How Skyscanner reduced Workday testing effort by 97% while boosting compliance and security
“Before Smart Test, manual testing of Workday updates took six weeks. Now it takes six hours, with greater accuracy, broader coverage, and zero disruption.”
About Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a leading global travel search company, helping over 100 million monthly users find the best deals on flights, hotels, and car hire. Headquartered in Edinburgh, the brand operates across more than 30 markets and is driven by a data-led, customer-first mindset. Skyscanner uses Workday to manage its finance, HCM, and planning processes with a focus on innovation and automation.
Skyscanner on future-proofing finance and HCM
With a fast-growing business and expanding international footprint, Skyscanner needed to modernise its finance systems. The legacy platforms were cumbersome to use, limited in reporting capabilities, and unable to handle the complexities of global regulatory compliance. “We were reporting across many countries with different laws and regulations, and it just wasn’t sustainable,” says Matt Fleming, Finance Systems Manager at Skyscanner.
Workday became the clear choice to replace Skyscanner's legacy systems, it was selected for its flexibility, scalability, and ability to support future growth. Skyscanner launched Workday with a lean configuration, giving it the space to continually improve whilst meeting internal and external tax and reporting reporting regulatory requirements including SOX. “Workday taught us what we didn’t even know we didn’t know. It highlighted gaps in our security, privacy, and governance, and gave us the tools to adapt and scale,” Matt explains.
A small team, making a big impact
Today, the finance systems function has expanded to a team of three. Despite being lean, the team is responsible for rapidly building and deploying new automations, managing integrations, and focusing on the future roadmap. To succeed, they needed a solution that could support impactful operations, enable scalable growth, ensure compliance with SoX and GDPR, and remove inefficiencies such as the internal Workday Proxy restriction.
Through its AMS partnership with Kainos, Skyscanner was introduced to Kainos Smart Automation, Smart Audit, Smart Shield, and Smart Test. These Workday-native solutions deliver automation, insight, and control at scale. “We needed to eliminate manual effort and streamline everything from audit controls to regression testing,” says Matt. “Workday provided a strong foundation, but we required automation tools that could match the pace of change with such a small team.”
Smart Shield: Simplification meets security
Smart Shield has given the team granular control over sensitive data, supporting both finance and HCM operations. By enabling proxy access for non-admins, such as learning and leadership teams, Skyscanner has empowered users to self-serve without compromising on governance and remove reliance on external testers. “We can now move fast without leaving windows open,” Matt notes. “Our ethos is simplification, security, and savings and Smart Shield delivers all three.”
Smart Audit: From reactive to proactive compliance
Previously, audit preparation was slowed down by JIRA tickets, manual spreadsheets, and time-consuming task reports. Smart Audit has turned that process around by flagging issues in near-real time, from segregation of duties conflicts to incomplete approval chains. “We don’t just find the problems: we’re alerted before they become problems,” says Matt. “Audit now runs in the background and highlights what matters. It is robust and future-proof.”
Smart Test: 6 weeks of testing reduced to 6 hours
After seeing the immediate impact of Smart Audit and Shield, Skyscanner implemented Kainos Smart Test. “Previously, small expert teams were involved in even the slightest of change and there was a constant requirement to see how change impacted everything in the tenant.”
Workday’s biannual release cycles once consumed six weeks of manual testing, filtering thousands of rows of release notes, testing updates line by line. Now, Smart Test compares preview and sandbox tenants, highlights issues instantly, and enables end-to-end automation. “What took weeks now takes hours, or sometimes even minutes,” says Matt. “We went from pulling people off projects for weeks to having a weekly call to review results. It’s changed everything.”
Custom-built tests from Kainos and ongoing enablement has allowed the Skyscanner team to test complex scenarios quickly, such as security group changes or new business processes - without the need for manual proxying or regression runs. “It is making considerable time and cost savings across both FINS and HCM teams.”
Looking ahead: Scaling with confidence
Skyscanner’s journey with Kainos marks the beginning of a new chapter in transformation. Over the next two years, the team will focus on adaptive planning optimisation and reshaping procurement through a major strategic sourcing overhaul. These initiatives build on the efficiency gains already achieved with Kainos Smart and reinforce a commitment to automation, optimisation, and scalability. With compliance, audit, and testing now streamlined, the finance systems team can dedicate more time to strategic projects that deliver business value and drive the roadmap forward.