Workday CEO Says AI Agents Will Replace Junior Staff
Aneel Bhusri said AI agents will take over some auditing, legal and payroll work within five years, and Workday has joined a worker-retraining nonprofit.
Updated on Nov. 13, 2026 in Remote Work
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Workday Inc. co-founder and CEO Aneel Bhusri said AI agents built by the company will replace some junior auditors, a subset of lawyers and some payroll work within five years. Bhusri made the remarks on the 'Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry' podcast.
Why it matters
Workday's software is used by large employers to hire, pay and manage workers, and it now sells AI agents designed to perform parts of that work. Bhusri said he is worried about job displacement from AI, a concern that reaches beyond one company's products to the U.S. white-collar workforce.
RAISE US has raised more than $500 million of its $1 billion goal for worker retraining, and Bhusri projects AI agents will displace some junior roles within five years. The source does not quantify how many workers those displacements would affect.
The players
Workday Inc.
Workday is an enterprise software company whose human-resources and financial systems are used by large employers to hire, pay and manage their workforces.
Aneel Bhusri
Aneel Bhusri is a Workday co-founder who returned as the company's CEO in February 2026 and has led its push into AI agents.
RAISE US
RAISE US is a bipartisan nonprofit launched in June 2026 to fund worker retraining programs, co-founded by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb.
The details
Bhusri said Workday builds a financial audit agent that will replace the work of junior auditors and a contract intelligence agent that replaces a subset of lawyers' work. He also said AI agents can perform payroll work at lower cost than humans, and that routine back-office work will be displaced first. Workday has joined RAISE US, a bipartisan worker-retraining nonprofit launched by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Timeline
February 2026: Bhusri returned as Workday CEO to lead the company's AI push.
June 2026: RAISE US, the bipartisan worker-retraining nonprofit, was launched.
October 2026: Bhusri spoke on the Fortune 500 podcast about AI job displacement.
Within the next five years: Bhusri forecasts AI will displace some junior auditor, lawyer and payroll work.
Roadmap
Workday's participation in RAISE US places a major enterprise software maker inside the country's main bipartisan worker-retraining effort at the same moment it sells AI agents that automate white-collar tasks. The nonprofit has raised more than $500 million toward a $1 billion goal, so its scale relative to projected displacement remains an open question.
Workers in junior auditing, contract law and payroll roles may see AI tools take over routine tasks as their employers adopt products like Workday's agents. Employees who want to stay employable may need retraining, which RAISE US is aiming to fund at scale.
The takeaway
Bhusri's forecast suggests routine back-office work is the first target of AI automation, so workers in those roles may want to build skills that complement AI tools. Individual contributors are expected to fare better as the technology spreads.
Further reading
Explore more on remote work and how automation is reshaping office jobs.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Benzinga.
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