Workday, the trusted agentic platform for HR, finance, and IT, announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire C1.ai, a leading agentic identity platform for people and agents. C1.ai connects to the systems a business runs on, from email and CRM to code repositories, finance systems, and cloud infrastructure, giving each person and agent the right access at the right time and removing it the moment it's no longer needed.
Most organizations manage employee access across hundreds of applications through manual service tickets, spreadsheets, and periodic reviews as workers join, move, and leave. The rapid adoption of AI agents has accelerated this challenge: C1.ai's research shows that 95% of large U.S. companies already run autonomous agents, yet according to Deloitte's State of AI research, only 21% report having a mature way to govern them. Organizations need to know who and what has access, why they have it, and when to remove it. Without those controls, AI agents can become lawless, creating security and compliance risks across the business.
Every new hire, job change, and exit is a Workday event. Workday already governs the people, money, and agents at the heart of the enterprise. With C1.ai, Workday will become the identity governance layer for people, money, and agents. Every employee and agent using Workday can have the right access to the apps, data, and systems they need, from the day they join to the day they leave, and every move in between.
"Today's companies run on a combined workforce of people and AI agents," said Gerrit Kazmaier, president, product and technology, Workday. "With C1.ai, we'll help secure that workforce by managing and enforcing exactly who – and what – has access to connected apps and systems, giving each person and agent the right access at the right moment to make work easier, safer, and more compliant."
"Enterprises can't secure the AI era using yesterday's IT tickets," said Alex Bovee, CEO and co-founder, C1.ai. "Workday is the operational heart of the enterprise, and by bringing C1.ai's identity governance directly into that core, we'll be able to manage access for every human and agent in real time – making work faster without making it less secure."
Managing Access for Every Worker and Agent in One Place
Imagine a new hire spending their first few days filing tickets just to get access to Slack, Jira, and the finance dashboard – and then keeping that access long after changing roles. Workday and C1.ai will bring these processes together so that new hires get the right access when they start, employees gain and lose access as their roles change, and departing workers are removed promptly. This translates to less time waiting on system permissions for employees, fewer manual approvals for managers, and fewer open doors for attackers.
Complete Visibility and Control for Agents
Some agents act on behalf of an employee and should only reach part of what that person can, while others work on their own with broader access that needs close oversight. An agent that was retired last quarter shouldn't still be able to get in, and most companies don't yet have a way to manage access at that level of detail.
The Workday Agent System of Record already gives companies one place to see and manage their agents. C1.ai will build on that, going beyond registering agents to also governing what they can access across Workday and other enterprise systems. Once registered, an agent can receive the access it needs, when it needs it, and lose that access immediately when its work or role ends.
Transaction Details & Availability
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Workday's fiscal year 2027, ending January 31, 2027, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. BofA Securities is serving as financial advisor to Workday and Orrick is serving as its legal advisor. Qatalyst is serving as financial advisor to C1.ai and Ashurst Perkins Coie is serving as its legal advisor.
