Workday to acquire Sana for $1.1 billion
Workday is to acquire AI learning firm Sana in a $1.1bn deal, adding AI-driven learning and agents to strengthen workplace skills and employee experience.
Workday has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Swedish AI learning company Sana in a deal valued at approximately $1.1 billion. The acquisition, unveiled at the Workday Rising 2025 conference, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Workday’s fiscal year 2026 subject to customary approvals.
Sana, founded in 2016, has developed AI-native products including Sana Learn, an AI-driven learning platform, and Sana Agents, a no-code tool for building workplace automation agents. Its solutions are used by more than one million employees across hundreds of enterprises.
Workday said Sana’s technology will form the basis of a new employee experience within its platform, positioning Workday as the “front door for work” by bringing together knowledge, data, action and learning. Sana Learn will complement Workday Learning by offering personalised skill development, AI-generated course creation and intelligent tutoring.
Gerrit Kazmaier, Workday’s president of product and technology, said the acquisition was central to reimagining the workplace:
“Sana’s team, AI-native approach and design perfectly align with our vision to deliver a proactive, personalised and intelligent experience that unlocks unmatched AI capabilities for the workplace.”
Sana’s founder and chief executive Joel Hellermark said the deal would allow the company to scale its technology to Workday’s reported 75 million users worldwide:
“Our focus has always been on creating intuitive AI tools that improve how people learn and work. I’m excited to partner with Workday to launch a new era of superintelligence for work.”
The move strengthens Workday’s position in the growing AI-enabled workplace learning market where demand is rising for personalised scalable training and productivity tools.
Industry impact
Analysts suggest the acquisition will give Workday an edge over rivals in both HR and learning technology. Josh Bersin, industry analyst and chief executive of The Josh Bersin Company, called the deal transformative:
“Sana pioneered intelligent agents and AI-native learning at scale. This acquisition gives Workday customers the opportunity to completely transform how their employees learn, grow and operate as super workers in the new age of AI.”
Transaction details
Workday will acquire all outstanding shares of Sana for approximately $1.1 billion. Allen & Company is serving as Workday’s financial adviser with Orrick as legal adviser. DLA Piper is representing Sana.
Workday, which provides an AI-driven platform for managing HR and finance, is used by more than 11,000 organisations worldwide including over 65% of the Fortune 500.