# Office Depot Taps UK's Thrive for AI Learning Platform Covering 18,000 Employees

> Office Depot signed a five-year deal with UK tech firm Thrive to roll out an AI-powered learning platform to 18,000 staff, launching in early 2027.

- Published: 2026-11-04T17:06:21+00:00
- Section: Contracts & Customers
- Author: News Desk
- URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-11-04/office-depot-thrive-learning-platform-deal
- Source: [EIN Presswire](https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/954503026/uk-tech-firm-thrive-lands-major-us-client-office-depot-after-setting-up-new-base-in-silicon-hills)

## Key takeaways

- Thrive will roll out its AI-powered Learning Management System to 18,000 Office Depot staff under a five-year deal.
- Office Depot will launch its own mobile app giving staff access to training, company knowledge and career development resources.
- Thrive is establishing a US headquarters in Austin, Texas, and CEO Sean Reddington is relocating there with his family.

Thrive, a UK learning technology firm, signed a five-year deal to roll out its AI-powered Learning Management System to 18,000 [Office Depot](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/000529o/office-depot) staff across the United States, with the platform set to launch in early 2027. [EIN Presswire](https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/954503026/uk-tech-firm-thrive-lands-major-us-client-office-depot-after-setting-up-new-base-in-silicon-hills) announced the agreement on November 4, 2026.

## Inside the Office Depot and Thrive Agreement

Under the partnership, Office Depot will launch its own mobile app giving staff access to training, company knowledge and career development resources wherever they work. The platform will support employees across the retailer's stores, sales operations, distribution centres and corporate offices, and will integrate with Office Depot's existing Oracle systems.

Employees will be able to access learning materials, share knowledge with colleagues and track qualifications and certifications through the platform. Thrive's technology includes Kiki, an AI-powered assistant that lets employees find instant answers to workplace questions without searching through multiple systems.

Thrive was founded as a Nottingham startup in 2019 and has grown to what the announcement describes as a £250million success story, with clients including BA, Vodafone, Aston Martin F1, Pret A Manger and Burger King. The company was ranked among the nation's fastest-growing tech companies by the FT last month.

Sean Reddington, founder and CEO of Thrive, said: "North America has become a huge growth opportunity for Thrive and that's why I'm moving out there." He added: "Welcoming an organisation the size of Office Depot is another huge step forward for us and shows the appetite we're seeing from major North American enterprises for a more modern learning technology partner."

## Office Depot's Shrinking Store Base

Office Depot is a US office supply retailer founded in 1986 and headquartered in Boca Raton, according to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data). The same records show Office Depot closed more than half its retail stores since 2013, reducing its footprint from approximately 1,900 locations following the OfficeMax merger to 822 stores as of November 2025.

The records also show Atlas Holdings announced a take-private acquisition deal for Office Depot valued at $1 billion. In January 2026, logistics subsidiary Veyer Logistics announced it is exiting the e-commerce fulfillment sector following a corporate acquisition, and Office Depot is discontinuing its third-party logistics operations.

## Thrive's Austin Headquarters Plans

Thrive is establishing its new US headquarters in Austin, Texas, nicknamed "Silicon Hills," and Reddington is relocating to America with his family to spearhead the expansion. Thrive is recruiting staff and strengthening its customer support and enterprise teams, while expanding its existing operations in Canada, where its team already works across product development, customer success and technical support. The Office Depot platform is scheduled to launch in early 2027.

## Companies in this story

- [Office Depot company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/000529o/office-depot) · website: http://officedepot.com

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