ITIL 5 is finally here, and it arrives at the exact moment IT teams are being asked to do the impossible: deliver faster, automate more, and adopt AI… all without breaking trust, reliability, or the employee experience. The good news is that if you’re already using ITIL 4, you’re not starting from zero.
We’ve been digging into the new framework, and we’ve found that the big idea behind ITIL 5 is that the world is changing fast, and the framework is catching up. The way organizations deliver value today depends more than ever on digital products, digital services, automation, and (yes) AI. ITIL 5 reflects that reality, and it gives IT teams a more modern way to structure work end-to-end.
In short: ITIL 5 is an evolution, not a reinvention. But it introduces meaningful updates in language, focus, and how the model is presented.
ITIL 5 release and purpose
ITIL 5 was announced as the next major version of ITIL, created to better support how organizations build and operate in a world shaped by constant digital change.
Where ITIL 4 already made an important leap (moving away from rigid process thinking and into value streams, practices, and co-creation), ITIL 5 goes one step further by bringing several themes to the center:
- Digital product and Service Management as the default mode of value delivery.
- Practical adoption, designed to be used from day one.
- Governance and trust, including how organizations adopt AI responsibly.
- A framework that applies beyond IT, across the entire enterprise.
The intent is clear: keep what worked from ITIL 4, but reshape it for what’s next, especially for organizations trying to reduce friction, speed up delivery, and manage increasing complexity.
ITIL 4 vs. ITIL 5: What changes with ITIL’s new version?
Below is a quick comparison of how the framework has evolved. (We’ll also include ITIL v3 for context.)
ITIL v3 vs ITIL 4 vs ITIL 5: summary chart
Now let’s unpack the most important changes in ITIL 5.
ITIL 5 is “AI-native” (and takes AI governance seriously)
This is probably the biggest “headline change”. ITIL is not suddenly becoming an AI framework, but it does treat AI as unavoidable.
Many organizations already have AI in their environment in some form:
- AI-assisted support agents.
- Automated ticket routing and categorization.
- Summarization and knowledge drafting.
- Predictive analytics.
- Copilots embedded into tools.
ITIL 5 acknowledges that these capabilities create real value, but also real risk. So the framework emphasizes AI governance built in, with the goal of helping organizations “use and scale AI responsibly and with confidence.”
In practice, this encourages teams to think beyond the question of “Can we automate this?” and instead ask:
- Who owns the outcomes?
- How do we validate and monitor AI-driven decisions?
- How do we prevent biased or low-quality outputs?
- How do we maintain trust with customers and internal teams?
That shift is more significant than you might initially think; the future of service shouldn’t only be faster, it has to also be safer, more reliable, and more accountable.
ITIL 5 stays practical: Ready to apply from day one
One of the strongest parts of ITIL 4 was its usability compared to previous versions. ITIL 5 keeps that momentum and reinforces a very important promise:
It’s designed to be applied immediately.
This is especially relevant for teams who feel stuck in the loop of endless “transformation initiatives,” roadmap documents that never ship, committees that slow everything down, and improvements that die in the backlog.
ITIL 5 leans into what practitioners actually need: a framework that supports real work, in real environments, with real constraints.
So if your organization already operates with ITIL 4-style practices and value streams, ITIL 5 won’t feel like a restart. It will feel like a cleaner, more modern framing of work you’re already trying to do.
ITIL 5 connects Product and Service Management into one flow
This is one of the most meaningful conceptual upgrades.
In many organizations, product teams and service teams still operate like separate worlds:
- Product teams build features, ship updates, and focus on adoption.
- Service teams handle incidents, requests, and ongoing operations.
- Customers experience both, but internal ownership is fragmented.
The result is predictable:
- Too many handoffs.
- Too much “not my area.”
- Slow feedback loops.
- Fixes that take too long because no one owns the whole experience.
ITIL 5 explicitly pushes for Product and Service Management moving together, end to end, with fewer disconnects and more continuous value flow.
This is a big deal for modern IT organizations, because most “services” today are delivered through digital products:
- A self-service portal is part of your service experience.
- Your ITSM tool is part of how employees experience support.
- A workflow builder is part of how the business experiences speed and efficiency.
ITIL 5 says: Stop treating products like “projects” and services like “operations.” Treat them as a connected system.
ITIL 5 is positioned “for IT and every role”
Another strategic shift is the broader scope of the framework.
While ITIL has always been associated with IT Service Management, the direction is clearly more inclusive: ITIL 5 is for every organization, large and small, and for roles beyond IT.
This matches the reality of Enterprise Service Management, where IT practices and tools expand into:
- HR service delivery.
- Facilities and workplace services.
- Finance operations.
- Legal workflows.
- Procurement support.
- Internal shared services.
ITIL 5 supports this expansion by focusing more on “value delivery across the organization,” not just IT as a silo.
ITIL 5 is built on community trust (and continuity)
Lastly, ITIL 5 positions itself as an evolution backed by its global community of practitioners.
