At Workday Rising EMEA, Workday made one of its clearest statements yet: the future of the Workday ecosystem isn’t just big—it’s open.
The company introduced a sweeping set of initiatives designed to expand access to Workday AI, accelerate developer education, and streamline how enterprise customers use their trusted HR and finance data across different platforms. With the launch of a global developer network, the addition of Google BigQuery to Workday Data Cloud, and the planned acquisition of Pipedream, Workday is shifting toward a more interoperable, developer-friendly ecosystem—one that rivals like Oracle, SAP, and even Salesforce have been racing to build.
And in Workday fashion, the company is framing these moves not only as innovation drivers, but as practical tools that help organizations manage the complicated mix of AI, data, and talent challenges they face today.
“When more people can access Workday’s trusted data, tools, and AI, organizations can move faster, unlock new insights, and drive real business results,” said Gerrit Kazmaier, Workday’s president of product and technology.
This is one of the most aggressive ecosystem expansions Workday has rolled out in years—and it has major implications for customers, developers, and the broader HR tech market.
Workday’s New Global Developer Network: Training the Workforce AI Actually Needs
The centerpiece of the announcement is a global developer network designed to give people worldwide access to Workday Build, the Workday AI toolkit, and formal training paths that didn’t exist at this scale until now.
With AI demand outpacing the supply of skilled developers—especially those with enterprise experience—the move fills a significant gap. The Salesforce ecosystem grew into a talent pipeline of hundreds of thousands of certified professionals with programs like Trailhead. Workday is now making a similar play, but with a modern twist: AI-native development.
What Developers Get Access To
The network opens the doors to:
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Workday Build, the platform’s environment for building apps, extensions, and AI-powered agents
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Hands-on training through Learn with Workday
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The chance to earn a Workday Pro Developer Certification
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Visibility in the Workday Talent Directory, a marketplace connecting certified talent with customers and partners
This is Workday creating not just a platform, but an economy—something the HR tech giant has talked about for years but is now executing on at scale.
A Global Training Engine
Workday is partnering with universities including:
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Chennai Institute of Technology
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KL University
as well as staffing and consulting partners such as:
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ConsultNet
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Helios Consulting
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Randstad Digital
This serves two strategic purposes:
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It builds a sustainable pipeline of Workday-native AI developers, a talent pool customers consistently say is hard to find.
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It creates global career pathways, similar to Salesforce or ServiceNow certification programs—both of which significantly boosted adoption.
Helios Consulting’s CEO, Trevor Lee, frames the shift as a talent marketplace-level unlock:
“With a verified pool of Workday-certified developers, we can help clients quickly and confidently find skilled professionals ready to apply the technology to real business challenges.”
That “verified pool” is crucial as AI deployments accelerate and companies struggle to find people who can build responsibly, integrate systems safely, and adapt enterprise workflows without breaking compliance obligations.
Workday’s move positions it to become a pipeline creator, not just a platform provider.
BigQuery Joins Workday Data Cloud: A Zero-Copy Partnership With Google Cloud
For the enterprise data crowd—and anyone tasked with financial or workforce planning—the second big announcement may be even more impactful: Google BigQuery is now a Workday Data Cloud partner, joining Databricks, Salesforce, and Snowflake.
This is not a superficial integration. It’s zero-copy data access, the holy grail of enterprise analytics.
What Zero-Copy Actually Means
It lets customers:
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Access Workday HR and finance data directly from Google Cloud platforms
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Avoid moving or duplicating sensitive datasets
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Run advanced models—like cash-flow forecasting, labor planning, or predictive turnover—using BigQuery, BigLake, or Google’s Gemini AI models
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Send insights back into Workday to automate or inform decisions
This gives enterprises the best of both worlds:
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Workday’s structured, trusted data
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Google Cloud’s analytics, warehousing, and AI power
The industry has been pointing toward this model for years: your data stays where it is, but your tools go to it.
Google Cloud’s Andi Gutmans, VP and GM of Data Cloud, put it plainly:
“By combining Workday’s trusted HR and finance data with Google Cloud’s leading analytics and AI, customers can build intelligent agents to streamline operations and drive smarter decisions.”
That “intelligent agents” reference—coming from both companies—isn’t incidental. It’s the thread that ties these announcements together.
