On demand: Kainos at Workday Rising 2025
Highlights from Workday Rising 2025
Workday Rising 2025 brought together over 30,000 leaders in San Francisco to explore how AI, automation, and human-first innovation are shaping the future of work. Here’s what you need to know:
Workday’s vision: AI-powered, human-centric, future-ready
Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach opened the event with a clear message: Workday is AI-powered, human-centric, and future-ready. Technology and people must work together, with AI amplifying, not replacing human performance. Employees aren’t competing against AI; they’re competing in a landscape where peers and competitors leverage AI effectively. Those who embrace this mindset can reskill and upskill their workforce, unlocking higher productivity and career growth. The keynote emphasised responsible AI adoption and preparing organisations for an adaptive future of work.
New Illuminate AI Agents
Workday expanded its Illuminate AI Agent portfolio, shifting from a system of record to a system of action. Three new agents were introduced:
• Case Agent – streamlines HR case management
• Performance Review Agent – drafts employee evaluations
• Financial Close Agent – coordinates and de-risks month-end processes
To support flexible adoption, Workday launched Flex Credits, enabling organisations to deploy AI across the platform without hidden fees or restrictive licensing.
Unified AI agent experience with Microsoft
A new partnership with Microsoft integrates the Workday Agent System of Record (ASOR) with Microsoft Entra Agent ID. Organisations can now securely manage both people and AI agents across platforms, ensuring every agent has verified identity and business context. This strengthens security while enabling a connected AI ecosystem.
The new Workday Data Cloud
The Workday Data Cloud gives organisations secure, real-time access to HR and finance data while integrating with Snowflake, Databricks, and Salesforce. By unifying workforce, financial, and operational data, leaders can unlock richer analytics, improve forecasting accuracy, and accelerate AI-driven innovation.
Workday Build: the next evolution for developers
Workday introduced Workday Build, evolving the Extend platform to empower developers and partners to create enterprise-grade AI solutions within Workday. Key features include the FlowWise Agent Builder, AI developer tools, and expanded partner integrations. With over 3,000 apps already built on Extend, this represents a shift from consuming AI to actively creating and scaling solutions inside the platform.
Workday launch Pay Transparency Analyzer, Powered by Kainos
Alongside Workday’s updates, Kainos announced the launch of Pay Transparency for Workday, the first-ever partner-designed SKU released directly inside the platform. Built for compliance with the upcoming EU Pay Transparency Directive 2026, this solution enables employers to manage pay equity reporting seamlessly, highlighting Kainos’ innovation leadership and the growing impact of the Workday partner ecosystem.
Customer stories from the Kainos Stage
Missed our stage sessions at Workday Rising 2025? Catch all the insights on demand. Hear directly from leading organisations about how they’re transforming HR, finance, and operations using automation, AI, and Kainos solutions built on Workday. These sessions highlight real-world results, practical strategies, and innovative approaches driving efficiency, compliance, and employee experience across enterprises.
All sessions are available through the Workday Rising Attendee Portal. Log in with your attendee credentials, or register for free to gain access.
Global HR document transformation with Sabre
Travel technology leader Sabre shares how it has reimagined HR through Kainos Employee Document Management, a solution built on Workday. By digitising and automating document processes, Sabre has reduced manual effort, strengthened compliance, and enabled global self-service for its workforce. The initiative is more than an efficiency project, it has transformed the employee experience by ensuring every team member can access and manage critical HR documents with ease. Speaking at Rising, Becky Carson of Sabre and Kim Freestone of Kainos showcased how this people-first innovation is reshaping global HR operations.
Stronger internal controls and compliance at Group 1001
Financial services firm Group 1001 operates in one of the most heavily regulated industries and shares how it partnered with Kainos to reduce risk through automation. Leaders Amanda Monrad (Kainos) and Bryan Ohlund (Group 1001) outlined the organisation’s journey to achieve scalability without compromising compliance. With automated security and monitoring in place, Group 1001 is now equipped to move faster, strengthen internal controls, and manage regulatory risk even during times of rapid change.
Automating Workday operations at Genesys
Customer experience pioneer Genesys describes how it has used Kainos automation to take control of critical Workday operations. Ravi Sunku (Genesys) and Kim Freestone (Kainos) explained how the organisation has slashed time-consuming manual tasks across testing, compliance, and HR document management. The result: faster, more reliable operations, greater consistency, and increased confidence in the platform. Their story demonstrates how automation can deliver both efficiency and peace of mind at enterprise scale.
How marketplace apps deliver ROI
Kainos also showcased how Workday Marketplace solutions are unlocking lasting business value. In this session, Damien Taylor (Kainos) reveals how a new generation of AI-powered marketplace apps is enabling organisations to scale operations, reduce cost and risk, and build for long-term growth. These innovations extend the value of Workday investments, proving that the marketplace is not just a source of add-ons, but a driver of tangible ROI.
Streamlined testing at Wells Fargo
As one of the world’s largest financial institutions, Wells Fargo faced the challenge of testing Workday at scale. Ken Larson (Wells Fargo) and Geoff McMinn (Kainos) share how they implemented a test-automation strategy to reduce manual workloads, accelerate release cycles, and manage risk in a highly complex environment. By streamlining testing, Wells Fargo freed up its teams to focus more on innovation and less on repetitive validation tasks, a shift that has already delivered measurable impact.
Work that matters: Automation at World Wildlife Fund
Global nonprofit World Wildlife Fund (WWF) explains how it leverages Kainos test automation to support its mission. Viji Thatai (WWF) and Michelle Adams O’Regan (Workday) describe how automation has freed up time previously spent on roadmap projects and system reviews, allowing staff to focus on work that truly matters. By embedding automation into its Workday environment, WWF has created a sustainable, efficient platform that gives its global workforce more time to dedicate to conservation and impact.