Workday: Eschenbach out as CEO, Bhusri in
Workday said Co-Founder Aneel Bhusri will as CEO as Carl Eschenbach stepped down. Workday affirmed its outlook.
Eschenbach, credited with strengthening Workday's operations and financial discipline, was CEO for two years.
In a statement, the company said Bhusri's return is designed to lead the company into the "rapidly evolving AI era." "We're now entering one of the most pivotal moments in our history. AI is a bigger transformation than SaaS — and it will define the next generation of market leaders," said Bhusri. "I'm energized to return as CEO, working alongside our presidents Gerrit Kazmaier and Rob Enslin, and I'm excited about the opportunity in front of us."
Workday has acquired its way into agentic AI and has plans to revamp its interface as it focuses on being a platform for enterprise HR and financial ops.
- Workday's Q3 highlights push, pull, patience of its AI strategy
- Workday acquires Pipedream, launches midmarket focused Workday GO
- Workday launches Workday Data Cloud, Workday Build, more AI agents
- Workday spends $1.1 billion on Sana, aims to be front door to work
- Workday buys Paradox to build out its recruiting suite
- Workday acquires Flowise to speed up building AI agents, automated workflows
- Workday aims to be system of record for AI agents, digital labor
The company acquired Pipedream, Sana, Flowise and Paradox as it layers AI agents into its platform. Workday is racing to reinvent its platform as Anthropic and OpenAI aim at the SaaS market. Should AI-native companies take over enterprise software, Workday would become a system of record.
Bhusri will have to flesh out Workday’s AI vision, integrate recent acquisitions and fend off questions about the SaaS model in the AI era.
According to Workday, Eschenbach will remain an advisor to Bhusri.
Workday affirmed its fourth quarter outlook that was given on its third quarter earnings call.
Constellation Research analyst Holger Mueller said:
"The role of an owner operator is always challenging. When is it the right time to step away, when is it the time to step back in? Bhusri felt he has to step back in at Workday, which is quite understandable as this practically is the 'most exciting time' in enterprise software as he said at an analyst meeting a few years back. The next quarters will be the judge on the impact of his return."
About Larry Dignan: Dignan was most recently Celonis Media’s Editor-in-Chief, where he sat at the intersection of media and marketing. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of ZDNet and has covered the technology industry and transformation trends for more than two decades, publishing articles in CNET, Knowledge@Wharton, Wall Street Week, Interactive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Temple University and a member of the Advisory Board for The Fox Business School's Institute of Business and Information Technology. Constellation Insights does the following: Cover the buy side and sell side of enterprise tech with news, analysis, profiles, interviews, and event coverage of vendors, as well as Constellation Research's community and…...
Read morePublished
Author