Workday CFO on why $1.1 billion Sana deal aligns with M&A strategy

Good morning. In a year defined by strategic acquisitions, Workday is accelerating its transformation through big moves in the AI space.

Workday, which offers an AI platform for finance and HR, announced on Tuesday a definitive agreement to acquire Swedish AI startup Sana for around $1.1 billion. The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter of Workday’s fiscal 2026, follows two other strategic acquisitions, Paradox and Flowise, announced last month.

I sat down with Zane Rowe, CFO of Workday (a CFO Daily sponsor), to discuss his perspective on the deal and the company’s approach to M&A. Sana’s proprietary technology, known for its intuitive user interface and foundational AI learning tools, aligns closely with Workday’s offerings, he explained. This will now be paired with Paradox’s conversational AI for frontline workers and Flowise’s AI agent-building capabilities.

Rowe said the acquisitions of Sana, Paradox, and Flowise reflect Workday’s disciplined approach to M&A. “We keep a very high hurdle on talent, team, technology, and cultural fit, and it’s really a paradigm that has to fit perfectly; and that’s how we think about our M&A strategy,” he noted.

Past integrations, such as Hiredscore and Evisort (acquired in 2024), have performed strongly, and Workday expects Sana to deliver similar value, Rowe said. Much of the anticipated success comes from cultural fit, he added. “It’s truly the integration plan and how the cultures can work together and how we can embrace that with the leaders of these companies coming into Workday,” he said. “That, candidly, is the most exciting part for me—to see these leaders still thrive within the company and do really great things.”

For Sana, joining Workday promises a larger, global stage and access to a user base of over 75 million people.

The Fortune 500 company’s latest announcements also highlight innovations beyond M&A, including Flex Credits—which give Workday customers modular, usage-based access to AI tools—and more than 15 Workday Ventures partners introducing new AI agents. For example, on the finance side, “we have some very interesting agents to help look at the close process,” Rowe said. As AI adoption grows, organizations will improve their ability to track and measure its business impact, he said.

Workday continues to “bolster its Illuminate agent platform” with the acquisition of Sana, as well as a partnership with Microsoft to import agents built on the Azure AI Foundry into the platform, BofA Securities analysts wrote in a Tuesday note. The launch of the flex credit pricing model for Illuminate should enable Workday to capture upside from agent usage via a consumption model over time, according to analysts. BofA Securities has reiterated its Buy rating and $265 price target.

Rowe also shared his thoughts on Workday entering its 20th year in business: “I’m fortunate to be part of an enterprise that works with people and numbers—the two things you need in business, and the two things I’m most passionate about.”

Have a good weekend. See you on Monday.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com