Workday Rising 2025: ‘Humans have an incredible ability to learn, adapt, and develop new skills – AI is a catalyst for that’

AI is changing the workplace – and leaders need to ensure they – and the wider business – is changing in tandem.

At Workday Rising 2025, it was frequently discussed how the workforce can be AI-powered, while keeping the workforce human-centric and future ready. 

To take a deeper dive into how Workday is creating this, as well as advice as to how other businesses can follow suit, UNLEASH sat down to have an exclusive conversation with Ashley Goldsmith, Chief People Officer at Workday.

“The human is always at the center – we are better together”

Workday is using AI in a lot of different ways both within HR and broadly across the company, helping the business to operate more effectively, while freeing up time to focus on areas where value can be added.

But despite this positive focus, Workday is still aware that some employees may believe AI’s increased presence will render many jobs redundant. 

However, Goldsmith shares a counter point of view: “What I see really strongly – and personally believe – is that AI and people are going to work together. We are better together. 

The human is always at the center, and AI is here to help us maximize our potential and focus on what we uniquely do best.”

She continues to explain that Workday has been careful to be transparent with employees about this, emphasizing that it’s about “unlocking human potential” rather than “replacing humans.”

For example, while some jobs may evolve or disappear, tens of millions of new roles are expected to be created through AI. 

“The opportunities are huge,” she adds. “Humans have an incredible ability to learn, adapt, and develop new skills – AI is a catalyst for that.”

One initiative that Workday has introduced to achieve this, is Everyday AI. 

Everyday AI – a tool used in a similar way to Gemini and NotebookLM – is used by Workday to boost productivity and efficiency. 

“Everyday AI is all about upskilling our employees – helping them use AI confidently and without fear,” she comments. “We want them to know they have permission and encouragement to explore it openly. AI isn’t a replacement; it’s a tool to support them and enhance their work.

Workday also uses a recruiting agent which has helped its internal recruiters reduce their workload by 12%.

“We’ve been intentional about reinvesting that saved time into higher-value work. One area we prioritized is interview debriefs,” Goldsmith says. 

“When four or five people interview a candidate, it’s incredibly valuable to bring them together for a quick discussion about skills, values, and cultural alignment. But when recruiters are overwhelmed with sourcing and screening, that step often gets skipped.”

AI has therefore been used to build skills that Workday has been able to run these debriefs consistently, resulting in faster alignment, quicker hiring decisions, and ultimately, higher-quality hires.

Goldsmith then shifts her attention to AI’s impact on talent development, engagement, and workforce planning, expressing she sees “a lot of opportunities” 

“AI is really well-suited to help us learn in the moment,” she explains. “Even in the simplest way – when you ask ChatGPT or any tool a question – you immediately walk away with a bit more knowledge.

“With Workday’s tools, for example, you can ask HR-related questions and get quick, reliable answers. That instantly boosts your understanding and supports ongoing development.”

Workday is also sure to use gigs extensively, as they give employees a chance to expand their interests and to try something new. AI is used to match people to the right opportunities. 

Goldsmith reports that this has created a powerful impact, explaining that employees who take on a gig at Workday are about 42% more likely to make an internal move and more than 30% less likely to leave the company. 

The company therefore believes that AI isn’t just facilitating learning – it’s creating growth pathways, improving retention, and helping people contribute in new ways.

Building trust and future-proofing leaders

As is becoming more widely adopted across the globe, it is clear that employees need to lean into its use and to prepare themselves for the skills needed to do so.

Yet Goldsmith states that for employees to want to embrace the different technologies, they need to have trust in their leaders.

“As technology takes up more of our time and space – both personally and professionally – we have to be deliberate about how we connect with people,” she notes. “Intentionality is really important.”

She expands that for companies and leaders, this means setting clear expectations for people managers. For example, how can they show up for their employees, how can they really listen to later give direct feedback, and how can they take the time to help people learn and grow?

“If you don’t set these expectations, managers may default to thinking that a quick email counts as connection, when in reality, it doesn’t always,” Goldsmith remarks.

“That’s why I love the idea of intentional leadership – and also using tools to support it. I’m a big fan of Peakon. Tools like that help ensure you’re always listening and with so much change and uncertainty, employees want to be heard. 

It’s not enough to just collect feedback – it can’t go into a void. You need to close the loop: we heard you, here’s what we’re doing, here’s how it works.

“In this moment, that kind of intentional listening and response is absolutely essential.”

However for Goldsmith, intentionality needs to be coupled with empathy, connection, collaboration, and curiosity to really be impactful. 

In fact, she goes as far as to say that these traits are what she personally looks for when building people teams, because they’re “enduring over time.”

Once these fundamental skills are in place, Goldsmith believes that the next step for leaders is to embrace the technology – and to “get out there, use it, and test it.”

She warns: “Don’t just talk about it or delegate it. Don’t wait for someone else to tell you how. Really dive in: experiment in your professional life, try things in your personal life, give it a real go. The goal is to get fluent – build your ‘AI muscle.’”

However, at Workday Rising 2025 it was clearly reiterated that human skills must not suffer in the face of AL. Therefore, leaders must be sure to grow that AI capability alongside nurturing human skills. 

“Make sure these don’t atrophy,” Goldsmith advises. “Model empathy, curiosity, and connection. 

“Show how human qualities are our superpowers – and demonstrate the value they bring alongside technology.”

Concluding, Goldsmith shares the “contagiousness” of optimism. 

“There’s plenty of research showing that simply being optimistic can change outcomes. 

“Think about sports: an athlete who goes into a game confident they’ll win has a much higher likelihood of success than someone who’s nervous and expecting to lose.

Bringing optimism to bear isn’t just feel-good – it’s scientifically proven to be valuable and contagious.

“We can apply that mindset to all the changes happening around us in the workplace, spreading it through the organization and letting it influence others.”