This matters because ITIL is a shared professional language across industries, and when that language shifts too aggressively, adoption can break.
The message here is reassuring: ITIL 5 builds on what people already know and use, while updating the model for today.
So if you’re ITIL 4-certified or you’ve built your internal Service Management program around ITIL 4 concepts, you won’t be “outdated overnight.” You’ll simply have a new reference model and new emphasis areas to guide your next steps.
Key processes, practices, and principles in ITIL 5
ITIL 5 maintains the foundation that made ITIL 4 widely adopted: a flexible framework based on guiding principles, management practices, and continual improvement.
Rather than thinking in terms of “strict processes you must implement,” ITIL continues to encourage a modular approach: adopt what fits your organization’s context, maturity level, and goals.
What you should expect to see in ITIL 5
At a high level, ITIL 5 continues to reinforce:
- Guiding principles (practical decision-making guidelines).
- Management practices (the “how” of service delivery and improvement).
- Continual improvement as a continuous capability, not a yearly initiative.
- A stronger framing around end-to-end value delivery, connecting discovery through support.
For ITSM teams, this means ITIL 5 remains deeply relevant to everyday realities like:
- Incident and Request Management.
- Knowledge Management.
- Change Enablement.
- Service catalog and self-service.
- Asset and configuration practices.
- Reporting, measurement, and improvement.
The difference is less about replacing these fundamentals, more about placing them into a framework that reflects how organizations build and run digital operations in 2025 and beyond.
Key ITIL 5 models worth knowing
While ITIL 5 doesn’t reinvent the framework, it does introduce clearer terminology and named models that help structure how value is delivered in a digital, AI-enabled context:
-
ITIL Value System (ITIL VS): Formerly known as the Service Value System (SVS) in ITIL 4, the model is now renamed to be more inclusive of digital products and digital services, not just traditional IT services.
-
ITIL Product and Service Lifecycle Model (PSLM): ITIL 5 explicitly defines an end-to-end lifecycle with eight activities: Discover, Design, Acquire, Build, Transition, Operate, Deliver, and Support. These provide a concrete structure for the "single flow" of product and service management.
-
AI Capability Model (6C Model): To support responsible AI adoption, ITIL 5 introduces an AI capability framework covering Creation, Curation, Clarification, Cognition, Communication, and Coordination, helping organizations understand which AI capabilities are required beyond just automation.
-
Industry 5.0 context: At a higher level, ITIL 5 aligns with the shift toward Industry 5.0, moving the conversation from pure efficiency to resilience, sustainability, and a more human-centered approach to technology and service delivery.
How to switch from ITIL 4 to ITIL 5
If you’re currently using ITIL 4 concepts in your Service Management program, moving to ITIL 5 can be approached calmly and strategically.
Here’s a practical way to start.
1. Don’t “re-implement ITIL”
Switching to ITIL 5 shouldn’t be a massive rework initiative. Instead, treat it as a framework refresh: keep what works, update your internal language where it helps, and adjust your operating model where you see friction.
2. Review your work end-to-end (not just operations)
Most IT teams are strong on operational stages (support, incidents, stability). But ITIL 5 encourages a more complete view:
- Are we discovering needs effectively?
- Are we designing for experience, not just delivery?
- Are we transitioning changes safely and predictably?
- Are we delivering value continuously, not just “closing tickets”?
This is where ITIL 5 can quickly expose bottlenecks you already feel but haven’t mapped clearly.
3. Use value streams to reduce handoffs
If your current reality is “too many handoffs,” focus on simplifying flow across teams.
Map:
- Request → fulfillment → support outcomes.
- Change → release → operational readiness.
- Feedback → improvement → delivery.
The goal is to make value move smoothly, with fewer delays and fewer ownership gaps.
4. Take AI adoption seriously (even if it starts small)
If your organization is experimenting with AI (even only in the service desk) now is the time to introduce basic governance thinking:
- Define acceptable use.
- Define escalation paths.
- Define oversight and monitoring.
- Define who is accountable.
ITIL 5 makes it clear: AI-driven value without trust won’t scale.
InvGate and ITIL
ITIL is ultimately about enabling value through clear practices, consistent workflows, and continual improvement – and that’s exactly what InvGate helps organizations implement in a practical, modern way.
InvGate Service Management has obtained PeopleCert’s ITIL certification (for the second year in a row), validating alignment with the following ITIL practices:
- Incident Management
- Service Request Management
- Problem Management
- Change Enablement
- Knowledge Management
Beyond these certified practices, InvGate Service Management also helps teams design reliable service experiences through structured workflows, self-service, and visibility that supports ongoing improvement.
And as ITIL 5 pushes the conversation further into automation and AI-enabled service delivery, InvGate is also building toward that future with InvGate AI Hub, a pragmatic approach to AI in ITSM, including capabilities like generating knowledge articles from incidents to help teams scale support more efficiently.
