Workday is making bold moves to transform its platform capabilities through strategic acquisitions and accelerated innovation. In an exclusive interview during Workday Rising EMEA in Barcelona, Gabe Monroy, SVP and GM at Workday, reveals the strategy behind recent acquisitions and what they mean for the future of enterprise AI.
Workday has acquired Pipedream, an iPaaS platform with over 3,000 active connectors, competing with Zapier and Make. But this isn’t just another acquisition; it’s a critical piece of Workday’s ambitious agentic AI strategy that could change how enterprise software operates.
In this interview, you’ll discover how Workday plans to use these integrations, what it means for startups currently building on Pipedream, and why the company is committed to keeping the platform open to the broader ecosystem. Monroy also reveals concrete use cases that demonstrate how agents will actually work in production environments.
What you’ll learn from this interview
Strategic acquisitions and platform vision
Find out why Workday chose Pipedream over other integration platforms and how it complements the recent Flowise acquisition. Monroy explains the thinking behind acquiring multiple startups rather than large vendors, and whether more acquisitions are on the horizon. You’ll understand how these pieces fit together into a coherent platform strategy.
Agentic AI in action
Stop wondering what agentic AI actually means in practice. Monroy provides specific examples of how Workday envisions agents operating across multiple systems. From automatically gathering performance review feedback to orchestrating complex workflows. Learn how Workday is approaching the challenge of managing and governing agents across multiple platforms, and why its strategy differs from competitors like Salesforce.
Market expansion and competition
Discover how Workday Go will bring enterprise-grade capabilities to small and medium businesses, opening up a massive new market. Gabe addresses the growing competitive threat from Salesforce and other platforms moving into Workday’s territory, and reveals how Workday is accelerating innovation velocity to stay ahead.
EU sovereign cloud strategy
Learn about Workday’s new EU sovereign cloud offering built on AWS infrastructure. Find out why this capability is a “deal breaker” for many European customers, how it addresses AI regulations like the EU AI Act, and why Workday chose AWS despite industry debates about true sovereignty.
Key Topics Covered
- Why Pipedream’s 3,000+ connectors and startup ecosystem made it an attractive acquisition target
- How Workday plans to maintain Pipedream as an open platform rather than an internal-only tool
- The relationship between Flowise (agent builder) and Pipedream (integration layer)
- Specific agentic AI use cases in HR and finance that will launch soon
- Workday’s approach to agent governance across multiple platforms
- How Workday Go will compete in the SMB market with enterprise-grade capabilities
- The competitive landscape and Salesforce’s potential HCM offering
- Details about the EU sovereign cloud partnership with AWS
- Customer feedback on sovereign cloud and expected adoption patterns
- Workday’s surgical acquisition strategy versus large vendor acquisitions
- Internal use of AI to accelerate Workday’s own development processes
This interview provides rare insight into how a major enterprise platform is navigating the rapid transformation brought by AI. Whether you’re a Workday customer wondering what these changes mean for you, a developer building on Pipedream concerned about the acquisition, or an enterprise architect evaluating platform strategies, this conversation offers valuable strategic perspective.
Watch the full interview to understand where Workday is heading and how these moves position the company in the evolving enterprise software landscape.