Workday Says AI Portfolio Nears $600M in ARR at Analyst Day, Reiterates FY2028 Targets and Launches Accenture Program

WDAY used its analyst day to argue that AI is becoming a real revenue line. CFO Zane Rowe said the company is approaching $600 million in annual recurring revenue from its AI agents and AI portfolio, more than three times the level discussed a year earlier, a figure Workday first gave on its fiscal second-quarter call. The company has trimmed its agent portfolio from 50 to 20, with 17 in production, and said nearly 900 customers bought at least one agent over the trailing 12 months, generating roughly a 12% uplift from that group.

Management reiterated its financial frame rather than raising it: 11% subscription-revenue growth entering fiscal 2028, non-GAAP operating margin above 33%, free cash flow per share of $13 this year and $15 in fiscal 2028, and $4 billion left on an open-ended buyback after finishing its prior $5 billion program early. Rowe said AI should account for more than half of incremental customer-base ARR this year and about 70% of the selling motion next year, and the company sized its total addressable market at $276 billion, including about $100 billion in AI and platform offerings. CEO Aneel Bhusri called it a "re-refounding" moment and pitched the planned C1 acquisition as Workday's entry into identity governance for both people and AI agents.

Accenture and Workday also launched a joint AI agent program for HR and finance. Accenture describes it as a Forward Deployed Engineering program that sends teams from both companies to work directly with client HR and finance departments to get Workday agents into production; financial terms were not disclosed. Bhusri was scheduled to discuss the analyst day on CNBC's Mad Money on Wednesday evening.

What to watch: because the 11% growth target was reiterated, not raised, the open question is whether agent sales and Flex Credits (300 customers signed as of the second quarter) turn into upside to that number. Workday carries a Hold consensus rating according to MarketBeat, and the shares were up about 1.5% near $188.77 late Wednesday, per SentiSense's delayed quote.