Pipedream Acquisition: Workday’s Next Big Move in AI Agent Connectivity
The final major update: Workday intends to acquire Pipedream, a low-code integration platform with over 3,000 pre-built connectors and a large developer community.
This makes Workday’s push into AI agents far more realistic.
Why Pipedream Matters
Pipedream provides:
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A massive library of pre-built connectors
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A fast way for developers to plug Workday into tools like:
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Asana
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HubSpot
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Jira
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Recurly
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Slack
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A vibrant builder community aligned with modern automation and open-source practices
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Native support for AI agent orchestration, which is becoming a major enterprise trend
Combine that with Workday’s recent Sana and Flowise acquisitions, and a pattern emerges: Workday is building a full-stack platform for AI agents that don’t just analyze but take action.
This is the frontier Workday wants to own—AI that moves enterprise workflows autonomously and securely.
The Vision: Agents That Actually Do Work
With Pipedream’s integration layer, Workday AI agents will be able to:
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Read Workday data
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Pull context from external systems
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Execute tasks across thousands of third-party apps
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Maintain compliance and enterprise-grade security
That’s not just a smarter assistant—it’s operational AI.
It puts Workday on a collision course with platforms like Microsoft Copilot Studio, Salesforce Einstein, and ServiceNow Now Assist—all of which are building agent-based ecosystems for enterprise workflows.
But unlike those platforms, Workday starts with one of the most valuable datasets in the enterprise: trusted HR, financial, and workforce intelligence.
Pipedream connects that data to the rest of the enterprise universe—not through brittle custom integrations, but through a purpose-built agent layer.
A More Open Workday: Strategic, Not Symbolic
Across all of these announcements, a confirmed theme emerges: Workday is becoming more open and more accessible than ever.
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More developers can build on it
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More data platforms can integrate with it
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More AI agents can operate across it
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More organizations can use its insights beyond the Workday UI
This is a pivot with teeth.
Workday historically ran a more controlled ecosystem than some of its competitors. Today, that’s shifting toward a model closer to Salesforce, AWS, or ServiceNow—platform-first, partner-deep, and developer-friendly.
It’s clearly part of a bigger strategy: make Workday indispensable in an enterprise world where AI, automation, and data fragmentation are now the default.
Why This Matters for HR, Finance, and IT Leaders
Workday’s announcements have practical implications for nearly every enterprise function:
For HR & Talent Leaders
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A new pipeline of Workday-certified AI developers
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More automation with AI agents that can complete tasks, not just recommend
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Deeper integration with tools employees already use
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Faster access to insights like churn risk, hiring predictions, and skill forecasts
For Finance Leaders
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Direct, zero-copy access to Workday financial data
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Stronger predictive modeling via BigQuery
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Better cash-flow, forecasting, and planning models
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Less reliance on custom-built data pipelines
For CIOs & CTOs
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Reduced integration complexity
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A more flexible, open data framework
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Access to 3,000+ Pipedream connectors
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A growing developer ecosystem to support deployment and innovation
For Developers and Partners
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A clear career path to Workday certification
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Global training partners
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Visibility in a talent marketplace
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A growing collection of tools, extensions, and open-source components
Workday is not just opening its platform—it’s building an engine for growth across its entire ecosystem.
The Bigger Picture: Workday Is Redrawing Its Competitive Map
These moves don’t exist in a vacuum. They position Workday strongly across several competitive fronts:
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Against Oracle: More open data movement and developer accessibility
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Against SAP: A more agile AI agent ecosystem
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Against Salesforce: A developer network aimed at matching Trailhead-style scale
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Against ServiceNow: A push into automation and agents powered by foundational HR/finance data
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Against Microsoft: Zero-copy data access and AI-model interop with Google
This is the Workday many enterprise buyers have been wanting: powerful, open, flexible, and easier to integrate into a complex technology landscape.
What Comes Next
Workday’s rapid-fire sequence of ecosystem expansions is not the endgame—it’s the beginning of a multi-year shift. Customers can expect:
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More AI agent capabilities
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Expanded developer training tracks
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Additional cloud and data partnerships
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Faster app and extension development
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More integrations through Pipedream and Flowise
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A more interoperable Workday Data Cloud
And for the first time, Workday developers—from the world’s largest enterprises to university students—will have tools that lower the barrier to entry and accelerate what’s possible on the platform.
Workday isn’t just responding to the AI era. It’s reshaping how people will build inside it.
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