Workday CEO Eschenbach departs, with co-founder Aneel Bhusri returning as CEO

Close-up of logo on facade at headquarters of software company Workday in Pleasanton, California, March 26, 2018. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images) | Image Credits:Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images

Enterprise resource planning software company Workday announced Monday that chief executive Carl Eschenbach was stepping down and leaving the company’s board, effective immediately. Workday co-founder and former CEO Aneel Bhusri will return as CEO.

Eschenbach joined Workday in December 2022 as co-CEO alongside Bhusri, and had been operating as the company’s sole CEO since February 2024. Bhusri, who had led the company since 2009 — sometimes as co-CEO, sometimes as sole CEO — has been serving as the company’s executive chairman since 2024.

Workday confirmed to TechCrunch that Bhusri is returning to the role permanently, as opposed to taking the helm during a search for a replacement.

Workday made this leadership change as it says its next chapter will be focused on, unsurprisingly, AI.

“We’re now entering one of the most pivotal moments in our history,” Bhusri said in the company’s press release Monday. “AI is a bigger transformation than SaaS — and it will define the next generation of market leaders. I’m energized to return as CEO, working alongside our presidents Gerrit Kazmaier and Rob Enslin, and I’m excited about the opportunity in front of us.”

Last February, Workday laid off 8.5% of its headcount, or 1,750 people, with Eschenbach stating at the time that the company needed a new approach to labor in the age of AI.