Workday's CEO saw ten layers between him and a developer. He cut 525 jobs.
Workday cut about 525 jobs, roughly 2.5% of its staff, in a reorganisation announced on 29 September.
That came after a 2% cut in February.
At a press briefing in Las Vegas on 13 October, chief executive Aneel Bhusri explained why, iTWire reported. In parts of development, he said, there were "ten layers between me and the developer getting work done." iTWire wrote that he put the cuts down to a bloated organisation, not to automation by AI.
On AI agents, the software that carries out tasks on its own, he was specific about who carries responsibility. "If it's a software mistake, it's our issue," Bhusri said. If a customer set the agent up with more access than it should have, "that's their issue."
Workday's agent business is "over 5% of our business," he said, and grows at around 100% a year or more.
iTWire's report does not say how many of the 525 jobs were management roles. It also left open who sets an agent's access when a consulting partner does the setup.
Sources
Our file on Workday
- 16 Oct
Workday told analysts customers spend tens of millions on outsourcing. It wants that budget.
- 15 Oct
Workday agreed to buy C1.ai, which controls what AI agents can access.
- 14 Oct
Workday unveiled four agents on autopilot. Customer Dow has not switched one on.
- 8 Oct
SAP agreed to buy HR startup TechWolf. Rivals Workday and ServiceNow had backed it.
- 6 Oct
Workday said demand for basic AI skills peaked in January. Then it fell 25%.
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