Attivio

Attivio, acquired by ServiceNow in 2019, represents the pinnacle of cognitive search architecture. As of 2026, its core technology has been fully absorbed into ServiceNow's 'AI Search' and 'Now Intelligence' offerings. The platform utilizes a sophisticated 'Active Intelligence Engine' (AIE) that combines natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and a semantic knowledge graph to ingest and index structured and unstructured data. Its architecture is designed for extreme scale, providing sub-second query latency across millions of enterprise records from disparate silos like SharePoint, Box, and SQL databases. In the 2026 market, Attivio's legacy manifests as the intelligence layer for the Now Platform, enabling 'GenAI-ready' search results that power LLM-based RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) workflows. It focuses on signal-based relevancy, where the system learns from user behavior to continuously improve results. For enterprise architects, Attivio provides the necessary security protocols, including early-binding ACL enforcement, ensuring that users only see data they are authorized to access within the search index.