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October demonstrated remarkable investor and market confidence in HR technology, wellness, and benefits.
A $300 million funding round, multiple strategic acquisitions, and platform expansions highlight a sector experiencing financial validation and operational maturity.
This momentum is reflected across the month’s headlines, from AI-driven tools improving hiring and wellness to strategic expansions in payroll, benefits, and global workforce operations.
Workday Completes Paradox Acquisition
October opened with an update on one of Workday’s most significant recent moves.
After announcing plans to buy in late August, the company has officially completed its acquisition of the AI-driven candidate experience platform Paradox.
This deal strengthens Workday’s position in AI-powered talent acquisition, expanding the capabilities introduced during last month’s major AI-focused announcements.
The Workday Paradox Candidate Experience Agent, the latest in the company’s growing portfolio, will simplify applications, scheduling, and communication for frontline and high-volume hiring, helping recruiters move faster and focus on relationship-building.
The solution is now available to existing and new Workday customers.
Read the full press release here: Workday Completes Acquisition of Paradox
UKG Rebrands as Workforce Operating Platform with Frontline Focus
Another major industry announcement at the start of October came from UKG.
The company revealed a strategic rebrand, positioning itself as a unified Workforce Operating Platform that combines HR, workforce management, pay, and AI agents into a single solution with a frontline-first focus. However, the name and commitment to HCM and workforce management remain unchanged.
In an interview with HR Executive, UKG’s chief marketing officer, Sarah Hodges, explained that the move signals the company’s intent to reinforce its industry leadership while expanding its impact on sophisticated frontline operations.
“This rebrand flows from the frontline, to the front office, to the executive suite,” said Hodges.
As a Workforce Operating Platform, UKG leverages AI-powered tools and repositions to focus on productivity, workforce insight, and people intelligence.
Existing solutions such as UKG Pro HCM, UKG Pro WFM, and UKG Ready HCM remain fully supported for current customers.
Read the full press release here: UKG, the Workforce Operating Platform, Launches Global Rebrand and Campaign, “When Work Works, Everything Works”
Wellthy Strengthens Family Care with Patch Caregiving Acquisition
Wellthy has acquired Patch Caregiving, expanding its footprint in family support services with on-site and near-site backup childcare solutions.
Founded in 2022, Patch Caregiving supports in-person and shift-based workforces in healthcare, retail, logistics, and corporate offices, providing reliable childcare when regular arrangements fail.
Integrating their model strengthens Wellthy’s comprehensive backup care platform, which has demonstrated measurable impact on employee well-being, retention, and productivity.
“Patch was built on the belief that every family deserves access to childcare that works for their unique circumstances,” said Olivia Rosenthal, Co-Founder of Patch Caregiving.
“In joining Wellthy, we can scale our impact faster, backed by a company whose culture and track record of innovation are unmatched in this space,” adds Rosenthal.
The combined offering now serves millions of employees worldwide, delivering flexible, scalable solutions for modern hybrid and in-person workforces.
Read more here: Wellthy Acquires Patch Caregiving to Expand Innovative Childcare with On-Site and Near-Site Backup Care Solutions
Sage Acquires Criterion to Expand Cloud HR and Payroll for Mid-Market Companies
Another influential deal this month involved Sage, which acquired Criterion, a unified human capital management platform for mid-sized employers.
The acquisition addresses a significant challenge for growing companies: fragmented HR systems and increasing administrative demands.
It strengthens Sage’s AI-powered ecosystem for small and mid-sized businesses by adding cloud-native HR and payroll capabilities to its existing accounting and financial software.
Jonathan Cowan, Sage’s EVP of Human Capital Management, Platform and Services, said the company is rethinking how work gets done, and Criterion fits perfectly into its vision.
“With embedded intelligence and an intuitive experience layer, we can deliver HR and payroll that’s no longer just compliant or automated, but truly trusted and proactive,” added Cowan.
Criterion combines core HR, payroll, and talent engagement and serves over 80,000 users across multiple countries. It already integrates with Sage Intacct and Sage 300 CRE, providing a foundation for the recent expansion, which aims to create a single intelligent ecosystem that can scale domestically and internationally.
Read the full press release here: Sage Acquires Criterion To Simplify Cloud Payroll And Human Capital Management For Mid-Sized Businesses
Eightfold AI Launches New Solution for Faster and More Equitable Hiring
October saw continued innovation in recruitment technology.
Eightfold AI launched AI Interviewer, a new addition to its Talent Intelligence Platform designed to make hiring faster, fairer, and more efficient.
The tool automates candidate engagement and evaluation using AI-driven agents that conduct structured interviews, generate summaries, and ensure compliance with bias and privacy standards.
This launch aims to solve the persistent hiring challenge of long screening times and inconsistent candidate evaluation.
