Workday kicked off its annual EMEA user conference in Amsterdam this week. The event is bigger than ever before, with around 5,000 attendees from over 58 countries. The attendance is also 20% larger than last year.
On stage, Carl Eschenbach, CEO of Workday, recognised the efforts by the events team to set up rising in Amsterdam at 60 days’ notice. This was after Excel, in London informed Workday that the new convention centre would not be ready. they have achieved the seemingly impossible condensing what is normally a 9 month timescale down to 2.
Amsterdam was the obvious choice. With Angelique de Vries, President of EMEA, Workday expressed her pride that the event is being held in her home city, ahead of Amsterdam celebrating its 750th anniversary.
The event promises to bring together customers, partners and workmates to see the latest technology that Workday is delivering. Announced at Workday Rising in September, this will include the latest about Illuminate. Illuminate is the next-generation AI capabilities that Workday is rolling out.
Eschenbach called this out in his keynote saying that Workday AI helps by accelerating, assisting and now transforming how organisations work. The theme of the conference is Forever Forward. Workday aims to help lead the way in being a catalyst for change.
He believes that AI is significant, saying it may be the “largest tectonic shift any of us have ever experienced. It may be the largest tectonic shift you will ever experience.” He argued that it could change how businesses operate, comparing it to but going further than the revolution of Mobile and the Cloud. However, he did not have all the answers and called on the audience, asking, “What we need to do is think about what work will look like next.”
The message was clear: Workday intends to work with customers and partners to help evolve how people work. Its technology will help organisations to achieve the change. A change that will see a evolution from “a world where humans are working with technology to a world where humans no longer work with the technology. The technology now starts to work with people,” Eschenbach added.
Growth continues in Europe
Workday also celebrated its growth in a region that is significant for Workday, not just for its revenue generation but also for product development. Out of the 4,550 workmates Workday has in the region, over 2,000 are working in product development. Many of these are based in Dublin, Ireland and have been instrumental in developing the latest AI capabilities for Workday.
The firm is also expanding its operations. It has invested £550 million into the UK and also announced new Customer Innovation labs in Amsterdam and Zurich. The Labs enable customers to tackle and solve business challenges in an environment that provides access to Workday expertise and the latest tools.
The firm has established offices in Dublin, London, Hamburg, Lille, Dusseldorf, Paris, Munich, Switzerland, Barcelona, and Madrid. It is opening new offices in Warsaw (Poland), Zurich (Switzerland), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Berlin (Germany).
Angelique de Vries, President of EMEA, Workday, commented, “At Workday, we see tremendous potential in EMEA—a region brimming with innovation, talent, and economic opportunity.
“Our continued investment here reflects our commitment to helping organisations thrive in an ever-changing business landscape. Whether it’s with cutting-edge technology like Workday Illuminate or local expertise, we’re focused on empowering our customers to adapt, grow, and succeed.”
Focus on EMEA Workforce continues
Workday is also leading the way to develop the skills within its workforce and to nurture a diverse workplace. In Ireland, it has partnered with the Technological University Dublin to offer access to fully-funded graduate degree programmes. These programmes span five disciplines. They will equip employees with the advanced skills required to deliver innovations for Workday customers through Workday technology.
Other initiatives include a “Workday Returners” programme, which begins in early 2025. This is part of the global Workday OnRamps initiatives. The program will aim to attract career returners to work. Examples include parents, carers or people who have taken an extended career break. The intent is to give them opportunities to return to work with the training they may require to bring skills up to speed. Workday will work with the Women in Tech Forum and Career Returners in EMEA on this programme.
Growth was driven by new customers of all types
Workday now has 2,175 customers in Europe. It also has many of the largest organisations in the region. They include 40% of FTSE 100, 40% of DAX and 55% of CAC40. However, 65% of the organisations supported are SMEs, with Eschenbach clearly stating, “We are proud to do business with any type and any size of company.”
New SME customers include Global Switch, Ayming, DSV Group (Deutscher Sparkassenverlag), and Mollie. Andreas Hoeber, Head of Talent Technology, On, said, “We deployed Workday quite early in our growth journey when we had around 600-700 employees. Our goal was to have a system that could scale rapidly alongside our business.
“Now, with Workday, we’ve automated the majority of our processes, empowered our team members with AI-powered solutions, and created a single, unified system where employees can easily access everything they need.”
Partnerships key to Workday’s Future
Much of Workday’s rapid expansion in the region has relied on partners. Partners within the Workday ecosystem do more than resell and implement Workday solutions. They also innovate on the platform. Eschenbach revealed that the number of partners has grown by 90% over the last couple of years.
Workday has also announced some more significant partnerships in recent months. These have included the following.
In April 2024, BNB, a Workday partner, expanded its Workday partnership, launching the joint service “BNB Ignite.” BNB Ignite targets the growing and emerging midmarket. Thus enabling customers to deploy Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) in a more streamlined process in as little as four weeks. BNB will provide support during and post-deployment.
In July 2024, Workday announced a new strategic partnership with Salesforce. The announcement stated, “The combination of Salesforce’s new Agentforce Platform and Einstein AI with the Workday platform and Workday AI will enable organisations to create and manage agents for a variety of employee service use cases.”
Also, in July, Workday extended its strategic partnership with Kainos. The firms jointly advance the development and distribution of purpose-built apps for Workday customers through Built on Workday.
First announced in October 2023, Workday is set to expand its existing, now global partnership with Korn Ferry. A global organisational consulting firm renowned for its expertise in talent and leadership development. The partnership will provide a unified talent language. Thus enabling organisations to seamlessly align their recruitment, performance management and development processes, ensuring that customers’ talent strategies and operations deliver their full potential.
Mathias Herzog, President of Korn Ferry Digital, commented, “This partnership is about more than just technology; it’s about enabling organisations to build a future-ready workforce that can adapt and thrive in the face of constant change. Together, we will provide the applications and expertise so organisations can optimise talent strategies, enhance employee experiences and drive impactful business results.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Workday may have started as an American firm, but it now has deep roots in Europe through acquisitions in both Ireland and, more recently, of PeakOn which was founded in Copenhagen and London.
This has enabled the organisation to expand rapidly in Europe far faster than many other US firms looking to expand into Europe. Workday’s European presence is significant for its depth and breadth, and it looks set to expand its reach across Europe as it continues to win clients in the region, both in the enterprise and mid-market.
Partnerships with organisations such as BNB also make its solutions better suited to the often smaller European firms looking for a localised and global HR and finance solution.
Workday Rising promises much, and it will be interesting to see what revelations, especially around Illuminate, are announced and demonstrated.
Enterprise Times is attending Workday Rising, with Workday paying for the trip to the event.
