Workday Inc. unveiled a new suite of artificial intelligence agents Monday designed to accelerate hiring processes, improve frontline worker experiences and streamline financial operations across organizations.
The company’s expanded “Illuminate Agents” portfolio aims to tackle specific business challenges by automating routine tasks and providing faster access to information, according to Workday executives.
“The key to unlocking real business value with AI is to actively reshape the very core of how businesses operate,” said Gerrit Kazmaier, president of product and technology at Workday.
The new agents leverage Workday’s HR and finance datasets to provide actionable intelligence to its customers, which number over 11,000 worldwide.
“Our agents leverage the world’s most powerful HR and finance dataset to turn insights into impact – boosting productivity, enhancing compliance, and accelerating decision-making at every level,” said Shane Luke, vice president of Workday Illuminate.
New specialized agents
Among the seven new AI tools announced are specialized agents handling contingent worker sourcing, contract intelligence, document-driven accounting, and frontline worker management.
The Contract Intelligence and Contract Negotiation agents are immediately available, while a Self-Service Agent will reach general availability by the end of 2025. The remaining agents will be available to early adopters by year-end, with full availability planned for early 2026.
NetApp, one of Workday’s customers, has already seen benefits from the company’s AI technology.
“Workday’s cutting-edge contract AI and automated workflow technology has already delivered tangible benefits, saving us thousands of hours and millions of dollars across multiple critical corporate initiatives,” said Shelle Elzer, legal operations manager at NetApp.
Industry analysts view the development as part of a broader shift toward practical AI applications in business.
“Workday continues to effectively target critical business outcomes in productivity, compliance, and insights with agentic AI. This is one more significant step in establishing AI agents as practical and impactful tools for business transformation,” said Mickey North Rizza, group vice-president at IDC Enterprise Software.
Managing the AI ecosystem
The new agents join Workday’s existing AI solutions, including previously announced tools for business process optimization, financial auditing, payroll, recruiting, and talent mobility.
Workday said customers will deploy and manage these agents through a central command center called the “Workday Agent System of Record,” allowing organizations to coordinate their AI tools for maximum impact.
Built on data from over one trillion annual transactions, Workday’s Illuminate AI system is designed to understand business context around organizational data, from skills and performance metrics to cost analytics and organizational models.