AI Interviewer allows companies to move from application to decision in hours instead of weeks, helping recruiters manage high-volume hiring without compromising fairness or compliance. The system only evaluates candidates based on skills and experience, excluding biometric or facial data to comply with privacy laws.
Recognized as one of HR Executive’s 2025 Top HR Tech Products of the Year, AI Interviewer is available to SMBs and large enterprises, reinforcing the company’s position as a key innovator in ethical, AI-powered hiring.
Read more here: Eightfold AI Launches AI Interviewer to Deliver Faster and More Equitable Hiring
Deel’s $300 Million Funding Round Pushes Valuation to $17.3B
One of the most significant announcements in HR tech this month came from Deel, which closed a $300 million Series E round, bringing its valuation to $17.3 billion. Ribbit Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Coatue Management co-led the round, underscoring investor confidence in Deel’s global workforce infrastructure strategy.
“We’re proud to welcome some of the world’s best investors as partners in this next chapter for Deel,” said the company’s co-founder and CEO, Alex Bouaziz, in a press release.
“This round is about doubling down on the global payroll infrastructure we’ve built from the ground up. We’re reimagining how payroll should work for the next century – fluid, real-time, and truly borderless – and continuing our mission to become the single platform where companies can build, manage, and pay their teams anywhere in the world,” stated Bouaziz.
The global HR and payroll platform recently surpassed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue and achieved three consecutive years of profitability, marking a rare milestone among high-growth tech firms.
With the new funding, Deel plans to expand its global infrastructure and advance AI-powered payroll and HR technologies to support 100 million employees worldwide.
Central to its growth strategy is the continued development of its payroll processing engine, which is now active in over 55 countries and expected to reach real-time, native payroll in over 100 countries by 2029.
Deel’s rise has redefined how companies hire and manage global talent, positioning the firm as a key player shaping the infrastructure of cross-border work.
Read the full press release here: Our Series E: Building the Global Infrastructure of Work
Gallagher Expands Employee Benefits Consulting with New Acquisition
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Strategic Services Group, a Michigan-based employee benefits consulting firm serving clients across the Midwest.
The deal expands Gallagher’s employee health benefits consulting operations in the Great Lakes region, strengthening its presence in a key market.
Strategic Services Group’s leadership team will continue in their current roles under the direction of Brian Lomas, who oversees Gallagher’s regional benefits consulting and brokerage operations.
This acquisition aligns with Gallagher’s aggressive expansion strategy in the U.S. market.
Earlier this year, the company announced its $1.2 billion acquisition of Woodruff Sawyer, a major U.S. insurance brokerage. More recently, Gallagher acquired Equinox Agency, a Pennsylvania-based benefits consulting firm, further strengthening its regional presence.
Read the full press release here: Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires Strategic Services Group, Inc.
Noom Brings AI Into Preventive Health, Signaling a New Frontier for Employee Wellness
In other news, Noom, the leading preventive health and longevity solutions platform, introduced its new AI-powered features—Face Scan and Future Me—designed to track and improve employee well-being in real time.
Face Scan uses a smartphone camera to deliver personalized health readings such as biological age, heart rate, and stress indicators in under 30 seconds. Powered by NuraLogix’s AI technology, it helps users track key health metrics and receive recommendations for improvement.
Future Me, developed with Haut.AI, offers an interactive view of how current habits might influence future appearance and well-being. The feature aims to motivate positive daily behavior changes by comparing healthy and unhealthy lifestyle scenarios.
The additions expand Noom’s AI-driven preventive health ecosystem, reinforcing its goal to move health management from the clinic to everyday life.
Read the full press release here: Noom Launches AI Face Scan and AI Future Me to Bring Preventive Health Insights to Everyone
Papaya Global and Andersen Combine Expertise to Transform Mobility Payroll Operations
We wrap up this month’s industry highlights with a strategic partnership between Papaya Global and Andersen.
Global workforce mobility is reaching new heights, but the systems supporting it remain fragmented. The new partnership addresses this gap by integrating mobility advisory with technology-driven payroll management.
Papaya’s Workforce OS platform combines Andersen’s expertise in expatriate taxation and global compliance to create a unified payroll, payments, and workforce data system across jurisdictions.
The model delivers continuous regulatory updates, single-point accountability, and consolidated reporting, turning a previously administrative function into a data-driven, governed framework. Companies get better cost visibility, improved compliance oversight, and faster decision-making for global assignments.
“Enterprises don’t need more vendors; they need systems that reflect how they actually operate: globally, continuously, and with confidence,” said Eynat Guez, CEO and Co-Founder at Papaya Global.
By embedding advisory insight into payroll execution, the partnership eliminates the traditional divide between strategy and operations, allowing companies to manage global mobility as a scalable, strategic asset rather than a cost center.
Read the full press release here: Strategic Partnership of Papaya Global and Andersen: Redefining Global Mobility Payroll
Written by tamara jovanovska
Content Writer at Shortlister
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