Artificial intelligence dominated every major conversation at last week's Workday Rising in San Francisco. The annual conference drew approximately 30,000 attendees for four days of product announcements, strategic sessions, hands-on learning, and relationship building. But while AI commanded the spotlight, the conference delivered a clear message: rather than replacing humans, AI empowers them to work smarter, faster, and more creatively.
The conference opened with a powerful keynote from researcher Brené Brown, who challenged attendees to embrace "paradoxical thinking" — the ability to hold conflicting ideas long enough for breakthrough solutions to emerge. In conversation with Workday CMO Emma Chalwin, Brown rejected the binary choice between “team technology” and "team human," arguing that while 78% of enterprises are deploying AI, the deep human need for connection and vulnerability remains unchanged.
Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach reinforced this philosophy, positioning Workday as "ERP for the AI era" while emphasizing the human element: “You're not competing against AI. You're competing against your peers, and your competitors are leveraging AI.” This framing — AI as enabler rather than replacement — would echo throughout the conference.
Workday made several major announcements centered on making AI accessible and manageable for users and businesses:
The company also announced its $1.1 billion acquisition of Sana, positioning it as creating “the new front door for work” by combining AI-powered search, intelligent agents, and personalized learning.
To make these innovations accessible, Workday introduced Flex Credits, a subscription-based service that gives customers credits they can use across all AI agents and platform innovations, with transparent ROI tracking via a single dashboard. This addresses the critical challenge identified by MIT research: only 5% of organizations currently see returns from AI investments.
For the first time, OneSource Virtual joined the ranks of Titanium Sponsors alongside PwC, Deloitte, and Accenture, representing a significant deepening of our partnership with Workday. Our expanded presence drew thousands of visitors to our booth, headshot station, and four speaking sessions, Braindates, industry summits, and more.
Finally, our TRANSFORM customer appreciation party on September 16 brought together several thousand attendees at SVN West to celebrate the partnerships that drive innovation in the Workday community. The evening was filled with changing themes, surprise entertainment, a rooftop silent disco, and pop-up activations.
With 92% of attendees reporting that they found solutions to their business challenges, Workday Rising 2025 delivered on its promise of practical innovation. The conference demonstrated that Workday's transformation from an ERP vendor to an AI-powered platform isn't just a vision — it's already happening.
As we look toward Workday Rising Europe in Barcelona this November and next year's U.S. conference in Las Vegas, the path forward is clear. Organizations that thrive won't be those who resist AI or blindly embrace it, but those who master what Brené Brown called paradoxical thinking — holding both human connection and technological innovation in productive tension.
The future of work isn't about choosing sides. It's about amplifying what makes us uniquely human while harnessing AI's power to eliminate what doesn't.