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Frequently asked questions
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Everything you need to know
about Novaworks
What is Novaworks?
Novaworks is the AI-native Core HR operating system for Total Workforce Management, built on the ServiceNow AI platform. It is designed to unify people, processes, and AI agents across the enterprise — giving organizations a single, intelligent system to manage their entire workforce from day one to offboarding.
What problem does Novaworks solve?
Legacy HCM systems were built for a static workforce that no longer exists. Most enterprise organizations today are forced to choose between bloated, complex platforms or fragmented point solutions — neither of which was designed for workforces that blend employees, contractors, and AI agents. Novaworks provides an AI-native operating system built from the ground up for Total Workforce Management, with AI embedded into workflows from the start rather than retrofitted on top of old infrastructure.
Who leads Novaworks?
Novaworks is led by co-founders Kelley Steven-Waiss (CEO) and Eswar Vandanapu (CTO), joined by Melanie Lougee as Chief Product Officer. In April 2026, Meg Bear — former President of SAP SuccessFactors — joined the board, bringing deep HCM domain expertise. The founding team previously built and sold Hitch Works to ServiceNow and led AI transformation initiatives inside the company. Melanie previously led Strategy for ServiceNow’s Employee Workflows Business Unit.We believe AI should work for people — not the other way around. HR teams, and organizations as a whole should benefit from streamlined technology solutions intended to make their systems better for their companies and employees alike.
The founders sold Hitch Works to ServiceNow — does that create IP entanglement with Novaworks?
Novaworks is an independent company with clean IP ownership. Our founders' ServiceNow experience is an asset — it gives us deep platform knowledge and strong relationships — but Novaworks operates fully independently. ServiceNow Ventures' participation as an investor reflects their support for our vision, not any IP entanglement.
When did Novaworks launch and how is it funded?
Novaworks launched publicly in March 2026. The company raised an $8M seed round with investors including ServiceNow Ventures, Stalwart Ventures, and Bell Ventures. The funding is being used to scale the team across product, engineering, sales, and customer success.
What is the fundraising plan beyond the seed round?
Our $8M seed provides runway to reach key commercial milestones — initial enterprise customer wins, partner ecosystem development, and product expansion. We expect to raise a Series A as we demonstrate repeatable go-to-market traction. We are not sharing specific fundraising timelines publicly at this stage.
Product & Technology
How does Novaworks differ from Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, or Oracle HCM?
Legacy HCM platforms were built for a static workforce and have retrofitted AI onto existing architectures. Novaworks is the HR Context Engine — AI-native from the ground up, built on ServiceNow for its scalability, security, visibility, and AI extensibility. Our agentic platform doesn't just recommend next steps, it personalizes, contextualizes, and executes them. Because we're built on ServiceNow, we unify HR data with IT data in a single model, and we're additive to ServiceNow rather than a replacement. The value proposition is concrete across audiences: HR gets compliance and employee experience; IT gets security, governance, and technology consolidation; and the CEO and CFO get a credible AI transformation story. Deskless and contingent workers — historically underserved by legacy HCM — are fully included in this model.
How does Novaworks compare to ServiceNow HRSD?
ServiceNow HRSD is HR service delivery — cases, knowledge management, and employee portals. Novaworks is a full HCM suite covering core HR, onboarding, workforce lifecycle, and policy-driven workflows. They are complementary, not competitive. Many organizations run both: Novaworks handles the HR-specific layer, HRSD handles cross-functional service delivery across IT, Workplace Services, and beyond.
What does 'Total Workforce Management' cover?
Novaworks manages the full modern workforce in a single unified view: full-time employees, part-time workers, contingent labor, contractors, and AI agents that perform work within the organization. This explicitly includes deskless and contingent workers — populations historically underserved by legacy HCM systems. Every worker type has complete lifecycle management — from onboarding through offboarding — under one data model.
How does the agentic AI layer work? What can it do autonomously, and where does human oversight apply?
Novaworks operates in three layers: Nova Policy Advisor contextualizes policies — corporate, legislative, contractual, union, and geography-specific — as proactive compliance; Nova Special Agents turn HR centers of excellence into agentic workflows; and the HR Concierge delivers a hyper-personalized experience to every worker type. AI is routed through ServiceNow Now Assist, with AI Control Tower providing agent governance and visibility. Every AI-driven action is logged, timestamped, and auditable. Sensitive actions require explicit human approval before execution.
