Workday introduced Work Intelligence on 13 October at Workday Rising in Las Vegas, offering a task-level view of jobs built on its Skills Cloud, which the company says is used by more than 3,450 customers, according to its announcement. The product is available to early-access Workday Human Capital Management customers.
Key points
- Work Intelligence connects the tasks within a job to the skills they require.
- Workday says its Skills Cloud contains more than 75,000 canonical skills.
- Decision Intelligence is designed to compare the time and cost of training employees with hiring externally.
- Workday’s workforce report found that 76% of heavy AI users expect new career opportunities from AI.
Work Intelligence maps tasks to skills
Workday says the product separates jobs into the work employees perform and links each task to the skills it needs. Leaders and employees can then identify skills becoming more important as AI changes those tasks, along with training intended to fill gaps. The underlying Skills Cloud is built on an ontology of more than 75,000 canonical skills, according to the company.
The tool shows which processes could be done entirely with AI, partly with AI or without it, The Hindu reported. That distinction gives workforce planners a way to examine automation within a role rather than treating the job title as a single unit.
“The basic building block of work is shifting from the job to the task,” Nikki Helmer, Workday’s vice president of talent management and insights, said in the company’s announcement. Workday says it designed Work Intelligence as an ongoing view of changing work, drawing on the people, job and skills data customers keep in its platform.
Workday says leaders can use the product to track changes in tasks, shifts in employees’ time, skills growth and moves into new responsibilities. Those measures are intended to help customers assess the effects of AI investment as roles change, S&P Capital IQ reported.
Decision Intelligence weighs training against hiring
Workday is pairing the task view with Decision Intelligence, a product it says can identify employees with skills close to those an organisation needs. The company says it can compare the time and cost of developing those skills internally with recruiting outside the business. The comparison puts a hiring or training choice beside the changes Work Intelligence identifies in a role.
Neither product makes personnel decisions, according to Workday. Leaders make those choices after reviewing the information. Workday says customers can also use Workday Learning powered by Sana to recommend training linked to emerging opportunities for employees.
Decision Intelligence is available to Workday Human Capital Management and Workday Financial Management customers and operates across the company’s portfolio, Unite.AI reported. Workday also announced Autopilot Agents for processes spanning hiring, payroll, accounting and compliance.
The products form part of a wider change to Workday’s interface. Workday has made Sana Home an entry point to its platform, Constellation Research reported. Sana Home is generally available to multiple Workday customers and is priced through the company’s Flex Credits consumption model. Workday also launched Agent Harness for building agents that can use human resources and finance data. It is generally available and uses Flex Credits, according to Constellation Research.
Workday’s 76% workforce finding
The 2026 Workday Global Workforce Report found that 76% of heavy AI users expect the technology to create new career opportunities. Workday says Work Intelligence is intended to help organisations plan for new roles as well as changes to existing ones.
The launch follows another move in Workday’s AI product strategy. AI Affairs previously reported that Workday signed a deal with C1.ai and expected it to close in its fiscal fourth quarter. Work Intelligence remains available to early-access Human Capital Management customers, while Workday says Decision Intelligence can be used across its portfolio.
