SMB-focused Sage, which makes accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology solutions, has announced the acquisition of Criterion HCM, which makes human capital management (HCM) solutions. The move expands Sage’s AI powered product ecosystem, unlocking new capabilities for finance and HR teams looking to automate, simplify, and scale all on a platform built for the way work is changing. Founded in 2014, Criterion is a US-based company led by co-founders Sunil Reddy and Uma Reddy. The company has grown rapidly, now serving more than 80,000 users across 10+ countries, with a strong focus on mid-sized organizations in North America.
As mid-sized organizations scale, they face rising admin burdens, fragmented HR stacks, and increased compliance risk. Sage’s AI vision aims to remove admin entirely, not just reduce it. Criterion’s unified solution covering Core HR, Payroll, and Talent Engagement eliminates the silos by embedding AI that works quietly in the background to do things like automating repetitive tasks, flagging compliance risks, and generating predictive insights across the employee lifecycle.
“Well this is just huge,” said Jonathan Cowan, EVP, Human Capital Management, Platform and Services at Sage. ““At Sage, we’re not just embedding AI into software, we’re rethinking how work gets done. Often, growing businesses find themselves without a HR platform that can support them in this journey, from recruitment to training and development, and benefits to payroll. Employees are the asset that matters most. Criterion HCM fits perfectly into that 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.
“This is why we’ve acquired Criterion HCM,” Cowan continued. “Our mid-sized customers will benefit from having a unified platform that alleviates administrative tasks and allows them to focus on what really matters – growth and ambition.”
Criterion already integrates with Sage Intacct and Sage 300 CRE, and this acquisition lays the groundwork to deliver modern, out-of-the-box, cloud native HR and payroll solutions to SMBs as well. With the Sage Platform serving as the unified environment where workflows, applications, and data come together, Sage and Criterion will offer mid-sized businesses a single, intelligent ecosystem that scales with them domestically and internationally. Sage says that with Criterion, they are acquiring a powerful HR platform that simplifies how SMB finance and HR teams get work done. Coupled with Sage’s AI-powered ecosystem, they state they can now deliver HR and payroll that’s no longer just compliant or automated, but truly trusted and proactive.
“As organizations grow, managing HR can quickly become complex, and Criterion’s modern, cloud-native HR solution helps take that burden off business leaders,” said Mark Hickman, Managing Director, North America at Sage. “Together, we’ll make it even easier to connect finance, HR, and payroll in one trusted platform – so they can focus more on their people and their growth. Acquiring Criterion HCM marks an important step forward in helping our mid-sized customers simplify their HR processes.”
“This is another step in scaling the Sage Platform to make it smarter, faster, and more connected,” said Walid Abu-Hadba, Chief Development And Product Officer at Sage. “As mid-sized businesses grow, HR and payroll can easily become a bottleneck. By bringing Criterion’s unified HCM solution into Sage, we’re simplifying how finance and HR work together in one intelligent ecosystem. This is how we continue to evolve: connecting data, workflows, and people so businesses can scale with confidence.”
“Our mission with Criterion has always been to make HR a growth driver, not a blocker,” said Sunil Reddy, CEO of Criterion. “With Sage’s backing, we can now take that vision global, delivering practical, human-first AI that’s purpose-built for the real world of business. This partnership represents a powerful alignment of vision and values simplifying how businesses manage their people, unlocking innovation through AI, and empowering customers to focus on growth.
“Joining forces with Sage will allow us to scale our innovation, expand our reach, and deliver even greater value to the businesses we serve,” he continued. “The journey continues – just at a much faster pace.”
“From the beginning, we built Criterion with a deep focus on people and innovation,” added Uma Reddy, Co-founder of Criterion. “This next chapter with Sage gives us the scale and reach to make that vision a reality.”