Workday, Inc. is a Nasdaq-listed (WDAY) cloud software company for HR, finance, planning, and AI agents. It reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $9.552B and is led by co-founder and CEO Aneel Bhusri.
History
Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri founded Workday in 2005, after Oracle's hostile takeover of PeopleSoft, the company Duffield had founded in 1987. They built HR software as a shared cloud service from day one, then added Financial Management. Workday went public in October 2012 and bought Adaptive Insights in 2018 to add planning.
Carl Eschenbach became sole CEO in February 2024. On February 9, 2026, Workday announced that Bhusri was returning as CEO and Eschenbach was stepping down.
How Workday Makes Money
Subscriptions made up $8.833B of Workday's $9.552B fiscal 2026 revenue, about 92%. Professional services account for the rest. Customers usually buy HCM or Financial Management first and add planning, payroll, learning, and AI agents over time.
Recent Financial Results
Fiscal 2026 revenue rose 13.1% and GAAP net income was $693M. In Q2 fiscal 2027, revenue rose 12.8% to $2.649B, subscription revenue rose 13.9% to $2.471B, and non-GAAP operating margin was 31.1%. Total subscription revenue backlog was $27.403B, up 8.0%. Workday guides to fiscal 2027 subscription revenue of $9.940B to $9.950B.
AI Strategy and Acquisitions
Workday is betting on AI agents that act on its HR and finance data. It acquired Paradox and Sana in 2025 and agreed to buy Pipedream, an integration platform with more than 3,000 connectors. In Q2 fiscal 2027, AI drove more than 25% of new ACV and more than 5,500 customers used at least one Workday agent.
Risks
Backlog growth has slowed, Oracle and SAP compete for full-suite deals, and AI automation could reduce seat counts. Workday also faces the Mobley v. Workday lawsuit over AI hiring tools.
