---
title: "Workday: free AI, until it pays — Marsanne Studio AI watch"
description: "On a call with analysts, Workday details the growing use of its AI agents and its upcoming usage-based pricing."
url: "https://marsanne.studio/en/ai-watch/workday-free-ai-until-it-8239c2/"
lang: "en"
---

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Analysis · 8 October 2026

# Workday: free AI, until it pays

Original title, in French: “Workday : de l’IA gratuite, en attendant qu’elle paie”

**Publication**

LeMagIT (France) · subscribers only

**Author**

Philippe Ducellier

**Published on**

8 October 2026 · read in the page structured data

## Summary

During its quarterly call with financial analysts, software vendor Workday detailed the growth in customer adoption of its AI agents and its monetisation strategy. According to chief financial officer Zane Rowe, AI-related ARR is close to $600 million, up from $150 million a year earlier. More than 5,500 customers use an AI agent, out of a base of 11,500 organisations, but only just over 200 are billed through the Flex Credits pay-as-you-go system. Workday first made some agents free to encourage adoption, before rolling out usage-based billing across the board from 2027. Executives compare the cost of agents with the salaries saved rather than with software spending, and announce partnerships with AWS and Google Cloud.

Summary based on the full text of the article.

[Read the article on LeMagIT →](https://www.lemagit.fr/actualites/366652037/Workday-de-lIA-gratuite-en-attendant-quelle-paie-plus)

## Figures cited

-   600 USD million
    
    Annual recurring revenue (ARR) generated by AI at Workday
    
    Workday, worldwide, current fiscal quarter
    
    > « la transformation du spécialiste du SIRH et du Core Finance se traduit par près de 600 millions $ de revenu annuel récurrent (ARR) réalisés avec l’IA »
    
    Source: Workday (échange trimestriel avec les analystes financiers)
    
-   150 USD million
    
    Workday's AI ARR one year earlier
    
    Workday, worldwide, one year before publication
    
    > « l’ARR de l’IA chez Workday n’était que d’un peu plus de 150 millions »
    
    Source: Workday (Zane Rowe, directeur financier)
    
-   100 USD million
    
    New AI-related contracts signed in the quarter
    
    Workday, current quarter
    
    > « plus de 100 millions $ de nouveaux contrats ont été signés ce trimestre en rapport avec l’IA »
    
    Source: Workday
    
-   25 %
    
    Share of contracts signed in the quarter that are AI-related
    
    Workday, current quarter
    
    > « Soit plus du quart des contrats signés sur la période. »
    
    Source: Workday
    
-   50 %
    
    Share of new customers that signed for at least one AI solution
    
    Workday, new customers, current quarter
    
    > « plus de la moitié des nouveaux clients ont signé pour au moins une solution d’IA »
    
    Source: Workday
    
-   5,500 customers
    
    Number of customers using one or more of Workday's organic AI agents
    
    Workday, worldwide customer base
    
    > « « plus de 5 500 clients utilisent un ou plusieurs de nos agents organiques » »
    
    Source: Workday (Aneel Bhusri, PDG)
    
-   35 %
    
    Growth in the number of customers using AI agents compared with the previous quarter
    
    Workday, quarter on quarter
    
    > « soit 35 % de plus qu’au trimestre précédent »
    
    Source: Workday
    
-   11,500 organisations
    
    Number of Workday customer organisations
    
    Workday, worldwide
    
    > « Workday est présent officiellement dans « plus de 11 500 organisations » »
    
    Source: Workday
    
-   200 customers
    
    Number of customers that signed for pay-as-you-go pricing (Flex Credits)
    
    Workday, customer base using AI agents
    
    > « « un peu plus de 200 » seulement ont signé pour les Flex Credits »
    
    Source: Workday (Zane Rowe)
    
-   2 %
    
    Share of AI customers billed via Flex Credits
    
    Workday, customer base using AI agents
    
    > « Soit moins de 2 % de la base. »
    
    Source: Workday
    
-   70 %
    
    Additional cost observed for Salesforce customers moving to a premium version to access AI
    
    Salesforce customers, according to a Wolfe Research analyst
    
    > « des clients de Salesforce ont dû passer à une version premium « 60 à 80 % plus chère dans certains cas » pour accéder à l’IA »
    
    Source: Wolfe Research
    
-   50 %
    
    Share of Workday's customer base that has signed the new UMSA master agreement
    
    Workday, worldwide customer base
    
    > « Rob Enslin estime que « plus de la moitié de la base clients » de Workday l’a déjà signé »
    
    Source: Workday (Rob Enslin, directeur commercial)
    

## Classification

**Country**

Worldwide scope

**Company size**

All sizes

**Industries**

Software vendors, IT services companies, telecoms · All industries, or industry not specified

**Companies**

Wolfe Research (cited), Workday (supplier), Sana (supplier), AWS (cited), Salesforce (cited), Google Cloud (cited)

**Keywords**

ai agents, usage-based pricing, hris, erp, business model, software vendor

Entry written by Marsanne Studio from the cited article, with the help of an AI model (claude-sonnet-5). The rights to the article and its illustrations belong to LeMagIT and its author. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.