Workday CEO Aneel Bhusri Steps Down, Co-founder Chano Fernandez Takes Over
Key Points
- Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach steps down effective immediately.
- The company’s co-founder and former CEO Aneel Bhusri will assume the position.
- In recent months, software stocks have generally come under pressure as investors increasingly worry that artificial intelligence could disrupt the software industry.
Enterprise software company Workday announced on Monday that CEO Carl Eschenbach is stepping down, with company co-founder Aneel Bhusri taking over the role, effective immediately.
Bhusri has held several executive positions at the software company: he was co-CEO from 2009 to 2014, CEO from 2014 to 2020, co-CEO again from 2020 to 2024, and executive chairman from 2024 to 2026.
Eschenbach served alongside Bhusri as Workday’s co-CEO starting in 2022, and began serving as sole CEO in 2024.
In recent months, software stocks including Workday have remained under pressure as investors worry about the potentially disruptive impact of artificial intelligence on the industry. Workday’s stock price fell 17% last year, and has already dropped more than 20% so far this year.
On Monday, the company’s share price fell by 5%.
Bhusri stated in a release:
“We are entering one of the most critical periods in the company’s history. The transformation brought about by artificial intelligence is even more profound than software as a service (SaaS), and it will define the next generation of market leaders.”
Salesforce, Oracle, and Microsoft are all major software as a service companies.
Last month, Eschenbach attempted to downplay market concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on the software industry, telling CNBC that such claims are “exaggerated” and “not true.”
Last year, Workday laid off about 1,750 employees to increase investment in technology.
Eschenbach said in Monday’s statement:
“It has been my honor to serve as CEO for the past three years. I am proud of all that we have accomplished—we have strengthened operational management, achieved global expansion, broadened our industry presence, and laid an important foundation in the field of artificial intelligence.”
Editor: Guo Mingyu
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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