Demand more Workday partners and see how they stack up on driving change

CHROs, CFOs, and CIOs have spent years implementing Workday to modernize enterprise operations, but many still treat it as a technology deployment rather than a strategic foundation. Workday is more than a system of record. It sits at the center of how enterprises manage people, processes, and performance, with potential to fundamentally reshape how work gets done.

As Workday expands with analytics, automation, and AI-driven insights, the conversation must move beyond go-lives and compliance checklists toward workforce strategy, experience-led operations, and intelligent decision-making at scale. The Workday Services Horizons 2025 report shows how the ecosystem is evolving and where partners are driving the next wave of transformation.

Horizon leaders are setting the pace for Workday-driven transformation

We evaluated 17 Workday system integrator (SI) partners across three Horizons (see Exhibit 1), focusing on how service providers are helping enterprises move beyond deployments to workforce strategy, AI-enabled operations, and experience-led transformation.

• Horizon 3 – Market leaders are shaping the future of Workday services with verticalized IP, AI-enabled workflows, and co-innovation at scale. Their ability to connect Workday investments directly to business and workforce outcomes sets them apart.
• Horizon 2 – Enterprise innovators deliver strong execution and are expanding into AI orchestration and experience-led solutions to drive greater transformation impact.
• Horizon 1 – Disruptors bring agility and early innovation plays, with emerging strengths in GenAI and industry-specific solutions as they build for scale.

The Horizons model highlights a partner ecosystem in motion. Leaders are demonstrating what full-scale transformation can look like, while innovators and disruptors are quickly maturing their capabilities to close the gap.

Exhibit 1: The Workday SI Horizons distribution

Source: HFS Research, 2025

Workday has become the operating backbone for many enterprises. Its unified platform brings HR, finance, and operations together with embedded analytics, automation, and AI capabilities that promise to move organizations beyond transactional efficiency toward intelligent, experience-driven business operations.

Yet most deployments remain under-ambitious. Too many programs focus on implementation milestones, integrations, and compliance rather than using Workday as a catalyst to redesign roles, orchestrate AI-enabled workflows, or create measurable workforce outcomes. Enterprise leaders said they need more from their partners: industry context, embedded innovation, and experience-led design, tying technology investments to productivity, engagement, and performance gains. They want providers that can co-create new operating models across people, finance, and technology, not just deliver software rollouts on time and on budget. Some partners are beginning to address this, but progress is still uneven.

Workday partners are investing in innovation, and some are setting the pace

Our assessment showed that many partners are beginning to push the limits of traditional Workday deployments. Some are leading the way by moving beyond go-lives and compliance checklists to bring industry depth, AI innovation, and measurable business outcomes into focus. The report unveiled some key findings:

• Verticalized solutions at scale: Accenture and Deloitte are delivering sector-specific solutions and finance-first transformation plays, embedding analytics and GenAI into planning and decision support.
• Early bets on GenAI-enabled experiences: PwC and KPMG are investing in copilots, interview coaching tools, and GenAI accelerators, signaling a shift toward experience-led transformation.
• Business model reinvention: IBM and TCS are tying Workday into broader enterprise AI and automation platforms, linking HR and finance modernization to operating model transformation.
• Outcome-based delivery models: A few partners are piloting managed services approaches tied to workforce outcomes such as retention, wellness, and performance, showing how Workday can support value beyond implementation milestones.

More than deployments, leaders want strategy, scale, and measurable outcomes

Progress in the Workday ecosystem is real, but transformation will only happen if leaders keep pushing partners beyond deployments and pilots and demand:

• Experience-led workforce design: Partners should help reimagine operating models, roles, and employee experiences around Workday’s full capabilities, not just automate existing processes.
• Scalable and repeatable IP: Pre-configured, vertical solutions must be designed for reuse across the enterprise rather than locked in one-off implementations.
• AI in production, not just pilots: GenAI investments should move from experimentation to measurable productivity, engagement, and performance gains.
• Strategic partnerships over transactional delivery: Partners should guide for governance, workforce strategy, and long-term transformation instead of stopping at technical rollouts.
• Delivery continuity and talent depth: Experienced delivery teams must stay engaged long enough to understand the business context and ensure that transformation sticks.

Leaders who set this standard will position Workday as a platform for workforce strategy, intelligent operations, and measurable business outcomes, not just another system of record.

The Bottom Line: True partners bring speed, agility, and real impact. If yours don’t, it’s time to upgrade.

Workday’s future depends on partners that turn deployments into transformation. Partners that are shaping this future combine industry depth, AI-enabled workflows, co-innovation, and outcome-focused delivery into a single model.

The next wave of leaders will belong to those who meet their organizations’ demands for strategic guidance, ecosystem-ready solutions, and transformation at scale, not just successful go-lives. CHROs, CFOs, and CIOs are at the forefront of this shift and must insist that Workday is tied to real business outcomes, moving beyond compliance and reporting.