❯ Workday buys C1.ai to manage access for both employees and AI agents on one platform

Definitive agreementWorkday announced in an SEC filing on October 13 that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire C1.ai. The price was not disclosed, and the deal is expected to close in Q4 of Workday’s fiscal 2027, ending January 31, 2027, subject to customary conditions.

What C1.ai sellsC1.ai, formerly ConductorOne, does identity governance: it connects to a company’s email, CRM, code repositories, finance systems and cloud infrastructure, granting people or AI agents access when needed and revoking it afterward. Citing Deloitte, the company says only 21% of large companies have a mature way to govern agents.

From registry to controlWorkday says the deal extends its Agent System of Record from registering agents to controlling what they can access. The more agents a company runs, the more it needs one place to manage who can touch which system, the gap Workday wants to fill.

▮ SIGNALOnce agents enter the enterprise, access control becomes essential, and HR software companies want to extend from managing people to managing machines.