Zendesk announced on December 18, 2025, that it has acquired Unleash, an AI-native enterprise search company whose technology unifies knowledge across systems such as Google Drive, Confluence and SharePoint to deliver fast, contextual answers to employee queries.

This acquisition shows a targeted expansion of Zendesk’s capabilities for internal support, placing generative AI and advanced search directly into everyday workplace tools.

Unleash’s platform uses permission-based retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to ensure responses align with organizational policies and access controls. The technology also introduces AI knowledge agents that operate within collaboration channels such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, offering users answers without leaving their primary workflow and providing seamless escalation to human experts when needed.

Modernizing Internal Support Through AI

Zendesk said the integration allows employee service teams to resolve internal requests more quickly by unifying knowledge from disparate systems under a secure, enterprise-grade AI layer. The acquisition aims to reduce repetitive questions, accelerate issue resolution, and lower operational costs for internal support organizations.

Zendesk framed the move as putting AI “directly in the flow of work,” aligning intelligent search and analytics with employee service tasks.

Shashi Upadhyay, Zendesk’s President of Product, Engineering and AI, emphasized the importance of secure, permission-aware responses in internal environments, saying the combined platform helps organizations deliver rapid self-service while maintaining oversight and control.

Itay Itzhaki, co-founder and CEO of Unleash, said the acquisition extends the reach of the startup’s mission to make information more accessible and actionable.

Strategic Fit In Broader AI Service Push

The purchase of Unleash strengthens Zendesk’s broader strategy to embed AI into both employee and customer service experiences. By combining advanced enterprise search and AI agents with existing case management and automation systems, Zendesk seeks to help organizations manage internal support workflows more efficiently and with greater context awareness.

Unleash was founded in 2020 and had raised capital from investors including TLV Partners before the acquisition. The financial terms of the deal were not publicly disclosed, though market reporting suggests it is in the tens of millions range.

The platform’s secure, context-aware approach aligns with enterprise demand for AI tools that respect data governance and access controls, a key consideration for internal service teams handling sensitive corporate information.

Final Take

As organizations increasingly adopt AI for internal workflows, the integration of knowledge retrieval and agentic AI represents a shift toward embedding intelligence deeper into everyday work. Solutions that deliver accurate, permission-aware insights directly where employees collaborate may relieve pressure on traditional support teams and redefine how internal service operations function in large enterprises.