Adobe Acquires Indian AI Marketing Startup Rilo in Push for Smarter Enterprise Automation
Adobe has acquired Indian artificial intelligence startup Rilo, a young marketing and workflow automation company backed by Peak XV Partners, DeVC and Day Zero Ventures. The transaction gives Adobe access to Rilo’s technology and technical team as competition intensifies around AI agents capable of carrying out marketing tasks with limited manual intervention.
The companies have not disclosed the financial terms of the transaction. Adobe confirmed the acquisition, while Rilo co-founder and CEO Dhruv Jaglan said the startup is joining the software giant to “help bring AI to Fortune 500 marketers.”
Rilo Built AI Workflows Using Natural-Language Instructions
Founded in 2025 by IIT batchmates Dhruv Jaglan and Georgi Boby, Rilo developed an AI-powered automation platform aimed particularly at marketing and go-to-market teams.
Rather than requiring users to build complicated automation systems manually, Rilo allowed them to describe tasks in natural language and create workflows around those instructions.
Its technology was designed for activities including competitor intelligence, lead generation and prospecting, content repurposing and distribution, sales outreach, campaign research and sales-call analysis.
The approach reflects a wider shift in enterprise AI: businesses are increasingly looking beyond chatbots toward agentic AI systems that can perform multi-step workflows and take actions across different business applications.
More Than 10,000 Users Tried Rilo
Despite its short operating history, Rilo gained early traction. Jaglan said more than 10,000 people had tried the product.
The startup had raised approximately $1 million from investors including Peak XV, DeVC and Day Zero Ventures and had been valued at about $10 million during its funding history, according to reports.
Rahul Gupta, managing partner at Day Zero Ventures, said:
“We’re very excited that Rilo has been acquired by Adobe in such a short span of time.”
Gupta also described Rilo's workflow builder as being “way ahead of the curve” and said it could help Adobe improve customer experience and productivity.
What Adobe Gets From the Acquisition
The transaction is more than a conventional expansion of Adobe's startup portfolio.
Adobe is acquiring a small team experienced in building AI agents capable of transforming user instructions into executable business workflows. TechCrunch reported that Adobe will integrate some of Rilo's intellectual property along with its six-member team.
That expertise could complement Adobe's growing portfolio of AI-driven marketing and customer-experience products.
In April 2026, Adobe unveiled Adobe CX Enterprise, an agentic AI system aimed at helping businesses manage the customer lifecycle, including acquisition, engagement, conversion and longer-term customer relationships.
Rilo's workflow technology therefore potentially gives Adobe another building block for automating complex marketing operations for large enterprise customers.
Rilo to Shut Down Following the Deal
The acquisition also means Rilo will no longer continue as an independent product.
Reports indicate that the Rilo platform will shut down following the acquisition and its team will move to Adobe. Jaglan has said the company will help existing users transition their workflows during the change.
That distinction is important: while the acquisition itself has been confirmed, the companies have provided limited public detail about exactly how Rilo's technology will be incorporated into individual Adobe products.
Adobe's Second Indian Startup Acquisition
Rilo represents Adobe's second known acquisition of an Indian startup.
The company previously acquired Bengaluru-based generative AI video startup Rephrase.ai in 2023.
The Rilo deal also comes during a broader acquisition and investment push around AI-powered marketing. Adobe previously agreed to acquire SEO and digital-marketing company Semrush in a deal valued at approximately $1.9 billion, further expanding its marketing technology footprint.
Why the Rilo Acquisition Matters
The significance of the acquisition lies partly in how quickly Rilo moved from launch to acquisition.
The company was founded only in 2025, raised roughly $1 million and attracted thousands of users before joining one of the world's major creative and marketing software companies.
More broadly, the deal illustrates the growing strategic importance of AI agents in marketing software. Companies increasingly want AI not only to generate advertisements or copy but also to research competitors, analyse customer interactions, distribute content and coordinate multi-step campaigns.
Adobe is facing competition on several fronts. Canva has been expanding its marketing offerings, while major technology and AI companies are developing tools that increasingly overlap with traditional marketing software.
Acquiring Rilo gives Adobe both specialized talent and workflow technology as it attempts to turn AI from a creative assistant into a system capable of executing larger parts of enterprise marketing operations.