How is Novaworks' onboarding different from ServiceNow HRSD onboarding?
Novaworks onboarding focuses on HR-specific pre-boarding activities and data collection. Pre-boarding steps are generated dynamically based on worker activation and applicable policies — there is no need to manually configure generic workflows for every scenario. Novaworks onboarding does not extend beyond HR into IT provisioning, Workplace Services, or other functions. HRSD handles that cross-functional layer. Together they provide complete end-to-end onboarding coverage.
What integrations and platforms does Novaworks work with?
Novaworks' agentic experience works natively inside ServiceNow Now Assist and with EmployeeWorks, and can also be accessed through the Novaworks native UX. Our integration library is expanding through 2026.
ServiceNow
Does a customer need to be a ServiceNow customer to use Novaworks?
Yes. Novaworks is built natively on the ServiceNow platform, so an active ServiceNow license is required — but there is no dependency on ServiceNow HRSD specifically; any ServiceNow license is sufficient. We are exploring additional partnership models for the future.
What happens if a customer wants to move off ServiceNow in the future?
Our platform is deeply integrated with ServiceNow's architecture — a deliberate design choice for security, scalability, and enterprise trust. Adding an agentic HR system of record makes any existing ServiceNow investment more valuable and extensible. If a customer decides to move, their data belongs to them.
Is the ServiceNow partnership exclusive?
No. However, Our strategic partnership with ServiceNow — including investment from ServiceNow Ventures — reflects a deep commitment to that ecosystem. Novaworks' foundation is built exclusively on ServiceNow, and the platform is designed to be additive to ServiceNow, not a replacement for it. Our agentic framework is native to Novaworks.
Security & Compliance
What security certifications does Novaworks hold?
Transparency, Control, and Security Built In. That same commitment extends to compliance, with AI-assisted policy authoring that maps directly to your system configuration, keeping you ahead of regulations without costly outside help. And because trust starts with a secure foundation, Novaworks is built natively on ServiceNow's enterprise security model — zero-trust by default. Novaworks is built on a simple belief: AI should work for your organization, not around it. Every decision our operating system enables you to make is transparent, auditable, and subject to human override, so your team stays in control at every step.
How is customer data isolated in a multi-tenant environment?
Novaworks leverages ServiceNow's enterprise-grade multi-instance architecture, which provides strict data isolation between customers. Our AI layer is stateless for most operations and stores no PII. Limited customer data stored with Novaworks AI is logically separated with role-based access controls, and no customer can access another person’s data. All data is encrypted at rest and in transit. Organizations can additionally enable ServiceNow domain separation for further access control. All Nova applications are enabled for Scoped Administration, further limiting the access to only authorized administrators within ServiceNow instance.
How does Novaworks handle AI governance and auditability — especially for regulated industries?
Every AI-driven action on the Novaworks platform is logged, timestamped, and auditable. Full transcripts and AI reasoning are stored in ServiceNow tables for maximum transparency. Human-in-the-loop controls ensure sensitive actions require explicit approval. Our AI agent development, deployment, and monitoring controls are modeled on ISO 42001 and AIUC. Additional details are available upon request.
Partnerships
What industries does Novaworks serve?
Novaworks serves enterprise organizations across industries, with particular relevance to organizations managing a complex, multi-type workforce. Industries with strong current fit include retail, technology, manufacturing, and telecommunications, among others.
What does the partner program look like?
We are actively building our partner ecosystem and welcome conversations across all partnership models — reseller, implementation, referral, and technology integration. Given our ServiceNow foundation, existing ServiceNow SIs and product partners are a particularly strong fit. Contact info@novaworks.ai to discuss the right model for your organization. Organizations can additionally enable ServiceNow domain separation for further access control. All Nova applications are enabled for Scoped Administration, further limiting the access to only authorized administrators within ServiceNow instance.
What support do partners receive during implementation and post-sales?
Implementation partners receive product training, certification, sandbox environments, and dedicated partner success resources. Post-sales, customers receive ongoing support through our customer success team. Formal enablement programs — including playbooks, demo environments, and co-marketing resources — are maturing through 2026.
How do I buy Novaworks?
Priced by usage, not by seat. Start with an introductory call and demo. From there, we scope your environment and put a licensing agreement in place. To get started, contact us at novaworks.ai.
