compliance content: ServiceNow’s pack covers the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, California SB 53, and Colorado’s AI Act.⁠Source 47

Questions buyers ask

Can each one govern agents built on other platforms?

Okta says it manages agents from any vendor; custom-built agents can be registered by hand, and agents from apps such as ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio imported.⁠Source 10, Source 14, Source 21 AI Control Tower’s connectors discover AI assets on outside platforms.⁠Source 15

How is each one priced?

Okta says Okta for AI Agents is a separate subscription.⁠Source 1 AI Control Tower comes with ServiceNow’s Foundation, Advanced, and Prime tiers.⁠Source 20 ServiceNow’s community documentation says usage-based costs may apply.⁠Source 28, Source 45 List prices for both are not publicly documented.

Do they support MCP and A2A?

Okta can grant agents MCP-protected resources; its Agent Gateway for MCP tools is in preview.⁠Source 3, Source 11 Okta for AI Agents’ docs don’t mention the A2A protocol. ServiceNow’s community documentation calls AI Gateway its MCP enforcement layer; A2A is documented for ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio.⁠Source 12, Source 38

Can either one connect agents across organizations?

Okta’s docs describe agents in the customer’s own org.⁠Source 24 Reaching another organization’s agents is not publicly documented. AI Control Tower’s open API lets third-party systems like Microsoft Agent 365 discover publishable agents.⁠Source 37 Bringing in agents another organization controls is not publicly documented.

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 .

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Sources

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

  1. Source 1: Okta brings first-class identity to AI agents with Agent SSO Okta · checked Back:abcdefgh

  2. Source 2: AI Control Tower - ServiceNow (product page) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefghijklmnop

  3. Source 3: AI agent resource connections (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcde

  4. Source 4: AI agent containment using kill switch protocol manually (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefghi

  5. Source 5: Configure AI agent containment using kill switch protocol manually (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdef

  6. Source 6: Okta for AI Agents is now generally available Okta · checked Back:abcdef

  7. Source 7: Add AI agents manually (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcdefgh

  8. Source 8: New Okta for AI Agents innovations increase visibility into agent behavior, secure connections at runtime, and enforce continuous agent governance Okta · checked Back:abcde

  9. Source 9: Okta for AI Agents (product page) Okta · checked Back:abcdefg

  10. Source 10: Apps that support AI agent imports (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcdef

  11. Source 11: Agent Gateway (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcd

  12. Source 12: What's new in AI Gateway v3.4 - September 2026 release (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefg

  13. Source 13: AI Gateway Implementation Guide (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcd

  14. Source 14: Add and register AI agents (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcd

  15. Source 15: Discovering AI assets through connectors (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefg

  16. Source 16: Agent-to-agent connections (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcd

  17. Source 17: Control enforcement points (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  18. Source 18: Connect AI agents to resources (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:ab

  19. Source 19: Plans & pricing (Okta) Okta · checked Back:abc

  20. Source 20: ServiceNow product tiers (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcde

  21. Source 21: Okta announces new innovations to secure AI agents at runtime and automate ongoing agent governance Okta · checked Back:abcdefgh

  22. Source 22: 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:ab

  23. Source 23: What's new in AI Control Tower for August & September 2026 (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:abc

  24. Source 24: Okta for AI Agents (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcdef

  25. Source 25: Discover and assess AI agents (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:ab

  26. Source 26: Okta is the first independent and neutral identity platform to bring AI agent governance to highly regulated environments Okta · checked Back:abcd

  27. Source 27: AI Control Tower: What's new in the June 2026 release (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

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

  29. Source 29: Add an Agent Gateway (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abc

  30. Source 30: Log streaming (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abc

  31. Source 31: AI model providers (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  32. Source 32: Okta Security Trust Center | Powered by SafeBase Okta · checked Back:ab

  33. Source 33: Compliance - ServiceNow Trust ServiceNow · checked Back:abc

  34. Source 34: View Agent Gateway activity (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back to text

  35. Source 35: Configuring trace connections (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  36. Source 36: Set up AI agent token exchange (Okta Developer) Okta · checked Back:abc

  37. Source 37: External Registries (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  38. Source 38: Integrating external AI agents (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  39. Source 39: Configuring connectors (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  40. Source 40: AI Control Tower (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  41. Source 41: Customer Support Addendum (ServiceNow legal schedules, Version 12MAR2025) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  42. Source 42: AI Control Tower Welcome Guide (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  43. Source 43: AI Control Tower release notes (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  44. Source 44: Activating AI Control Tower (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  45. Source 45: AI Control Tower Observability & Monitoring FAQ (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  46. Source 46: AI Agent Studio (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  47. Source 47: AI Risk and Compliance Content Pack (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release, Governance, Risk, and Compliance) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  48. Source 48: Your company's private network Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  49. Source 49: Network requirements Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  50. Source 50: Solutions: Agent sprawl Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  51. Source 51: Solutions: Partner networks Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  52. Source 52: Pricing Blocks.ai · checked Back to text