Workday, Inc.
Company History
Workday History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2005 in Pleasanton, California, United States
When was Workday founded?
Workday was founded in 2005 in Pleasanton, California, United States by Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri, making it 21 years old.
- Founded
- 2005
- Founding place
- Pleasanton, California, United States
- Founders
- Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri
- Headquarters today
- Pleasanton, California
- Milestones documented
- 12 (2005–2026)
- Current CEO
- Aneel Bhusri
- Acquisitions
- 6
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Workday Founded |
| 2006 | Workday launches |
| 2012 | IPO |
| 2018 | Adaptive Insights Acquired |
| 2019 | Scout RFP Acquired |
| 2021 | Acquired Peakon |
| 2024 | Carl Eschenbach Becomes Sole CEO |
| 2024 | Acquired HiredScore |
| 2025 | Paradox, Sana, and Pipedream Deals |
| 2026 | Aneel Bhusri Returns as CEO |
| 2026 | Fiscal 2026 Revenue of $9.552B |
| 2026 | Q2 Fiscal 2027 Results |
- Where was Workday founded?
- Workday was founded in Pleasanton, California, United States in 2005.
- How old is Workday?
- Workday is 21 years old as of 2026.
- When did Workday come out?
- Workday was founded in 2005. The first launch in its timeline is dated 2006: Workday launches.
- Who founded Workday?
- Workday was founded by Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri.
Founding Story
Following the hostile takeover of PeopleSoft by Oracle in 2005, PeopleSoft founder David Duffield and chief strategist Aneel Bhusri decided to build a modern successor from scratch. They founded Workday in 2005 with a radically different architectural approach: delivering human capital management software natively in the cloud through a true multi-tenant SaaS model. This fundamentally eliminated the painful, multi-year upgrade cycles that had historically plagued legacy on-premise HR systems.
Founders
Dave Duffield
Dave Duffield founded PeopleSoft, which grew into a major HR and ERP software vendor before Oracle acquired it through a hostile takeover completed in early 2005. He then co-founded Workday with Aneel Bhusri and served as co-CEO with Bhusri until 2014, later remaining on the board as chairman before stepping back from the company. Education: Cornell University College of Engineering; Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. David Arthur Duffield was born on September 21, 1940. He is chief executive emeritus of Workday and founder and chairman of Ridgeline. He has given more than $500 million to Cornell University, which renamed its College of Engineering after him. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Aneel Bhusri
Aneel Bhusri co-founded Workday in 2005. He was co-CEO with Dave Duffield, then sole CEO from 2014, and later shared the CEO role before handing it to Carl Eschenbach in February 2024 and becoming executive chair. On February 9, 2026, Workday announced that Bhusri had returned as CEO, effective immediately, with Eschenbach stepping down. He is currently co-founder, CEO, and chair. Aneel Bhusri was born in 1966 in Pittsford.
Key Milestones
Workday Founded
Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri found Workday after Oracle's takeover of PeopleSoft.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgWorkday launches
Workday, founded in March 2005, launches publicly in November 2006.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgIPO
Workday lists on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2012; it later moves its listing to Nasdaq.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAdaptive Insights Acquired
Workday buys planning software company Adaptive Insights for about $1.55B, creating Workday Adaptive Planning.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgScout RFP Acquired
Workday bought the procurement software company Scout RFP in 2019 for about $540 million.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCarl Eschenbach Becomes Sole CEO
Eschenbach takes over as sole CEO in February 2024 and Bhusri becomes executive chair.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgParadox, Sana, and Pipedream Deals
Workday closes the Paradox and Sana acquisitions and agrees to acquire AI integration platform Pipedream.
Source: en-gb.newsroom.workday.comAneel Bhusri Returns as CEO
Workday announces on February 9, 2026 that Bhusri is returning as CEO and Eschenbach is stepping down.
Source: newsroom.workday.comFiscal 2026 Revenue of $9.552B
Workday reports fiscal 2026 revenue of $9.552B, up 13.1%, and GAAP net income of $693M.
Source: newsroom.workday.comQ2 Fiscal 2027 Results
Workday reports Q2 fiscal 2027 revenue of $2.649B and says AI drove more than 25% of new ACV.
Source: newsroom.workday.comMajor Acquisitions
Adaptive Insights
2018Add cloud budgeting, forecasting, and planning.
Peakon
2021Add employee engagement surveys and listening tools.
HiredScore
2024Add AI-based recruiting and talent matching.
Paradox
2025Add conversational AI for high-volume frontline hiring.
Sana
2025Add an AI-native learning and knowledge platform.
Pipedream
2025Add an integration platform with more than 3,000 connectors so AI agents can act across third-party apps.
Keep researching Workday
Workday Company History FAQ
When, where, and how was Workday founded?
Workday was founded in March 2005 in Pleasanton, California, by software pioneers Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri following Oracle's hostile $10.3 billion takeover of their previous company, PeopleSoft.
What was the legendary 'diner story' behind Workday's creation?
After Oracle ousted PeopleSoft's leadership, Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri met at the Blackhawk Diner near Walnut Creek, California, over breakfast, resolving to build a next-generation pure cloud ERP system from scratch.
Why did Workday reject legacy software architectures?
Unlike SAP and Oracle, which sold on-premise software requiring expensive local servers and custom version upgrades, Workday built a single, unified multi-tenant cloud system with an in-memory object database.
When did Workday complete its initial public offering (IPO)?
Workday went public on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol WDAY in October 2012, raising $637 million in one of the most successful cloud software IPOs in history.
How did Workday expand beyond Human Capital Management (HCM)?
While starting with HR and payroll, Workday launched Workday Financial Management in 2008, expanding into general ledger, accounts payable, procurement, and enterprise financial planning.
What was the landmark acquisition of Adaptive Insights in 2018?
In August 2018, Workday acquired business planning cloud leader Adaptive Insights for $1.55 billion, accelerating its competitive push against SAP and Oracle in corporate financial planning and analysis (FP&A).
What executive leadership transitions occurred at Workday?
Dave Duffield transitioned to Chairman Emeritus, Aneel Bhusri served as co-CEO with Chano Fernandez and later Carl Eschenbach (who served as CEO), before Bhusri returned to executive CEO and Board Chair leadership.
What percentage of the Fortune 500 runs on Workday?
More than 50% of the Fortune 500 and over 70% of the Fortune 50 run their human resources, payroll, and core financial systems on Workday.
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