Salesforce Inc. agreed to acquire Rune Technologies, a young defense-software company whose tools help front-line military units plan and move supplies, in what the business-software giant described as its most significant national-security acquisition.
Terms were not disclosed. Salesforce expects to complete the purchase in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2027, subject to customary closing conditions.
Software for the tactical edge
Rune, founded in 2024 by David Tuttle and Peter Goldsborough, both of whom previously held leadership roles at defense contractor Anduril, makes software that forecasts what troops will need, allocates resources and helps commanders decide where to send them. It is designed to keep working where connectivity is degraded, intermittent or cut off entirely, a common condition for units in the field. The Army and the Marine Corps already use the technology.
Salesforce plans to fold Rune into Missionforce, the defense and government business it launched a year ago. The company said that unit is growing about 80% a year and now has customers in all six branches of the U.S. military. Rune’s tools are meant to connect supply and transport needs at the front with the back-office systems Salesforce already sells for operations, field service and asset management.
A string of AI purchases
The deal extends an acquisition run as Salesforce tries to convince investors that rapid adoption of artificial intelligence will expand, rather than erode, demand for its software. It agreed last week to buy marketing-software maker Braze for about $5.66 billion, signed a $3.6 billion deal for AI agent platform Fin earlier this year and bought data-management company Informatica for about $8 billion last year.
Defense has become a crowded target for commercial software makers as the Pentagon shifts more spending toward AI-driven logistics, targeting and planning tools, and as venture-backed startups founded by former defense-tech executives look for larger owners to scale their contracts.
