Asana acquires no-code agent builder StackAI

Asana has acquired workflow automation company StackAI for $75 million, part of a larger effort to position itself as a native AI-driven workflow platform. StackAI founders Tony Rosenol and Bernard Acetono will join Asana as part of the acquisition.

Asana has framed the acquisition as part of its broader AI pivot, through which it seeks to build its platform into “the operating system for human agent teams.”

The announcement was made Thursday afternoon to coincide with Asana’s earnings call and investor call.

Designed as an AI-driven workflow automation system, StackAI designs agents to work within existing business systems, pulling data from systems like Salesforce, Slack, and Gsuite. As part of Y Combinator’s Winter ’23 panel, the company faced stiff competition from automation tools like Zapier as well as AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic.

StackAI has raised just under $20 million, according to PitchBook data, most of which came in its recent $16 million Series A round. That round included funding from Gradient, Epakon Capital, Lobby VC, LifeX Ventures, and Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch.

While users are likely most familiar with Asana’s work management system, the company has released a number of AI-oriented products in recent years, most notably the AI ​​Studio agent builder and the AI ​​Teammate series of pre-built automations. While equivalent tools are available from major labs, Asana sees its deep integration into a company’s existing workflow as a key advantage, allowing it to extract context and training data that might otherwise not be available.

Asana has struggled in the public markets during the AI ​​era, losing more than half its market value since introducing ChatGPT — a downward spiral that got worse with the departure of founder Dustin Moskovitz as CEO last March. But revenues have continued to grow steadily, and the new leadership is confident that its human-based products will enable it to rebound.

“This acquisition accelerates our roadmap and takes us into the next phase of our human agent business,” Dan Rogers, the company’s CEO, said in a statement. “We’re already seeing real momentum with our AI teammates and AI studio… StackAI now allows them to go further, as they implement even the most complex business processes end-to-end.”