Days After Laying Off More Than 1K Employees, Workday Announces New System For AI Agents

The layoffs occurred nearly a week prior to the announcement of their new AI system.

After laying off around 1,750 employees last week, HR software maker Workday has announced a new system to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) agents.

Workday will launch its Agent System of Record on Feb. 11, as confirmed in a news release. The system will manage all of Workday’s artificial agents within Workday and third-party platforms. Workday serves multiple companies with a software program that oversees their finance and HR management.

This new system aims to help businesses optimize their digital workforce. It ensures the efficiency and growth of AI incorporation. Given the increased use of AI in companies’ operations, Workday hopes to manage these new technologies as they advance.

The news comes after Workday reduced its workforce by approximately 8.5%. The layoffs come amid a push toward more AI integration, sparking concerns about job availability and security in an advancing society.

However, Aneel Bhusri, executive chair and co-founder of Workday, also emphasized that tomorrow’s workforce still depends on human participation.

“The workforce of the future will include both humans and AI agents, and businesses that don’t learn to manage this incredibly complex reality will quickly fall behind,” Bhusri said. We believe no company in the world is better positioned than Workday to usher in this new era of workforce management in a trusted, ethical way.”

He added, “Our deep understanding of human skills and roles naturally extends to managing digital labor. The future is here, and just like with the transition to the cloud, we’re ready to help our customers get there first.”

The AI System seeks to “unlock the full potential” of these nonhuman agents. This includes aiding in centralized management, streamlined agent onboarding, and secure and compliant deployment. Moreover, this rollout of AI agents has a new set of autonomous skills to perform new tasks. These agents will also analyze contracts, pinpoint invalid payroll data, and aid in financial auditing and policy information.

Workday also received support from other companies’ leadership regarding the potential and excitement of its AI programming. Accenture CEO Julie Sweet emphasized that the system will transform businesses in this “new landscape.”

“We believe the enterprise reinvention in the Gen AI era will create a seamless working experience between people and agents,” explained Sweet. “The agent lifecycle should be fully managed. We need them to be trained. They have to follow our compliance policies. They need to understand our values, and they need to be monitored for performance. That’s why it’o exciting to see what Workday is doing to help companies manage in this new landscape.”