Startups & Funding

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

A major tech CEO steps down as the company's founder returns to focus on AI.

Deep Dive

Workday's CEO Carl Eschenbach has stepped down, with co-founder Aneel Bhusri immediately returning to the role. Bhusri, who previously led the company for years, stated the change is permanent and aims to focus the enterprise software firm on its AI strategy. He called AI a bigger transformation than cloud software. This follows the company's layoff of 1,750 people last year, which was linked to adapting to AI.

Why It Matters

This signals a major strategic pivot for a large enterprise software company, highlighting AI's disruptive impact on corporate leadership and priorities.