Movers and Shakers: October 2025 HR Tech Landscape

From AI agents and strategic acquisitions to community-building and smarter compensation data, October has proven that HR tech providers are setting the pace for a more intelligent, integrated, and people-focused future. Whether you’re running a lean HR team or scaling across borders, the updates this month reflect the continued shift toward platforms that reduce admin, sharpen decisions, and elevate the employee experience.  
 
We’re keeping an eye on an industry that is changing RAPIDLY. HR is one of the earliest adopting parts of the business in terms of AI, so what’s possible is constantly expanding. But it’s not all AI in tech-land right now. With that, here are the top HR tech stories from October: 

HiBob 

HiBob launched In Good Company, a new global community designed to connect people-first leaders and HR professionals around shared challenges in growth, engagement, and culture. The initiative aims to strengthen peer learning and human connection within the HR space. 
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The company also celebrated industry recognition this month after being named Best HR and Payroll Software for Small Business, cementing its status as a go-to platform for modern, growing organisations. 
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BambooHR 

At its Connect 2025 conference, BambooHR announced a major AI expansion across its platform. This includes automation features and intelligent insights to help small and mid-sized HR teams do more with less, making the move from admin support to AI-powered experience delivery. 
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Dayforce 

Dayforce introduced Dayforce AI Agents, a next-gen set of intelligent tools designed to accelerate how work gets done. These agents move beyond chatbots, embedding real intelligence and workflow automation into the heart of HR operations. 
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Sage 

Sage announced the acquisition of Criterion HCM, a strategic move aimed at modernising HCM offerings for mid-sized businesses. The acquisition combines Sage’s financial tools with Criterion’s HR and talent management platform, setting the stage for an integrated, AI-driven workforce solution. 
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Payscale 

Payscale launched Industry Networks, a new daily-updated, industry-specific compensation data solution. This tackles a major HR challenge: enabling organisations to access real-time pay benchmarks instead of relying on outdated salary surveys. 
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UKG 

UKG deepened its partnership with Google Cloud this month to scale agentic AI tools across its platform which helps tens of millions of users to access intelligent assistance across HR, workforce management, and payroll. 
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Cezanne HR 

Cezanne HR’s latest system release includes a refreshed UI and a range of updates, but the most exciting is an improvement to self-service workflows, giving HR teams more control while reducing admin for employees. 
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Workday 

Workday confirmed its acquisition of Sana, an AI-native knowledge and learning platform. The move is aimed at embedding more intelligent, conversational tools into the Workday experience, making it easier for users to surface insights, complete tasks, and navigate learning in context. 
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Oracle 

Oracle also made headlines with the announcement of AI agents embedded across its Fusion Cloud Applications. These tools are designed to boost productivity, improve performance management, and drive smarter decision-making across the employee lifecycle. 
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This month’s updates show how AI is becoming a native part of modern HR platforms. It’s not just powering insights, but actively supporting workflows, decisions, and engagement. Alongside that, we’re seeing a renewed focus on community, compensation transparency, and unified platforms that put people at the heart of work.