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In today’s Cloud Wars Minute, I go over Workday’s recent Q4 earnings call, including some of its plans going forward and Aneel Bhusri’s transition to executive chairman.
Highlights
00:16 — I want to talk about plans released by Workday. Most important were six strategic tech investment areas that Workday co-founder, recently co-CEO, and currently executive chairman Aneel Bhusri feels are going to be the key to — my words, not his — getting Workday down the path of doubling its revenue.
01:38 — Carl Eschenbach is now CEO, Bhusri moves up to executive chairman. He will focus more on technology vision and innovation strategy. Eschenbach will focus on lots of things as CEO but primarily on revenue growth and sales and go-to-market organizations. Bhusri said this is his final regularly scheduled appearance on a quarterly earnings call.
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02:47 — Here are the six areas that Bhusri outlined. AI is number two. So, what’s more important these days than AI? Bhusri very wisely said it’s going to continue to enhance the value that customers get from its core applications for HCM and for Financials.
03:50 — Third, industry-specific solutions, Bhusri listed about six different areas: healthcare, education, hospitality, retail, financial services, and some others. The Extend Platform, which has been a very, very nice growth opportunity for Workday.
04: 36 — Five, tailored experiences help making the user interface (UI) more valuable, making the applications and solutions more relevant. And six, cybersecurity and resiliency.
05:06 — Aneel Bhusri is one of the truly great guys in the tech industry. Certainly, with Carl Eschenbach driving most of the company as CEO, it’s going to be an interesting future for Workday; a very successful one, no doubt.