The new version of ITIL was announced in January 2026, and by the end of April, six core publications had been released, along with the official training and certifications. Each publication bears an ‘AI Native’ badge on the cover and, as the industry is going through a rapid and somewhat hectic adoption of AI, many professionals are wondering: Does the new ITIL really offer practical, actionable guidance on the use and management of AI solutions for service management?  

It does, but, as always with ITIL, the guidance needs to be adapted to the organization’s context.

What is already available

The new ITIL is an evolution of the previous version. The key foundational concepts (the value system, the guiding principles, the four dimensions…) are either the same as in ITIL 4 or easily recognizable. However, the narrative around them has evolved, and addressing AI is one of the important changes. Recommendations on the application of the guiding principles address the use of AI (for understanding the big picture, capturing feedback, collaboration and visibility, and so on). The ‘Information and Technology’ dimension of product and service management has a dedicated section on AI, introducing the brand-new AI Capabilities model. According to the feedback from beta testers and early adopters, the Foundation clearly feels relevant to the AI era.  

All other publications of the new version are more than 50% new. They reuse some content and concepts from ITIL 4, but they are positioned and structured differently and have a lot of new content, addressing, among other things, the use of AI. The new Product and Service publications are both structured around the digital product and service lifecycle, describing how the eight value chain activities are performed by digital product vendors and service providers. The activities are:  

• Discover 
• Design 
• Acquire 
• Build 
• Transition 
• Operate 
• Deliver 
• Support.  

Each activity can benefit from the use of AI, and the books explore what can already be considered established practice. One of the sources of this information was the ‘AI in ITSM Tools’ report created together with ITSM.Tools and reviewing the use of AI across eleven ATVs (Accredited Tool Vendors). 

The new ITIL Experience book provides a deep dive into the topic of digital experience: what it is and how it can be captured, analyzed, and improved. It acknowledges that AI has become an important factor in the digital experience for both service consumers and service providers. Product vendors and service providers include AI in their solutions for users while simultaneously using AI to create and manage those solutions. AI is becoming a participant, not only a tool. The Experience book helps organizations prepare for this transformation.  

Speaking of transformations, one new part of ITIL is particularly useful for organizations adopting AI, even if they are not explicitly focused on AI. This is the ITIL Transformation book. It equips those adopting AI with a flexible, complexity-native model for running large-scale transformations, whether initiated as organizational change, new technology adoption, or a response to regulatory requirements. This guidance is intended to support current and future changes, and AI is just one of the challenges it helps address.  

What is coming next 

At the time of writing (May), there is one last core component of Version 5 to be released, explicitly focused on AI governance. At the core of this module is the AI Governance whitepaper published in 2025, so it is possible to say what the industry can expect from the new book.  

It assumes that an organization has a technology governance system in place – this system can be more or less mature, but it exists.  

The next assumption is that this system is likely to be insufficient for the successful governance of AI and therefore requires an update.  

The guidance will help assess the current technology governance system, stress-test it, define requirements for effective AI governance suitable for the particular organization, adjust the governance system accordingly, and keep it up to date.  

The AI Governance guidance integrates the AI Capability model introduced in Foundation and applies it to identify AI-related risks (depending on how we use AI) and propose relevant countermeasures.  

Finally, the new book will address rapidly evolving AI regulations, helping organizations understand them and, where relevant, ensure compliance.  

Meanwhile, the ITIL team continues the preparations for the Practice Guides update, scheduled for the second half of 2026. The scope of the update includes, among other things, the inclusion of what can already be considered as good, or at least widely adopted, practice of using AI in each of the 34 practices. The new practice guides should be available by the end of 2026.  

A note on the use of AI 

The new ITIL version was developed with significant assistance from AI. AI tools have been used to review and edit drafts, review and consolidate feedback, track and control changes, draft and validate exam questions, draft and review translations… Some experiments with AI during ITIL development allowed for additional testing of models and recommendations included in the new publications. The ITIL team uses AI to capture AI trends, distill AI good practices, and provide recommendations. The new version would have been different without AI, both in its content and in how it is created. That is why we call it AI Native.