Workday is facing a shift as customers increasingly use third-party AI agents from Anthropic and Microsoft to access corporate data. These tools can query Workday records directly, bypassing the company's own AI suite, branded as Sana. This trend creates a risk of disintermediation, where Workday could be reduced to mere infrastructure.
Despite these challenges, Workday reports strong financial performance. As of Q2 2026, over 5,500 customers use its AI agents, marking a 35% quarter-over-quarter increase. AI-related SKUs generate nearly $600 million in annual recurring revenue, reflecting a 200% year-over-year growth.
To manage this ecosystem, Workday introduced the Agent System of Record (ASOR). This registry tracks and oversees both internal and external agents, providing security controls and audit trails. The company also launched an Agent Gateway, supporting standards like Model Context Protocol and Agent-to-Agent communication.
Workday is actively partnering with Microsoft, allowing agents built on Microsoft platforms to register within ASOR. CEO Aneel Bhusri views external agent access as a potential revenue stream. The company has developed an Agent Management Hub and specific APIs to monetize and configure the integration of third-party tools.
