Glean, an enterprise AI platform, has raised $260 million in its latest Series E funding round, securing a valuation of $4.6 billion. The round was led by new investors Altimeter and DST Global, with participation from existing backers such as Coatue, General Catalyst, and Sequoia Capital.
Just a while back, we also reported about how Costanoa Ventures closed $394M in two new funds, focused on AI investments. It’s a amazing read too.
The company’s overall funding now surpasses $550 million, signaling strong confidence from investors in the growing demand for AI integration in workplace settings.
According to CEO Arvind Jain, Glean didn’t need the latest funding but opted to raise capital to meet rising demand. “We’ve only seen demand for Glean accelerate over the past year, and now is the time to meet the growing needs of our customers, some of whom are the largest enterprises in the world,” Jain said.
Glean’s workforce has also expanded, with over 500 employees globally, and the company claims to have tripled its business in the past year. Jain pointed to Glean’s adoption across various industries, including banking, telecommunications, and retail, as a key driver for its growth.
The company is positioning itself at the center of what it describes as an “AI transformation” in the enterprise sector. “CIOs are under immense pressure to quickly and securely bring AI into their organizations, but they’re simultaneously grappling with enabling their employees to be successful with AI,” Jain added.
New AI capabilities: “Beyond the Box” prompting
Alongside its funding announcement, Glean introduced next-generation AI prompting tools aimed at simplifying and expanding AI adoption in the workplace. The company’s goal is to move beyond traditional AI models that require complex prompt engineering, making AI more accessible to everyday users. Jain acknowledged that many employees still struggle with how to use AI effectively: “It’s just as common for their coworkers one seat over to be stuck staring at ‘the box’… intimidated by AI and not sure where to begin.”
Glean’s new capabilities aim to ease this friction. The company has launched a series of advanced prompting tools designed to automate workflows and provide more intuitive interfaces for users. This includes:
Advanced Prompts: Multi-step prompts that automate complex tasks by using multi-step retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), allowing users to break down sophisticated workflows into manageable steps.
Prompt Builder: A tool that simplifies prompt creation and allows users to edit, test, and iterate on prompts within a collaborative framework.
Prompt Library: An organizational prompt-sharing feature where employees can discover and share prompts across teams, curating the best prompts for specific tasks.
The company has also embedded its AI assistant into major customer service platforms like Zendesk and Salesforce Service Cloud, enabling seamless workflow integration for customer support teams.
Growing adoption and user engagement
Glean’s Work AI platform, which focuses on integrating AI into employees’ daily tasks, is seeing growing user engagement. The company reported that its AI assistant is used by its customers’ employees multiple times a day, and in some cases, it has become a key tool alongside well-established platforms like Slack, Teams, and Google Workspace.
The platform’s user metrics reflect this trend: the company claims an average daily active user (DAU) to monthly active user (MAU) ratio of 40%, which is significantly higher than the 10-20% range typically seen for enterprise SaaS solutions. Jain mentioned that “Work AI for all doesn’t become a reality unless Glean delivers a product and experience that is used in everyone’s everyday work.”
One customer described Glean’s impact as transformative, stating, “Glean is a second brain for me… will not work without it ever again.”
What we think about the development
The workplace AI sector is rapidly evolving, with several companies vying to offer tools that enable more efficient workflows. Glean’s focus on user-friendly AI tools reflects a broader trend in the industry to make AI more accessible to non-technical employees. This trend has been driven by the realization that AI adoption within organizations often hinges on employee comfort with the technology.
Glean’s $260 million funding round underscores the growing importance of AI in the enterprise space. By investing heavily in advanced prompting features and integrating its tools into key workflow applications, Glean is positioning itself as a leader in what Jain described as an “AI transformation” in the workplace. With strong backing from investors and continued product development, Glean is poised to accelerate AI adoption in businesses across multiple industries.
These developments highlight both the opportunities and challenges facing AI in the workplace, as companies like Glean attempt to make the technology more approachable and integrated into everyday tasks. The new funding will likely allow Glean to push further into new markets and expand its product capabilities, all while meeting the growing demand for AI-driven workplace solutions.
