Freshworks to Acquire AI-Powered Incident Management Platform FireHydrant
Sun Dec 21 2025
Freshworks Inc., the Nasdaq-listed SaaS company founded by Girish Mathrubootham, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire FireHydrant, an AI-powered incident management platform. The acquisition is aimed at deepening Freshworks’ capabilities in IT operations, incident response, and service management.
The transaction is expected to close in Freshworks’ first fiscal quarter of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
Strengthening AI-Native Service Operations
With this acquisition, Freshworks plans to integrate its IT Service Management (ITSM) product Freshservice with FireHydrant’s incident management and IT Operations Management (ITOM) capabilities.
The combined platform is envisioned as a unified, AI-native ServiceOps solution that helps enterprises:
- Prevent system disruptions
- Respond faster to incidents
- Improve service reliability and uptime
- Reduce operational fragmentation across IT teams
By bringing service management, asset visibility, and incident response into a single system, Freshworks aims to move customers away from reactive IT support toward proactive and resilient operations.
About FireHydrant
Founded in 2018 by Robert Ross and Dylan Nielsen, FireHydrant is a US-based platform focused on managing software outages and reliability challenges.
Its AI-enabled platform supports:
- Advanced on-call management
- Structured major-incident response
- Automated post-incident reviews
- Analytics-driven learning and insights
FireHydrant serves a range of enterprise and consumer-facing organisations, including Palo Alto Networks, BP, and Qlik, helping them manage critical incidents and improve system reliability.
Closing the Gap Between IT Service and Operations
Freshworks believes that many IT teams today rely on disconnected tools for monitoring, alerting, incident response, and post-incident analysis. This fragmentation often leads to:
- Slower response times
- Poor coordination during outages
- Limited learning from past incidents
By integrating FireHydrant with Freshservice, Freshworks aims to eliminate silos between IT service management and IT operations. The unified platform is designed to offer:
- A single view of service dependencies and system health
- Faster incident resolution using AI-generated summaries
- Guided workflows during high-pressure incidents
- Deeper insights from structured post-incident analysis
Leadership Perspective
Dennis Woodside, CEO and President of Freshworks, said the acquisition supports the company’s broader vision of unifying IT and employee experiences through AI-driven platforms. He noted that combining service, asset, and operations management would help customers improve business continuity and operational efficiency.
Robert Ross, Founder and CEO of FireHydrant, echoed this sentiment, stating that both companies share a common goal of simplifying complex workflows. He described the combined platform as a step toward building a true end-to-end operational and reliability solution.
Part of a Broader M&A Strategy
The FireHydrant deal marks Freshworks’ second major acquisition in two years. In June 2024, the company acquired Device42, an IT asset management platform, in a $230 million cash-and-equity transaction.
Together, these acquisitions signal Freshworks’ intent to build a comprehensive IT operations and service management stack, spanning assets, incidents, and service workflows.
Freshworks’ Evolution and Financial Performance
Founded in 2010 by Girish Mathrubootham and Shanmugam Krishnasamy, Freshworks provides cloud-based software for:
- Customer engagement
- Sales and marketing
- IT service management
The company went public on Nasdaq in September 2021.
Since its IPO, Freshworks has sharpened its focus on AI-driven products and operational efficiency. Mathrubootham transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman in 2024 and later announced his departure in December to focus on his venture firm, Together Fund.
Financially, Freshworks has shown improving performance. In Q3 CY2025, the company reduced its net loss by over 80% year-on-year, while quarterly revenue grew more than 15% to $215.1 million, reflecting steady demand for its SaaS offerings.
Looking Ahead: Toward Proactive IT Operations
With the acquisition of FireHydrant, Freshworks is positioning itself as a stronger player in AI-driven IT operations and service management. By unifying incident response, service workflows, and operational intelligence, the company aims to help enterprises transition from firefighting outages to building resilient, always-on digital systems.
As IT environments grow more complex, platforms that combine AI, automation, and unified visibility are likely to define the next phase of enterprise service operations—and Freshworks is clearly betting on that future.
Sun Dec 21 2025
