Workday CEO Predicts AI Job Displacement And Which Roles May Be Safe
Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of IndustryShow Notes
Workday cofounder Aneel Bhusri returned to the CEO position for what he calls a “refounding moment.” Bhusri is steering the enterprise software giant toward an AI-native future built around AI agents that may reshape how companies build, hire and manage.
In this episode, Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell speaks with Bhusri about why he believes AI-driven job displacement is coming within five years, and what workers and business leaders should do to thrive in these shifts. He also reveals which companies he thinks will survive a “SaaSpocalypse,” and the real-world ROI companies are seeing from AI agents.
00:00 Introducing Aneel Bhusri, cofounder and CEO of Workday
02:34 Bhusri returns as CEO
03:08 Why AI agents are changing everything
04:05 How AI agents are reshaping the workforce
05:21 Building AI-native business models
05:50 Refounding Workday and learning from Steve Jobs
07:09 AI as a “refounding moment” for Workday
09:10 Workday’s origin story: from PeopleSoft to a Truckee diner
09:50 Making Workday “the world’s biggest startup”
11:51 Why Workday reduced its 50 AI agents to 20
13:49 Shifting tech leadership today
15:12 Who will survive AI?
18:08 How AI will replace labor and Raise U.S.
20:55 Flattened orgs & AI agent systems of record
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