Workday’s Indian American co-founder Aneel Bhusri has returned as chief executive officer and chair, replacing Carl Eschenbach amid a stock slump as it “enters its next chapter, focused on leading in the rapidly evolving AI era.”
Eschenbach, who was named co-CEO in late 2022 alongside Bhusri before becoming sole CEO, is stepping down from the board but will remain as a strategic adviser to Bhusri, the Pleasanton, California based company announced Monday.
Bhusri, who co-founded the on‑demand cloud-based financial management, human capital management, and student information system software vendor, in 2005, previously served as CEO from 2014 to 2020 and as co-CEO from 2020 to 2024.
“We’re now entering one of the most pivotal moments in our history. AI is a bigger transformation than SaaS — and it will define the next generation of market leaders,” Bhusri stated.
Workday was trading over 8% lower on Monday, reaching their lowest level since November 2022. The stock has declined approximately 41% over the past 12 months.
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The leadership change comes just days after Workday announced it would cut about 400 employees, representing roughly 2% of its workforce. The company, which had approximately 20,600 workers at the end of October, said the reduction would help it better invest in priority areas.
According to a regulatory filing, Bhusri will receive $135 million in stock awards based on time and performance requirements, plus a $1.25 million base salary. Eschenbach will receive a $3.6 million severance payment and accelerated vesting of his outstanding stock awards.
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Over the past two decades, Bhusri has helped guide the company from startup to one of the world’s leading enterprise AI platforms for managing people, money and agents, according to his official profile.
Throughout Workday’s journey, Bhusri has served in a range of leadership roles, including co-CEO from 2009 to 2014 with co-founder Dave Duffield, CEO from 2014 to 2020, co-CEO from 2020 to 2024, and executive chair from 2024 to 2026. He has been a member of its board of directors since its founding.
For over 25 years, Bhusri has been a product visionary and leader in enterprise software. Before Workday, he held several leadership roles at PeopleSoft, including vice chair of the board and senior vice president responsible for product strategy, business development, and marketing.
In addition to his role at Workday, Bhusri is a member of the board of trustees at Stanford University and serves on the boards of the Workday Foundation, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Eat. Learn. Play. He has previously served on the boards of several public and private companies, including Cruise, General Motors, Intel, Okta, and Pure Storage.
Bhusri holds an MBA from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and economics from Brown University. He is a Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.