Workday co-founder Aneel Bhusri returns as CEO

Workday, the enterprise resource planning (business process management software) company, announced on Monday that chief executive Carl Eschenbach is stepping down from his role and leaving the company’s board of directors. In his place, Workday co-founder Aneel Bhusri is returning to the role of CEO permanently. The leadership transition, which is effective immediately, marks a direct return to founder-led management for the enterprise software firm. Workday confirmed that Bhusri is returning to the position on a permanent basis, rather than serving as an interim leader while the company conducts a search for a replacement.

The executive shift concludes Eschenbach’s tenure at the helm of the company. Eschenbach originally joined Workday in December 2022 as co-CEO alongside Bhusri, before taking over as the sole chief executive in February 2024. At that time, Bhusri transitioned to the role of executive chairman. Bhusri has a long history of leading the company, having served as its leader—at times as co-CEO and at others as sole CEO—since 2009. In his returned role as chief executive, Bhusri will work alongside Workday presidents Gerrit Kazmaier and Rob Enslin.

Workday is framing this leadership change as a strategic move to focus the company on artificial intelligence. Unsurprisingly, the company is positioning AI as its next major chapter, which it views as a shift even more significant than the transition to Software as a Service (SaaS). Bhusri emphasized the scale of this shift, stating: “We’re now entering one of the most pivotal moments in our history. AI is a bigger transformation than SaaS — and it will define the next generation of market leaders. I’m energized to return as CEO, working alongside our presidents Gerrit Kazmaier and Rob Enslin, and I’m excited about the opportunity in front of us.”

This strategic pivot follows a major restructuring last February, when Workday laid off 8.5% of its headcount, which amounted to 1,750 people. At the time of those layoffs, Eschenbach had stated that the company required a new approach to labor in the age of AI. The current leadership change represents a separate strategic event aimed at executing this AI-focused transition under its original founder, rather than a continuation of the previous year’s workforce reductions.

Why it matters

Workday is betting that its next phase of growth depends on an AI-first strategy, prompting a return to founder-led management to navigate a transformation the company claims is larger than the shift to Software as a Service (SaaS).