ServiceNow tests AI training tool to help employees rebuild focus

ServiceNow has built an AI-based training platform aimed at helping employees sharpen attention and thinking skills, Fortune reported. The project reflects a workplace concern that constant phone use and technology habits are making it harder for workers to concentrate.

Jayney Howson, ServiceNow’s chief learning officer, told Fortune she saw the pattern inside the company’s workforce and responded with what the company calls “mind gyms.” The platform uses a “personal professor” to guide employees through short exercises designed to build focus, critical thinking and mental agility, according to Fortune.

The effort comes as lawsuits against major social media companies have pushed the debate over technology addiction back into public view, Fortune reported. For employers, Fortune said, the issue is appearing less as a legal fight and more as a daily productivity problem: employees having their attention pulled toward their phones during the workday.

Howson compared the company’s approach to the rise of physical gyms after more workers shifted from manual labor to desk jobs, Fortune reported. Her view is that employees need a structured way to train their minds in the same way people set aside time to build physical strength.

How the training works

One exercise described by Fortune lets sales workers rehearse pitches with AI-generated customers that hold natural-sounding conversations. The system evaluates parts of the interaction including eye contact, filler words and how concise the employee is, according to Fortune.

Howson told Fortune that about 75% of employees come back to repeat that sales exercise. The figure is the main early usage signal disclosed for the program.

The platform’s use of AI also raises a central tension for workplace leaders, Fortune reported: whether more technology can help reduce problems created by technology distraction. Howson’s answer, according to Fortune, is that the result depends on how HR leaders apply the tools.

Howson said AI should support human interaction, Fortune reported. In the sales example, employees practice first with AI avatars and then pair with colleagues to use the same skills in person-to-person conversations.

That design keeps the tool tied to real workplace behavior, according to Howson’s comments to Fortune. She said leaders should shift the discussion away from blaming employees and toward creating conditions that help people perform better.

The ServiceNow program fits into a wider HR debate over how much work should be handled through artificial intelligence. Fortune’s newsletter also pointed to concerns elsewhere in the workplace, including reports that Amazon workers say HR issues are being routed more often through chatbots and apps instead of people.

For ServiceNow, the pitch is narrower: use AI for short, targeted practice sessions, then return employees to human collaboration. Howson told Fortune that the goal is to improve employees’ capacity for focus and judgment, not remove people from the learning process.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.