Workday Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire AI Identity Platform C1.ai

Summary of Proposed Acquisition

On October 12, 2026, Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding capital stock of ConductorOne, Inc. (C1.ai), an agentic identity governance platform.

Strategic Rationale & Technology Integration

• Unified Identity Governance: C1.ai connects across enterprise infrastructure, CRM, finance, and developer tools to govern identity and access permissions in real time.
• Agentic AI Security: With 95% of large enterprises running autonomous AI agents, C1.ai provides automated access control, least-privilege scoping, and real-time offboarding for both human employees and autonomous agents.
• Workday Core Synergy: The acquisition builds directly on the Workday Agent System of Record to create an identity governance layer across enterprise human resources, financial, and IT workflows.

Transaction Details & Timing

• Target Company: ConductorOne, Inc. (dba C1.ai)
• Financial Terms: Financial consideration terms were not disclosed in the filing.
• Expected Closing: Q4 of Workday's fiscal year 2027 (period ending January 31, 2027), subject to customary regulatory and closing conditions.
• Financial & Legal Advisors:
  • Workday: BofA Securities (financial) and Orrick (legal)
  • C1.ai: Qatalyst Partners (financial) and Ashurst Perkins Coie (legal)