TL;DR
ServiceNow has appointed longtime Microsoft lawyer Hossein Nowbar as chief legal officer and president. Nowbar arrives with deep experience in large acquisitions and AI-era legal policies as ServiceNow pursues a string of 2025 and 2026 deals.
What happened
ServiceNow announced the hire of Hossein Nowbar as its chief legal officer and president. Nowbar spent 28 years at Microsoft, ending his tenure as that company’s chief legal officer, where he handled major transactions including Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard and work on antitrust matters such as Nuance and other large deals. While at Microsoft he helped craft customer protections tied to AI products — a 2023 commitment to assume legal costs for customers who use Microsoft’s guardrails and content filters was later broadened in 2024 to cover commercial users of the Azure OpenAI Service. Microsoft president Brad Smith publicly lauded Nowbar’s move to ServiceNow. At ServiceNow, Nowbar will lead legal, ethics, governance, compliance, risk, ServiceNow.org, impact and sustainability, and corporate and government affairs at a time when the company has accelerated acquisitions, including a pending $7.75 billion Armis purchase expected to close in the second half of 2026 subject to regulatory approvals.
Why it matters
- A seasoned dealmaker with antitrust experience strengthens ServiceNow’s ability to navigate regulatory review for large acquisitions.
- Nowbar’s work on AI-related legal policies at Microsoft could influence how ServiceNow manages legal risk around its expanding AI and data capabilities.
- His remit covers governance and government affairs, areas that become more complex during rapid M&A and when handling large volumes of enterprise data.
- Public praise from a former Microsoft executive may ease transition-related relationship management with regulators, partners and customers.
Key facts
- Hossein Nowbar was hired as ServiceNow’s chief legal officer and president, the company said on Monday.
- Nowbar spent 28 years at Microsoft and most recently served as Microsoft’s chief legal officer.
- At Microsoft he oversaw complex M&A work, including the company’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
- Nowbar and Microsoft president Brad Smith co-authored a 2023 policy promising to defend and cover adverse judgments for customers who used Microsoft’s built-in AI guardrails; that policy was updated in 2024 to include commercial users of the Azure OpenAI Service.
- In a recent exit post, Nowbar described legal work at Microsoft as a driver of innovation and cited antitrust clearances and product launches among his accomplishments.
- At ServiceNow, Nowbar will lead global legal, ethics, governance, compliance, risk, ServiceNow.org, impact and sustainability, and corporate and government affairs.
- ServiceNow announced a $7.75 billion deal to acquire cybersecurity firm Armis in December, with the company expecting the transaction to close in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory conditions.
- ServiceNow completed multiple acquisitions in 2025 including Armis, Cuein, data.world, Logik.ai, Quality 360, and Veza.
- Forrester analyst Charles Betz told The Register that Armis and data.world together signal ServiceNow is taking a strategic approach to managing and discovering enterprise data.
What to watch next
- Regulatory review and approval timeline for the Armis acquisition, which ServiceNow expects to close in H2 2026 subject to conditions.
- How Nowbar’s background in AI-related customer protections influences ServiceNow’s policies and legal posture around AI—not confirmed in the source.
- Whether Nowbar will play a direct role in structuring or approving additional deals as ServiceNow continues its M&A activity—not confirmed in the source.
Quick glossary
- Chief Legal Officer (CLO): The executive responsible for overseeing a company’s legal affairs, compliance, governance and related risk-management functions.
- M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions): The process by which companies buy, sell or combine with other companies, often requiring legal, regulatory and financial review.
- Indemnification: A commitment by one party to assume legal liability or financial responsibility for certain claims against another party under specified conditions.
- CMDB (Configuration Management Database): A repository that stores information about hardware, software and related IT assets, often used to support IT service management and discovery.
Reader FAQ
Who is Hossein Nowbar?
He is a lawyer who spent 28 years at Microsoft and most recently served as Microsoft’s chief legal officer before joining ServiceNow.
What role will Nowbar hold at ServiceNow?
He was named chief legal officer and president and will oversee global legal, ethics, governance, compliance, risk, ServiceNow.org, impact and sustainability, and corporate and government affairs.
Did Microsoft object to his move to ServiceNow?
According to the announcement, Microsoft president Brad Smith offered public praise and did not object.
When will ServiceNow’s Armis acquisition close?
ServiceNow expects the $7.75 billion Armis deal to close in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory conditions.
Was Nowbar’s compensation or start date disclosed?
not confirmed in the source
SAAS ServiceNow snags Microsoft vet to run legal amid M&A spree Hossein Nowbar waged antitrust battles and created new legal policies around AI for Redmond O'Ryan Johnson Mon 5 Jan 2026 // 21:36 UTC…
Sources
- ServiceNow snags Microsoft vet to run legal amid M&A spree
- Microsoft promotes GC to CLO role as legal chief steps down
- Microsoft Taps New Legal Chief in Latest C-suite Reshuffle …
- Microsoft GC Jon Palmer Says He's Now CLO, Casting …
Related posts
- Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind team up to add Gemini AI to Atlas robots
- Google DeepMind to Embed Gemini AI in Boston Dynamics’ Atlas Robots
- AWS quietly raises EC2 GPU Capacity Block prices about 15% over weekend