Workday will manage artificial intelligence agents like employees as companies prepare for workforces that combine humans and digital workers, the enterprise software company announced Tuesday at its Las Vegas developer conference.
The California-based firm unveiled its Agent Partner Network, connecting AI agents from major technology companies including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Accenture and PricewaterhouseCoopers to Workday’s new Agent System of Record.
“For nearly two decades, Workday has helped organizations manage their people and their money on a unified, secure platform,” said Matthew Brandt, senior vice president of global partners at Workday. “Now, as AI agents increasingly collaborate with human workforces, customers are looking to Workday to manage everything – people, money, and agents – together on one platform they can trust.”
Managing digital workers like human employees
The system will allow companies to hire, assign responsibilities and track performance of AI agents using the same processes they use for human workers. Organizations will set clear roles for agents, control what data they can access and monitor their performance against business goals.
Workday’s approach reflects a shift in how companies view AI tools. Rather than treating automated systems as simple software, the platform will manage AI agents as part of the workforce, complete with onboarding processes and performance tracking.
The Agent Gateway, launching to early customers by the end of 2025, will connect partner AI agents to Workday’s system using shared protocols. This will allow different AI agents to work together across various business systems.
Partners bring specialized AI capabilities
Major consulting and technology firms are building agents that will integrate with Workday’s platform. For example, recruiting teams can use Paradox’s Interview Scheduling agent within Workday to coordinate interviews, send reminders and answer candidate questions.
“AWS is powering the future of AI agent development through Amazon Bedrock’s comprehensive foundation model ecosystem and enterprise-grade development framework,” said Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of agentic AI at AWS. “With Workday’s Agent System of Record, organizations will be much better positioned to ethically manage all these agents.”
Deloitte’s AI agents will help organizations address specific industry processes while maintaining quality standards, according to Abdi Goodarzi, U.S. chief commercial officer for Zora AI at Deloitte.
“These agents have the ability to perceive, reason, and act and are transforming enterprises by orchestrating workflows and enabling human workforces to make better informed decisions across functions like finance, HR, tax, and more,” Goodarzi said.
Workplace transformation accelerates
The announcement comes as companies increasingly deploy AI agents to handle routine tasks and support decision-making. Organizations must now consider how to manage compliance, measure impact and integrate these digital workers into existing team structures.
“Digital colleagues, or AI agents, will become an increasingly common addition to the workforce, and Workday’s Agent System of Record is well positioned to help organizations meet the moment of monumental change,” said Steve Chase, vice chair of AI and digital innovation at KPMG.
Companies can now find and deploy AI agents through Workday Marketplace, including agents for business process optimization, financial auditing, payroll, recruiting and talent mobility.
Workday’s Illuminate AI platform processes more than one trillion transactions annually from human resources and financial data, giving it context about how work gets done across organizations. The company serves more than 11,000 organizations globally, including over 60 per cent of Fortune 500 companies.
“The Workday Agent System of Record marks a meaningful step toward making AI not just available, but truly usable – transparent, trusted, and tightly integrated into business workflows,” said Matt Wood, U.S. and global commercial technology and innovation officer at PwC. “Our collaboration with Workday helps clients embed AI agents where they can drive measurable impact, from compliance to cost optimization.”
