echelonan artificial intelligence startup that automates enterprise software implementations, is coming out of stealth mode today with $4.75 million in seed funding. Bain Capital Venturesaims to fundamentally change the way companies deploy and maintain critical business systems.
The San Francisco-based company has developed an AI agent specifically trained to handle end-to-end ServiceNow Deployment — Deploying complex enterprise software that traditionally requires months of work by offshore consulting teams and costs companies millions of dollars annually.
"The biggest barrier to digital transformation is not the technology, but the time it takes to implement it." Rahul Kayala, founder and CEO of Echelon, previously worked at an AI-powered IT company. move works. "AI agents completely remove that constraint, allowing businesses to experiment, iterate, and deploy platform changes at unprecedented speed."
This announcement signals potential disruption to the system. $1.5 trillion global IT services marketa location preferred by businesses Accenture, deloitteand cap gemini Echelon has long been dominated through a labor-intensive consulting model, which it argues is becoming obsolete in the age of artificial intelligence.
Why deploying ServiceNow takes months and costs millions of dollars?
ServiceNowis a cloud-based platform that enterprises use to manage IT services, human resources, and business workflows, making it a critical infrastructure for large organizations. However, implementing and customizing the platform typically requires expertise that most companies do not have in-house.
This complexity stems from ServiceNow’s vast customization capabilities. Organizations often require hundreds of pieces of data. "catalog items" — Digital forms and workflows for employee requests — each requiring specific configuration, approval processes, and integration with existing systems. According to Echelon research, technical complexity and communication bottlenecks between business stakeholders and development teams often push these implementations well over the planned schedule.
"What seems easy at first often takes weeks of effort once the actual work begins." The company mentioned in it Analysis of common implementation challenges. "The basic request form is five requests packed into one. Catalog items with 50+ variables and 10+ UI policies were all connected. Updating one field will break other fields."
Traditional solutions include hiring offshore development teams and expensive consultants, creating what Echelon calls a problematic cycle. "One question here, one delay there, and suddenly you’re weeks behind."
How AI agents can replace expensive offshore consulting teams
Echelon’s approach replaces human consultants with elite-trained AI agents ServiceNow Experts from top consulting companies gather. These agents can analyze business requirements, ask clear questions in real time, and automatically generate complete ServiceNow configurations, including forms, workflows, test scenarios, and documentation.
This technology represents a significant advance from general-purpose AI tools. Rather than providing general code suggestions, Echelon agents understand ServiceNow’s specific architecture, best practices, and common integration patterns. We can identify requirements gaps and recommend solutions that align with your company’s governance standards.
"Rather than route all input to five people, the business process owner uploaded the requirements directly." Kayala described a recent customer implementation. "AI developers analyze it and ask follow-up questions such as: “There are three branches in the process flow, but only two triggers.” Can there be a third? The kind of questions an experienced developer would ask. With AI, these questions can be generated instantly."
Early customers are reporting dramatic time savings. A financial services company considered a service catalog migration project that was expected to take six months. Completed in 6 weeks Use Echelon’s AI agent.
Differences between Echelon’s AI and Coding Assistant
Echelon’s technology addresses several technical challenges that have hindered widespread adoption of AI in enterprise software implementations. Agents are trained based on ServiceNow’s technical capabilities as well as the accumulated expertise of senior consultants who understand complex enterprise requirements, governance frameworks, and integration patterns.
This approach differs from general-purpose AI coding assistants such as: GitHub Copilotprovides syntax suggestions but lacks domain-specific expertise. Echelon agents understand ServiceNow’s data model, security framework, and upgrade considerations, and this knowledge is typically gained through years of consulting experience.
The company’s training methodology includes ServiceNow’s elite experts from consulting firms such as: Accenture and specialized ServiceNow partners Tildera. This built-in expertise allows AI to address complex requirements and special cases that typically require the intervention of senior consultants.
The real challenge is not teaching AI how to write code, but gaining the intuitive expertise that separates junior developers from seasoned architects. ServiceNow senior consultants intuitively know which customizations break during upgrades and how simple requests can become entangled in complex integration issues. This organizational knowledge creates a much more defensible moat than what a general-purpose coding assistant can provide.
$1.5 trillion consulting market faces disruption
Echelon’s emergence reflects broader trends that are reshaping the enterprise software market. As companies accelerate their digital transformation efforts, it is becoming increasingly clear that traditional consulting models are inadequate for the speed and scale needed.
ServiceNow itself is growing rapidly, it is reported. Annual revenue in 2024 is $10.98 billion$12.06 billion for the subsequent 12 months ended June 30, 2025, as the organization continues to digitize its business processes. However, this growth has created a persistent talent shortage, with demand for skilled ServiceNow professionals, especially those with AI expertise, far exceeding supply.
The startup’s approach could fundamentally change the economics of implementing enterprise software. Traditional consulting work often involves large teams working over months, and costs increase linearly with project complexity. In contrast, AI agents can handle multiple projects simultaneously and apply learned knowledge across customers.
Bain Capital Ventures partner Rak Garg, who led Echelon’s funding round, sees this as part of a larger shift towards AI-powered professional services. "Similar trends can be seen in other BCV companies. prophet securityautomate security operations. crosbyautomates legal services for startups. AI is rapidly becoming a delivery layer across multiple functions."
Extend beyond ServiceNow while maintaining enterprise reliability
Despite early success, Echelon faces significant challenges in scaling its approach. Enterprise customers prioritize reliability over speed, and AI-generated configurations must meet strict security and compliance requirements.
"Inertia is the biggest risk" Garg admitted. "IT systems should never go down, and businesses lose thousands of man-hours of productivity each time a system goes down. Proving reliability at scale and building reproducible results is important to Echelon."
The company plans to expand beyond ServiceNow to other enterprise platforms, including: SAP, sales forceand working day — each creates substantial additional market opportunities. However, each platform requires developing new domain expertise and training models based on platform-specific best practices.
echelon It also faces potential competition from established consulting firms that are developing their own AI capabilities. However, Garg sees these companies as potential partners rather than competitors, noting that many have already approached Echelon about partnership opportunities.
"They know that AI is changing business models in real time." he said. "Customers are putting tremendous price pressure on large companies and asking tough questions, and these companies can leverage Echelon’s agents to accelerate their projects."
How AI agents can reshape all professional services
Echelon’s funding and coming out of stealth marks a significant milestone in the application of AI to professional services. Unlike consumer AI applications that primarily improve the productivity of individuals, enterprise AI agents like Echelon directly replace skilled workers at scale.
The company’s approach to training AI systems based on expert knowledge rather than just technical documentation could serve as a model for automating other complex professional services. Legal research, financial analysis, and technology consulting all involve similar patterns of applying expertise to unique customer requirements.
For enterprise customers, the promise extends beyond cost savings to strategic agility. Organizations that can quickly implement and change business processes gain a competitive advantage in markets where customer expectations and regulatory requirements change frequently.
As Kayala pointed out, "This enables a completely different approach to business agility and competitive advantage."
The impact extends far beyond the implementation of ServiceNow. If AI agents can master the intricacies of enterprise software deployment, one of the most complex and relationship-dependent areas in professional services, there may be few areas of knowledge work that are immune to automation.
The question is not whether AI will transform professional services, but how quickly it can transform human expertise into autonomous digital workers who never sleep, never leave things to competitors, and get smarter with every project they complete.
