Automation Anywhere vs Workday: Founders, CEOs and History
Automation Anywhere was founded in 2003 by Mihir Shukla, Ankur Kothari, Neeti Mehta Shukla and is led by Mihir Shukla. Workday was founded in 2005 by Dave Duffield, Aneel Bhusri and is led by Aneel Bhusri.
Company facts
Automation Anywhere
- Founded
- 2003
- Headquarters
- San Jose, California, United States
- Current CEO
- Mihir Shukla
- Employees
- 2,400
Workday
- Founded
- 2005
- Headquarters
- Pleasanton, California
- Current CEO
- Aneel Bhusri
- Employees
- 21,070
Founders
Automation Anywhere
Mihir Shukla
Mihir Shukla is co-founder, chief executive officer and board chair of Automation Anywhere, and the only chief executive the company has had.
Ankur Kothari
Ankur Kothari is a co-founder of Automation Anywhere and its chief operating officer, and sits on the board.
Neeti Mehta Shukla
Neeti Mehta Shukla is a co-founder of Automation Anywhere and its chief impact officer. She started the company in 2003 with her husband, Mihir Shukla, alongside Ankur Kothari and Rushabh Parmani, launching it from the guest bedroom of their house.
Rushabh Parmani
Rushabh Parmani is a co-founder of Automation Anywhere and its chief customer officer. He started the business in 2003, originally named Tethys Solutions, alongside Mihir Shukla, Neeti Mehta Shukla and Ankur Kothari.
Workday
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.
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.
CEOs and their tenures
Automation Anywhere
- Mihir Shukla2003–present
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair
Co-founded the company in 2003, has been its only chief executive, and is also board chair. Serves as an information and communications technology governor at the World Economic Forum, where he speaks on agentic enterprise operations.
Source
Workday
- Carl Eschenbach2022–2026
Former CEO
As co-CEO and later sole CEO, he aggressively pushed the platform beyond HR into the broader and highly lucrative enterprise financial management sector.
Source - Zane Rowe2023–present
Chief Financial Officer
He strengthened the corporate balance sheet, enabling strategic AI acquisitions while maintaining disciplined capital allocation.
Source - Aneel Bhusri2026–present
Co-founder, CEO, and Chair
He scaled the company into a dominant cloud SaaS provider, fundamentally reshaping the enterprise software market before handing over the CEO reins.
Source
Timeline: Automation Anywhere and Workday side by side
2003Automation Anywhere
Incorporation as Tethys Solutions in San Jose: Mihir Shukla, Neeti Mehta Shukla, Ankur Kothari and Rushabh Parmani incorporated Tethys Solutions, LLC in San Jose, California, selling software that rec…
2005Workday
Workday Founded
Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri found Workday after Oracle's takeover of PeopleSoft.
2006Workday
Workday launches
Workday, founded in March 2005, launches publicly in November 2006.
2010Automation Anywhere
Renamed Automation Anywhere, Inc.: The company rebranded from Tethys Solutions to Automation Anywhere, Inc.
2012Workday
IPO
Workday lists on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2012; it later moves its listing to Nasdaq.
2017Automation Anywhere
First Imagine customer conference: Automation Anywhere held its first Imagine customer and partner event in New York on May 24 and 25, 2017, and ran a second Imagine in Bengaluru in September of the s…
2018Automation Anywhere
Bot Store opens as an RPA bot marketplace: Launched in London in March 2018, Bot Store offered prebuilt, plug and play bots from Automation Anywhere and partners including EY and Genpact, cutting the…
2018Automation Anywhere
$250M Series A at a $1.8B valuation: After fifteen years without institutional equity, the company raised $250 million on July 2, 2018 led by New Enterprise Associates and Goldman Sachs Growth Equity,…
2018Automation Anywhere
SoftBank Vision Fund adds $300M: In November 2018 the SoftBank Vision Fund invested $300 million as an extension of the Series A, taking the round to $550 million and the post-money valuation to $2.6…
2018Workday
Adaptive Insights Acquired
Workday buys planning software company Adaptive Insights for about $1.55B, creating Workday Adaptive Planning.
2019Automation Anywhere
Acquisition of Klevops in Paris: Automation Anywhere acquired Klevops SAS of Paris in August 2019 to orchestrate work between employees and bots, the technology behind the attended automation interfac…
2019Automation Anywhere
Enterprise A2019 launches as a web-based platform: In October 2019 the company shipped Enterprise A2019, a cloud-native browser-based rewrite that it said added more than 175 features across 40 produc…
2019Automation Anywhere
$290M Series B at a $6.8B valuation: Salesforce Ventures led a $290 million Series B announced on November 21, 2019, with SoftBank Investment Advisers and Goldman Sachs participating, at a $6.8 billio…
2019Workday
Scout RFP Acquired
Workday bought the procurement software company Scout RFP in 2019 for about $540 million.
