With the rapid upgrading and iteration of intelligent technology, the real demand for the modernization of governance capacity and governance system provides a broad practical platform for intelligent governance, which has become the key to improving the effectiveness of government governance in the era of intelligence. Starting from the connotation of intelligent governance, the study builds the generative logic and analytical framework of intelligent governance, and explains the process of generating intelligent governance through the mutual embedding of intelligent technology and governance system by the logical line of penetration-conduction-diffusion-integration. It is found that the penetration of smart technology at the level of governance concepts has given rise to the concept of holistic and synergistic governmental governance. In the process of smart technology conduction, governance elements show two prominent transformations of governance space from physical office to scenario simulation as well as the combination of online and offline government service scenarios. The evolution of the governance system from low-level to high-level is manifested both in the top-down establishment of regulations and bottom-up user participation. Governance effectiveness is a comprehensive evaluation of governance subjects, processes and results, and the upgrading of governance effectiveness provides the possibility of active governance and accurate decision-making. The intelligence of Nanjing’s “digital city management” system also fully confirms the feasibility and effectiveness of intelligent governance. While answering the question of what is “intelligent”, we also focus on how to be “intelligent”. With the increasing integration of intelligent technology and governance practices, in order to realize the effective generation of intelligent governance effectiveness, the organic unity of governance subject intelligence, governance process intelligence and governance effect intelligence is vital. Therefore, it is necessary to form a governance pattern of “reshaping the governance process to empowerment, technology-driven to empowerment, and multi-dimensional synergy to empowerment”, ultimately realizing continuous improvement in the effectiveness of intelligent governance.