How ServiceNow became a $200 billion powerhouse: CFO Gina Mastantuono on growth, AI, and strategic expansion
CFOs are called on to understand their business in granular detail while also maintaining a bird's-eye view of the company's financial, operational, and strategic landscape. According to Gina Mastantuono, president and CFO of ServiceNow, the company is positioned as a powerhouse in enterprise technology.
'Last year, we crossed $10 billion in revenue, one of only a handful of software companies ever to do that,' Mastantuono told Fortune. She joined ServiceNow as finance chief in January 2020, after serving as CFO at Ingram Micro and Revlon. Four years ago, ServiceNow's market cap was over $100 billion; it has now surpassed $200 billion, she said. The company has grown from nearly 11,000 employees to about 26,000, and the stock price has nearly tripled, she added.
Led by CEO Bill McDermott, ServiceNow was originally known for automating IT support requests. Over the past several years, it has expanded into other fields, notably employee workflows such as HR service delivery and operations, and more recently, customer relationship management (CRM). The move into CRM represents a strategic expansion and puts ServiceNow in competition with companies like Salesforce.
ServiceNow, which debuted on the Fortune 500 in 2023 and last year moved up 67 spots, has grown its subscription revenue at a 26% compound annual growth rate from 2020 to 2024, reaching $10.6 billion last year. The company added $2 billion in organic revenue in 2024, ending with $22.3 billion in remaining performance obligations. Seventy percent of existing customers increased their investment, contributing to a 120% net expansion rate.
Over the past four years, ServiceNow customers with contract values exceeding $5 million have seen their contracts grow by an average of 40% through upsells and additional services. Its AI experience, Now Assist, surpassed $250 million in average contract value, with a projected $1 billion contribution by 2026.
'I've had a front-row seat for what I think is one of the most remarkable growth trajectories in enterprise tech,' Mastantuono said. During its investor day last week, ServiceNow announced it expects to achieve $12.7 billion in revenue on a constant currency basis in 2025, maintaining a 32% free cash flow margin.
Although there's skyrocketing growth, Big Tech companies like ServiceNow have had to navigate a tumultuous market this year, which has brought see-sawing stock prices due to investor concerns over Trump administration tariff policies announced in April, potential cuts to government software spending, and currency fluctuations. Most recently, this week's reversal by the Trump administration from its initial trade strategy spurred stocks to rise.
ServiceNow's recent Q1 results—strong earnings, upbeat guidance, and public sector growth—have helped alleviate investor concern, according to Mastantuono. For Q1, the company reported over 30% year-on-year growth in the U.S. public sector, securing six new customers, including one federal agency. Eleven federal contracts exceeded $1 million, up from eight a year earlier; two of those deals topped $5 million.
'The need to modernize and digitize IT across government agencies is still so broad,' Mastantuono said.
ServiceNow is doubling down on AI 'agents' that automate workflows for customers. On May 6, the company launched its new AI Control Tower, which encompasses agents, applications, models and new workflows. It also recently announced the acquisition of Moveworks for $2.85 billion. ServiceNow is using its own AI agent products internally, driving $350 million of value across the company and seeing 20% productivity increases across customer, HR, and IT support, Mastantuono said. In a time when the AI race is heating up, she sees this as a competitive advantage.
