This year, I had the opportunity to attend USU World 2025, held in June in Rust, Germany. A key observation from the event is how US politics are shaping strategies in Germany and Europe. Organizations are seeking to reduce their dependency on US-based or US-owned infrastructure while simultaneously building options within their own country or in the EMEA region. This was described as an awakening.

A New Look With Familiar Foundations

USU unveiled a rebranding effort with a renewed strategic direction, supported by feature showcases, user engagement sessions, and a few glimpses of product evolution. No doubt, these improvements are a direct result of the Thoma Bravo acquisition of a majority stake in USU in December 2024. At that time, Thoma Bravo and USU jointly announced accelerated product innovation, a shift toward SaaS and platform-centric models, and a desire to scale across Europe and the US.

Central to USU’s roadmap were three priorities: generative AI-powered service agents, vendor-neutral cloud observability, and embedded knowledge governance. Each addresses a long-standing IT service management (ITSM) pain point: fragmented data, poor service quality, and escalating SaaS complexity.

The Path Ahead

USU’s roadmap presentation was aggressive and is pushing the company in a very positive direction. But for a market keen on innovation and a competitive edge, much of the substance remained high-level; it was framed as early steps rather than transformative leaps that had already been adopted into the platform. It symbolized USU’s commitment to transformation, innovation, and an increasingly urgent mission: to redefine how ITSM meets the demands of a hybrid, AI-powered, and compliance-conscious digital world.

USU’s ambition for intelligent apps — tools that automate decision-making processes with minimal human oversight — certainly aligns with market directions. Yet in 2025, when competitors are already delivering AI-native service experiences, USU’s framing as “visionary but not yet realized” places it behind the curve. With the support of Thoma Bravo, however, its execution is faster than in previous years and a welcome push in a very positive direction.

Transforming Governance Into Practice

USU took a firm stand on data governance, especially in the European regulatory landscape. By formalizing data ownership, establishing data councils, and integrating governance into everyday workflows, USU is ahead of its peers in operationalizing compliance. While others offer governance as an overlay, USU bakes it in.

Beyond technology, the event reinforced USU’s emphasis on community through interactive sessions, real-world use cases, and leadership visibility. The user group meetings showcased practical service desk enhancements, user-driven feedback loops, and decentralized governance models that promote collaborative development.

Final Thought: Potential Or Plateau?

USU’s event showcased a company deeply engaged with its users and mindful of regulatory complexity. Yet in a landscape where AI-first service management, full SaaS parity, and cross-platform interoperability are no longer future goals but immediate expectations, the announcements at this event felt more evolutionary than revolutionary.

To close its innovation gap, USU must shift from roadmap narratives and minimum viable products to deploying production-grade intelligence without sidelining customers who demand flexibility and control. The question is: Will USU follow the advice of one of its event keynote speakers who said that “data privacy is a right, and it is important, but it is not our only right”? Will its AI practices mature more quickly than they have up to this point?

USU World 2025 wasn’t about flashy features or headline acquisitions. It was about intention, precision, and a values-driven approach to ITSM. The emphasis on vendor-agnostic architecture, embedded AI, and the human cost of transformation shows that USU isn’t trying to outscale competitors; it’s carving a niche around trust, clarity, and sovereignty, as that niche is growing.

As enterprises question platform lock-in, seek compliance-first tools, and battle digital exhaustion, USU’s measured and modular roadmap may prove to be precisely what mid-to-large European organizations need. The world of ITSM is indeed transforming, but not everyone needs a mega platform to get there. Sometimes, you need a partner who listens first, integrates second, and governs always.

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