Workday's CEO is stepping down as its cofounder resumes the job

• Workday's chief is stepping down from his position as CEO and board member.
• Cofounder Aneel Bhusri returns as CEO for the fourth time.
• Workday recently laid off around 400 employees and was one of many software companies whose share prices tanked last week.

The CEO of Workday is leaving his post, a change that comes less than a week after the software provider laid off about 400 employees.

Carl Eschenbach is being succeeded by Workday cofounder and executive chair Aneel Bhusri, who has held the top job three times before. The company — a software provider for payroll, talent management, and expense processing — said Eschenbach will become a strategic advisor to Bhusri.

"As we enter a defining moment shaped by AI, there is no one better than Aneel to lead this next chapter," said Mark Hawkins, Workday vice chair and lead independent director, in a public statement. "His vision, conviction, and deep connection to Workday's culture will position the company to continue to lead in a changing landscape."

Shares of Workday are down roughly 6% today, and down about 43% from a year ago.

Bhusri previously served as Workday's co-CEO from 2009 to 2014 with cofounder Dave Duffield. He was also CEO from 2014 to 2020 and co-CEO from 2020 to 2024. Further, Bhusri has been a member of Workday's board since its founding in 2005.

In announcing the recent layoffs, which affected about 2% of Workday's overall workforce, the company cited a need to realign its resources to meet its top priorities. It didn't blame artificial intelligence as a reason for the cuts.

Workday also announced a larger round of layoffs last year, citing a need to invest more heavily in strategic areas such as AI. It had more than 20,400 employees as of January 31, 2025.

Workday was one of many software companies whose share prices took a beating last week following the debut of Anthropic's industry-specific Claude Cowork plugin, which can perform clerical tasks such as tracking compliance. Others included Intuit, Salesforce, and LegalZoom.

Last month in an interview with CNBC, Eschenbach pushed back on the idea that AI advancements would negatively impact Workday.

"We are uniquely positioned to be one of the AI winners in the enterprise because of our incumbency, and lastly, because of the trust we get from our customers," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "We have the cleanest set of data in the industry, and AI is a tailwind for us. It's absolutely not a headwind."

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