2020Automation Anywhere
Pandemic restructuring and workforce reduction: In April 2020 Automation Anywhere cut jobs and restructured parts of the company, saying the COVID-19 pandemic and the change it brought to the global e…
2021Automation Anywhere
Enterprise A2019 rebranded Automation 360: In March 2021 the company introduced Automation 360 as the brand for its unified cloud-native platform and widened deployment across AWS, Microsoft Azure and…
2021Automation Anywhere
Acquisition of FortressIQ for process discovery: Announced in December 2021, the FortressIQ deal added computer vision process discovery that maps how work is done across applications and turns it int…
2021Workday
Acquired Peakon
Workday acquired Peakon for $700 million.
2023Automation Anywhere
Start of an unbroken non-GAAP profitable run: The quarter ended October 31, 2023 began the run of non-GAAP profitable quarters with positive free cash flow that the company counted as ten by the quart…
2024Automation Anywhere
AI plus Automation Enterprise System and AI Agent Studio: At Imagine 2024 in Austin in June 2024 the company unveiled an AI plus Automation Enterprise System with AI Agent Studio, letting customers bu…
2024Workday
Carl Eschenbach Becomes Sole CEO
Eschenbach takes over as sole CEO in February 2024 and Bhusri becomes executive chair.
2024Workday
Acquired HiredScore
Workday acquired HiredScore.
2025Automation Anywhere
Acquisition of Aisera: On November 4, 2025 Automation Anywhere acquired Aisera and its team of more than 100 AI engineers, adding self-service AI agents for IT service management, HR and customer serv…
2025Workday
Paradox, Sana, and Pipedream Deals
Workday closes the Paradox and Sana acquisitions and agrees to acquire AI integration platform Pipedream.
2026Automation Anywhere
OpenAI collaboration and a tenth profitable quarter: Reporting the quarter ended January 31, 2026, Automation Anywhere recorded its tenth consecutive non-GAAP profitable quarter, said AI products were…
2026Workday
Aneel Bhusri Returns as CEO
Workday announces on February 9, 2026 that Bhusri is returning as CEO and Eschenbach is stepping down.
2026Workday
Fiscal 2026 Revenue of $9.552B
Workday reports fiscal 2026 revenue of $9.552B, up 13.1%, and GAAP net income of $693M.
2026Workday
Q2 Fiscal 2027 Results
Workday reports Q2 fiscal 2027 revenue of $2.649B and says AI drove more than 25% of new ACV.
Acquisitions
Automation Anywhere
- Aisera2025Undisclosed
- FortressIQ2021Undisclosed
- Klevops2019Undisclosed
Workday
- Paradox2025Undisclosed
- Sana2025Undisclosed
- Pipedream2025Undisclosed
- HiredScore2024Undisclosed
- Peakon2021$700M
- Adaptive Insights2018$1.6B
Questions about Automation Anywhere vs Workday
Who is the CEO of Automation Anywhere and Workday, Inc.?
Automation Anywhere is led by Mihir Shukla and Workday, Inc. is led by Aneel Bhusri. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Automation Anywhere founded vs Workday, Inc.?
Automation Anywhere was founded in 2003 — 2 years before Workday, Inc., which was founded in 2005. Automation Anywhere's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Workday, Inc..
How many employees does Automation Anywhere have compared to Workday, Inc.?
Automation Anywhere employs approximately 2,400 people, while Workday, Inc. employs approximately 21,070. Workday, Inc. has the larger workforce at 21,070 employees, compared to Automation Anywhere's 2,400. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Automation Anywhere and Workday, Inc. headquartered?
Both Automation Anywhere and Workday, Inc. are headquartered in United States. Their local rules and tax obligations may still differ.
Who founded Automation Anywhere and Workday, Inc.?
Automation Anywhere was founded by Mihir Shukla, Ankur Kothari, Neeti Mehta Shukla, Rushabh Parmani. Workday, Inc. was founded by Dave Duffield, Aneel Bhusri.
Which company has a longer operating history — Automation Anywhere or Workday, Inc.?
Automation Anywhere has been operating for approximately 23 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Workday, Inc. has been in operation for around 21 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Automation Anywhere vs Workday overview