Workday Agrees to Acquire C1.ai to Govern AI Agent Access

Workday has agreed to acquire ConductorOne, which operates as C1.ai, to expand its identity governance capabilities and manage system access for employees and artificial intelligence agents. Announced on October 13, 2026, the transaction will integrate C1.ai's access management technology into Workday's enterprise platform, with completion expected in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027, ending January 31, 2027, subject to customary closing conditions.

According to Workday's regulatory filing and announcement, the agreement was signed on October 12, 2026, and covers all outstanding capital stock of C1.ai. The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition, and completion remains conditional on the required closing conditions.

The acquisition targets a growing security challenge as companies deploy AI agents across business applications, financial systems, code repositories, email platforms and cloud infrastructure. Workday said integrating C1.ai will allow organizations to assign, monitor and revoke permissions as employees change roles, join the company or leave.

Research cited by C1.ai indicates that 95% of large U.S. companies already use autonomous agents. However, Deloitte's State of AI research found that only 21% report having a mature approach to governing those systems, highlighting a gap between adoption and oversight.

Gerrit Kazmaier, president of product and technology at Workday, said the combined platform would address access controls across a workforce that includes both people and AI systems.

"Today's companies run on a combined workforce of people and AI agents," said Gerrit Kazmaier, president, product and technology, Workday.

Kazmaier said the integration would focus on enforcing access permissions across connected applications and systems. The intended approach links identity management with workforce changes, helping organizations align permissions with employees' current responsibilities and agents' authorized functions.

Alex Bovee, CEO and co-founder of C1.ai, said existing access management practices need to evolve as organizations introduce AI into their operations.

"Enterprises can't secure the AI era using yesterday's IT tickets," said Alex Bovee, CEO and co-founder, C1.ai.

Bovee said integrating C1.ai's identity governance technology into Workday's enterprise platform would support real-time access management for people and AI agents. The companies aim to reduce delays associated with manual permission requests while maintaining security controls.

The planned integration will also extend Workday's Agent System of Record, which provides organizations with a centralized view of their AI agents. According to Workday, C1.ai's technology will add controls governing which enterprise applications, data and systems those agents can access, including when an agent's work ends and its permissions must be revoked.

Workday named BofA Securities as its financial adviser and Orrick as its legal adviser. C1.ai named Qatalyst Partners as its financial adviser and Ashurst Perkins Coie as its legal adviser. The transaction is expected to close by January 31, 2027, subject to customary conditions.