Mastantuono took on the role of president in January, in addition to finance chief. Not only does she meet with clients to help them use the company's products to navigate uncertainty, but she also does the same internally. 'What I'm doing in my new role is ensuring that AI is going to drive real productivity across the organization,' Mastantuono said. A modern CFO's job is to be the business strategist, she said.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
41 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Elon Musk's feud with Trump likely won't blow up Tesla's robotaxi push, analysts say
Elon Musk 's public sparring with President Donald Trump last week may have briefly put a dent in Tesla's value, but analysts say they can't see any reason the feud would have a long-term impact on the company's business, including its robotaxi ambitions. The feud between Musk and Trump began with the Tesla CEO's criticism of the GOP's spending bill, which slashes EV tax credits and is estimated to add more than $2.4 trillion to the national deficit. The clash then escalated with threats coming from both sides: Trump threatened to cancel government contracts with Musk's companies, and the CEO fired back by saying he'd shut down SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft before reneging. During Musk's fight with Trump on Thursday, Tesla's stock dipped 14%, wiping out $138 billion from the company's market cap. The company recovered some of the losses the following day. Yet the CEO saw one of his biggest single-day hits to his net worth with an estimated $34 billion loss. Still, some analysts say this storm will pass. "Musk's and Trump's relationship has an impact on the stock and maybe investor sentiment, but as far as the actual business impact for Tesla, I never thought Trump getting elected was positive or that negative for Tesla," Seth Goldstein, Morningstar analyst, told Business Insider. "So with the feud that started between Trump and Musk, I never really viewed that as that positive or negative for Tesla either." While it may not be helpful to no longer be in Trump's good graces, Goldstein said the president has already made clear that he would cut EV subsidies, which the analyst viewed as having the most negative impact not just on Tesla but on all EV makers. Gene Munster, Tesla investor and managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, estimated in a Friday report that the elimination of the tax credits could reduce 2025 deliveries by 15%. Trump wishes Tesla well As far as Tesla's June robotaxi launch in Austin goes, which Musk says will unlock trillions of dollars of market value for his company, analysts say there's little reason to believe the administration would want to hinder progress there. "In my view, the White House has little to gain in standing in front of autonomy, given autonomy is central to physical AI, and for the US to be a leader globally in AI, it also needs to be a leader in physical AI," Munster said in his Friday report. "The bottom line, I expect cooler heads to prevail and the Federal Government will continue to support the growth of these services." Goldstein told BI that he doesn't see many avenues the administration could take to hinder Tesla's robotaxi progress. He said the Department of Transportation is reviewing federal standards for autonomous vehicle safety. "In theory, if Trump wanted to see Musk face retaliation and target Tesla, they could, say, require autonomous vehicles to have lidar in order to be approved by the federal government for operation, but I don't think they're going to get that detailed," Goldstein said. "I think that Trump could more easily just target SpaceX by just cutting their contracts if he really wanted to hurt Elon, versus making some really weird, nuanced policy." Spokespeople for the DOT and the White House did not respond to a request for comment. In a note on Friday, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote that Musk's feud with Trump doesn't impact the "longer-term vectors that drive the stock's value." "AI leadership, autonomy/robotics, manufacturing, supply chain re-architecture, renewable power, critical infrastructure... Tesla still holds so many valuable cards that are largely apolitical, in our opinion," Jonas wrote. By late Friday afternoon, the online jabs had slowed down, but the Trump-Musk alliance remained on ice. The president told NBC News on Saturday that he doesn't expect to mend his relationship with Musk and warned the CEO against supporting Democratic candidates. Still, during a press gaggle on Air Force One on Friday, Trump said he hadn't thought about Musk but wished him and his company well. "I mean, I hope he does well with Tesla," Trump said.
