Relay shuts down, founder joins Google Chrome as VP of Product
Relay, the AI-powered workflow automation tool launched in 2021 with the stated goal of becoming the next Zapier, is shutting down. Paying customers lose access on September 14. Free users already lost access as of August 15.
Where the founder lands
Jacob Bank, Relay’s founder and CEO, is rejoining Google as VP of Product for Google Chrome. He will lead the product and developer relations teams for Chrome. Bank previously spent just over six years at Google before founding Relay, working across Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Chat.
“We have some really ambitious plans to help you work with AI in Chrome to get things done, and I’ll have more to share soon.”
Bank described Chrome as “a perfect place to collaborate with agents.” The specifics of what that means in practice have not been shared yet.
The pattern here
This is not Bank’s first startup-to-Google cycle. His previous company, a scheduling app called Timeful, was acquired by Google in 2015. Relay followed a similar arc: build a productivity tool, build a team, and eventually fold back into the larger platform.
For the broader automation market, Relay’s closure is a reminder of how difficult it is to compete directly with entrenched workflow tools, especially as Google, Microsoft, and others continue absorbing AI productivity features natively. Gemini recently crossed 1 billion users, according to Google’s own reporting, and is already integrated into Chrome as an in-browser assistant.
The operator takeaway: if you built workflows on Relay, you have until September 14 to migrate them elsewhere.
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