s·CFO DailyWorkday CFO on why $1.1 billion Sana deal aligns with M&A strategyBy Sheryl EstradaBy Sheryl EstradaSenior Writer and author of CFO DailySheryl EstradaSenior Writer and author of CFO DailySheryl Estrada is a senior writer at Fortune, where she covers the corporate finance industry, Wall Street, and corporate leadership.
She also CFO Daily.SEE FULL BIO Zane Rowe, Workday CFO.Courtesy of WorkdayGood 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, s 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 apach to M&A.
Sana’s prietary nology, 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 apach to M&A.
“We keep a very high hurdle on talent, team, nology, and cultural fit, and it’s really a paradigm that has to fit perfectly; and that’s how we think our M&A strategy,” he noted.
Past integrations, such as Hiredscore and Evi (acquired in 2024), have performed strongly, and Workday expects Sana to der 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 mises a larger, global stage and access to a user base of over 75 million people.
The Fortune 500 company’s 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 cess,” Rowe said.
As AI adoption grows, organizations will imve their ability to track and measure its 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 d his thoughts on Workday entering its 20th year in : “I’m fortunate to be part of an enterprise that works with people and numbers—the two things you need in , and the two things I’m most passionate .” Have a good weekend.
See you on Monday. Sheryl Estradasheryl.estrada@fortune.com LeaderboardSome notable moves this week:Srinivas Phatak was moted to CFO of Unilever PLC, effective immediately.
In February, the company announced that Srinivas, who was deputy CFO and group controller at the time, would become acting CFO. He was selected as finance chief ing a full .
Elena Marquez has been moted to CFO of Anterix (Nasdaq: ATEX), a vider of private wireless broadband spectrum for utilities.
Marquez succeeds Tim Gray, who is departing Anterix to pursue a new opportunity. For the past four years, Marquez has served as VP of finance and controller at Anterix.
She has held senior finance roles across public and pre-IPO multinational companies in the financial services and bio industries, including leading a four-year transformation initiative at Prudential Financial.Jeff White was appointed CFO and treasurer of Leslie’s, Inc.
(Nasdaq: LESL), a direct-to-customer brand in the U.S. pool and spa care industry, effective October 5.
White succeeds Tony Iskander, who notified the company on August 15 of his resignation from his position as interim CFO and treasurer, effective October 4.
Most recently, White served as CFO for Sportsman’s Warehouse, where he led initiatives including rebuilding FP&A. He was previously an audit manager at KPMG LLP.
Raja Dakkuri, EVP and CFO of Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE: CNS), has decided to resign from the company effective Oct. 17 after accepting another opportunity.
Cohen & Steers has appointed Michael Donohue, SVP and controller, as interim CFO. The company has begun a , considering both internal and external candidates, to find a permanent successor.
Hashim Ahmed has been appointed CFO of New Found Gold Corp. (NYSE-A: NFGC), effective immediately. Current CFO Michael Kanevsky will assist with the transition.
Ahmed brings 25 years of experience, most recently serving as EVP and CFO at Mandalay Resources Corp., prior to its acquisition by Alkane Resources Ltd. He has also held CFO roles at Nova Royalty Corp.
and Jaguar Mining Inc., and spent seven years at Barrick Gold Corp.Big Deal"How to unlock value in an uncertain market," a report by KPMG, examines how dealmakers can leverage the principles of integration strategy to drive imved performance outside of transactions.
One of the key findings is that management should use both top-down and bottom-up apaches to identify and implement strategic initiatives, leveraging nology and analytics while setting KPIs to ensure accountability and alignment with objectives, the firm advises.Going deeperHere are four Fortune weekend reads: "American Express’s CEO unveils a big upgrade to its $895 Platinum Card—and explains how he’s targeting Gen Z and Millennials" by Shawn Tully "Blackstone exec says elite Ivy League degrees aren’t good enough—new analysts need to ‘work harder’ and be nice" by Ashley Lutz " expected the rate cut, but the ‘real surprise’ is the Fed’s opinion on the current state of the economy, quant CEO says" by Amanda Gerut"Gen Z college grads are flocking to Texas and Florida where companies have ‘overwhelmingly’ relocated their headquarters" by Sydney Lake Overheard"Not only has he created something a billion dollars in market cap for every day that he’s been in the seat, but I think what’s more interesting him is that he is an avid listener."—Ramp CEO Eric Glyman said this of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell during a recording of the Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry podcast at the Fortune Brainstorm conference last week.
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