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
China: US needs to ‘stop spreading disinformation,' correct ‘wrongful actions'
China said on Tuesday that the United States needs to 'stop spreading disinformation' and correct 'wrongful actions' as the trade tensions between the two countries continue. China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian claimed the U.S. 'falsely accuses and smears' China and that Washington has taken 'extreme suppression' measures. He listed 'chip export controls, blocking EDA sales and announcing plans to revoke Chinese students' visas' as actions that have 'seriously disrupted the consensus and hurt China's legitimate rights and interests.' 'China firmly opposes them and has lodged strong protests with the US,' Lin wrote in a Tuesday post on the social media platform X. Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will likely talk 'soon' — a conversation that will include discussing critical minerals. 'I am confident that when President Trump and party Chairman Xi have a call, that this will be ironed out,' Bessent said during his Sunday appearance on CBS's 'Face the Nation.' 'But the fact that they are withholding some of the products that they agreed to release during our agreement — maybe it's a glitch in the Chinese system, maybe it's intentional.' The world's two biggest economies have accused each other in recent days of violating the terms of the trade agreement struck during the meetings in Geneva last month. Trump hammered China on Friday, arguing that Beijing violated the terms of the agreement. 'Two weeks ago China was in grave economic danger! The very high Tariffs I set made it virtually impossible for China to TRADE into the United States marketplace which is, by far, number one in the World. We went, in effect, COLD TURKEY with China, and it was devastating for them. Many factories closed and there was, to put it mildly, 'civil unrest.' I saw what was happening and didn't like it, for them, not for us,' the president wrote on Truth Social. 'I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn't want to see that happen,' the commander-in-chief added. China fired back on Monday, saying that Washington was in breach of the trade agreement, citing the guidance on chip export controls, the pause of sales of chip design software to China and the revocation of F-1 student visas of Chinese students in the U.S. After the May talks in Switzerland, the Trump administration brought down the tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent. China lowered its duties on U.S. goods from 125 percent to 10 percent. Lin, the foreign ministry spokesperson, added on Tuesday that pressure and 'coercion are not the right way to engage China.' 'We urge the US to respect the facts, stop spreading disinformation, correct its wrongful actions, and act to uphold the consensus reached between the two sides,' the spokesperson added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
New disputes emerge ahead of US-China trade talks in London
BEIJING (AP) — U.S.-China trade talks in London this week are expected to take up a series of fresh disputes that have buffeted relations, threatening a fragile truce over tariffs. Both sides agreed in Geneva last month to a 90-day suspension of most of the 100%-plus tariffs they had imposed on each other in an escalating trade war that had sparked fears of recession . Since then, the U.S. and China have exchanged angry words over advanced semiconductors that power artificial intelligence, 'rare earths' that are vital to carmakers and other industries, and visas for Chinese students at American universities. President Donald Trump spoke at length with Chinese leader Xi Jinping by phone last Thursday in an attempt to put relations back on track. Trump announced on social media the next day that trade talks would be held on Monday in London. Technology is a major sticking point The latest frictions began just a day after the May 12 announcement of the Geneva agreement to 'pause' tariffs for 90 days. The U.S. Commerce Department issued guidance saying the use of Ascend AI chips from Huawei , a leading Chinese tech company, could violate U.S. export controls. That's because the chips were likely developed with American technology despite restrictions on its export to China, the guidance said. The Chinese government wasn't pleased . One of its biggest beefs in recent years has been over U.S. moves to limit the access of Chinese companies to technology, and in particular to equipment and processes needed to produce the most advanced semiconductors. 'The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to immediately correct its erroneous practices,' a Commerce Ministry spokesperson said. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wasn't in Geneva but will join the talks in London. Analysts say that suggests at least a willingness on the U.S. side to hear out China's concerns on export controls . China shows signs of easing up on rare earths One area where China holds the upper hand is in the mining and processing of rare earths . They are crucial for not only autos but also a range of other products from robots to military equipment. The Chinese government started requiring producers to obtain a license to export seven rare earth elements in April. Resulting shortages sent automakers worldwide into a tizzy. As stockpiles ran down, some worried they would have to halt production. Trump, without mentioning rare earths specifically, took to social media to attack China. 'The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,' Trump posted on May 30. The Chinese government indicated Saturday that it is addressing the concerns, which have come from European companies as well. A Commerce Ministry statement said it had granted some approvals and 'will continue to strengthen the approval of applications that comply with regulations.' The scramble to resolve the rare earth issue shows that China has a strong card to play if it wants to strike back against tariffs or other measures. Plan to revoke student visas adds to tensions Student visas don't normally figure in trade talks, but a U.S. announcement that it would begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students has emerged as another thorn in the relationship. China's Commerce Ministry raised the issue when asked last week about the accusation that it had violated the consensus reached in Geneva. It replied that the U.S. had undermined the agreement by issuing export control guidelines for AI chips, stopping the sale of chip design software to China and saying it would revoke Chinese student visas. 'The United States has unilaterally provoked new economic and trade frictions,' the ministry said in a statement posted on its website. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a May 28 statement that the United States would 'aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.' More than 270,000 Chinese students studied in the U.S. in the 2023-24 academic year. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
