Future of Work - A Workday Podcast

As AI adoption accelerates, many HR teams are discovering that productivity gains alone don’t guarantee better business outcomes. In this episode of the Future of Work podcast, Workday’s David Wachtel and industry analyst Kyle Lagunas explore why AI literacy, trust, and human-centered leadership are becoming essential for the future of work.

In this candid conversation, Workday HR leaders Adam Godson and Allison Joyce go behind the scenes of their own AI transformation. They share the friction of changing long-held habits, and the mindset shift required to move from reactive administration to true talent orchestration.

At this year's Innovation Summit, Workday leaders laid out why this moment is bigger than the cloud, and what they're building to define it. We're giving you a front-row seat to what the world's top industry analysts heard firsthand: co-founder & CEO Aneel Bhusri on why AI is Workday's biggest growth opportunity yet, President of Product & Technology Gerrit Kazmaier on why enterprise AI demands a different standard, and GM of Sana Joel Hellermark on the AI operating system that could replace every interface your employees use today.

In this episode, we revisit a standout conversation from our series that has only become more relevant as the AI landscape evolves. Kasia Chmielinski, co-founder of the Data Nutrition Project, sat down with AI expert and Harvard Fellow Kathy Pham to discuss the transformative potential of AI in the workplace and the importance of ethical AI practices.

Workday CTO Gabe Monroy and Head of Developer Relations Nick Moores discuss the shift from "black box" enterprise software to the next era of enterprise technology defined by openness, interoperability, and AI-driven automation.
 
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Everyone’s asking if AI will take jobs. Microsoft’s Chris DiBona explains why that’s the wrong question, and lays out a vision for what really comes next.
 
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The AI revolution is here, but is your workforce invited?Right now, there is a 30-point gap between corporate leaders who want to prioritize AI skills training and the employees who actually feel equipped to use it. Many organizations are still stuck in a "block and ban" cycle—treating AI with the same hesitation they once showed social media. Christy Pambianchi, CHRO of Caterpillar and Ashley Goldsmith, Chief People Officer at Workday, sat down to explain that the goal isn't just to govern AI; it’s to democratize it.

What’s holding AI adoption back in HR? Workday’s Cristina Goldt and AI expert Harper Carroll believe it’s because leaders might be hiding the working gears. In this conversation, they challenge the 'black box' status quo, revealing why your employees will never adopt a tool they aren’t allowed to interrogate. Together, they unpack the trust–adoption paradox and explain why visibility drives confidence.

AI was supposed to take the grunt work off our plates. Instead, many teams are spending their time checking, correcting, and translating AI output back into the flow of work. In this episode, Jon Lexa, VP of GTM and Operations at Sana, joins Callie Kemmer, Senior Director of AI Strategy, Growth, and Operations at Workday, to examine why enterprise AI still struggles at the last mile—and what it will take to move from impressive output to work that businesses can actually trust and act on.

While AI promises speed, many leaders are instead battling 'workslop'—the friction of low-quality, AI-generated output that creates more cycles instead of fewer. Join Workday’s Kathy Pham and researcher Kate Niederhoffer as they discuss how to bridge the gap between AI hype and reality to ensure technology strengthens human discernment.