Workday's $1.1B Sana Labs Deal Paves the Way for a Unified, AI-Driven Work Experience

Workday to acquire Sana for $1.1B: What it means for education and L&D leaders

Workday plans to acquire Sweden-based Sana for $1.1 billion. Sana, founded in 2016 by Joel Hellermark and Anna Nordell Westling, is known for enterprise knowledge management and AI-driven learning-used by over one million people across organizations.

This move isn't just about adding features. It points to a single, intelligent workspace where knowledge, action, and learning live together-and where employees get what they need, when they need it.

The big shift: a unified work and learning hub

Expect Workday to become a true "front door for work." With Sana's tools, employees can find policies, SOPs, and project docs across Workday, Google Drive, or SharePoint, then trigger tasks, draft reports, or build dashboards from the same interface.

For L&D and education teams, that means fewer context switches, tighter data loops, and learning that shows up inside the workflow. Onboarding, performance reviews, and skills assessments can connect to personalized content in real time.

Measured productivity gains-already proven

Sana's agent technology is delivering hard outcomes today. One U.S. manufacturer cut time on core processes by 95%. A global tech firm saw a 90% productivity jump.

Bringing these agents into Workday lets teams reduce external add-ons and build within a single, secure ecosystem. A no-code agent builder means L&D can create task-specific assistants-by function, site, or region-without waiting on engineering.

Learning reimagined for scale

Sana Learn blends content creation, adaptive tutoring, and course delivery. Results include a 275% increase in learning engagement at a global EV company and a drop in content production time from three weeks to three hours at a fintech firm.

Combined with Workday Learning and talent tools, this can power reskilling, upskilling, and internal mobility at scale-moving HR from administration to a true skills engine for the business.

Why this matters for education and L&D

• Experience: One interface to search knowledge, take action, and learn-inside the flow of work.
• Efficiency: Proven AI agents that reduce busywork and accelerate delivery.
• Learning: Personalized, measurable development tied directly to roles, goals, and performance.

Industry voices are aligned. Workday leaders point to a more proactive, personalized experience for employees. Sana's team stresses intuitive AI tools brought to tens of millions of Workday users. Analysts see a meaningful shift in how employees learn, improve, and execute with AI support.

What education leaders should do next

• Map high-friction workflows: Identify processes ripe for agents (policy queries, SOP lookups, reporting, compliance checks).
• Audit your content: Consolidate core learning, policies, and playbooks; clean metadata to improve search and recommendations.
• Define skills taxonomy: Align roles to skills, levels, and evidence; connect to performance and mobility paths.
• Pilot AI agents: Start with one or two use cases where time saved is easy to measure.
• Rebuild "learning in the flow": Shift from long courses to task-first microlearning and contextual help.
• Set success metrics: Track time saved, completion, proficiency, content freshness, and internal mobility.
• Governance and safety: Establish data access rules, review prompts, and human-in-the-loop approval where needed.

Data points to share with stakeholders

• $1.1B acquisition signals long-term commitment to AI-native knowledge and learning.
• 95% time reduction on key processes; 90% productivity lift in enterprise settings.
• 275% engagement increase and content build time cut from 3 weeks to 3 hours.
• 1M+ users already on Sana's platform.

Where this is headed

Expect Workday to tighten the link between skills, performance, and career mobility-guided by AI, fueled by cleaner data, and delivered in the same place people do their jobs.

For educators and L&D teams, the upside is clear: less friction, better targeting, and measurable gains that connect learning to outcomes.

Learn more about the companies involved: Workday and Sana.

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