Through its software division HCLSoftware, Indian IT major HCLTech is set to purchase Zagreb's robotic process automation (RPA) provider Robotiq.ai in an all-cash deal valuing the company at €9 million.
Carried out via step-down wholly owned subsidiary HCL Technologies Austria GmbH, the buyout will see HCLTech assume full ownership of the Croatian firm's equity. Expected to wrap up by late November 2026, the transaction stands as a notable exit for the region's enterprise software landscape.
The move mirrors broader corporate trends, as businesses look past initial generative AI experiments to invest in functional agents capable of carrying out complex operational workflows. Confronted with integration challenges arising from legacy systems that lack modern APIs, HCLTech is leveraging Central and Eastern European engineering expertise to overcome this key operational hurdle and reinforce its automation suite.
Bridging the gap when standard APIs fall short
Agentic artificial intelligence has become the focal point of digital transformation, yet its effectiveness often hits a wall when faced with legacy enterprise software. By bringing Robotiq.ai into the fold, HCLSoftware aims to extend its HCL UnO Agentic platform's capabilities far beyond initial decision-making. When standard APIs are unavailable or insufficient to carry out a task, Robotiq.ai's software bots can step in to automate the manual workflow across those systems, acting as digital employees.
Kalyan Kumar, President of HCLSoftware, highlights the necessity of this operational bridge for large corporations. "Enterprises are looking beyond AI experimentation toward production-scale automation that is secure, governed and reliable," he notes.
"Robotiq.ai strengthens HCL UnO Agentic by combining orchestration with enterprise-grade execution, helping customers confidently deploy and scale agentic AI across their operations."
From Zagreb to the global Fortune 500
Founded in August 2018, Robotiq.ai was built on a foundation of deep consulting experience to relieve human employees from repetitive tasks like transcribing data from one application to another, compiling cross-source reports, copying files, and processing standard customer requests.
Elena Ivanova
The Zagreb-based firm quickly found traction among highly regulated and data-heavy industries. Today, its RPA platform – featuring ISO-certified security, flexible deployment options, and comprehensive audit logs – is deployed across large banks, insurance groups, and telecommunications providers in Croatia and the region.
Financially, the company has shown steady, sustainable growth leading up to the acquisition. According to regulatory disclosures, Robotiq.ai reported a revenue of €1.4 million in the financial year ending December 2025. The Croatian firm also posted a net profit of €200,000 and a net worth of €800,000 for 2025, proving its operational efficiency and market fit long before HCLTech came knocking with its €9 million valuation.
Creating an orchestrated corporate process
For founders in Central and Eastern Europe, this acquisition underscores a recurring theme: building deeply technical, unglamorous enterprise solutions often leads to stable, strategic exits. While consumer applications capture the daily headlines, the backend piping that makes AI actually work within a rigid corporate framework is where the real value lies.
Integrating RPA into an AI agent's workflow means the automation no longer stops at generating a text response; it physically clicks the buttons and fills the forms that a human employee would otherwise have to handle manually.
Darko Jovišić, CEO and Co-founder of Robotiq.ai, views the acquisition as the logical next step for his company's technology to reach a broader audience. "We built Robotiq.ai on a simple belief: automation should be useful, fast to deploy, and reliable in production," he points.
"Joining HCLSoftware gives our technology the enterprise reach, scale, and platform. Together with HCLSoftware, customers get automation that doesn't stop at the task – it becomes part of an orchestrated, governed process across the entire enterprise."
As the digital workforce of the future takes shape, the integration of European engineering into global IT conglomerates highlights the shifting dynamics of enterprise software. The focus is no longer on how smart an AI can be in isolation, but on how effectively it can be put to work in the real world to drive tangible corporate efficiency.
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