Workday is facing hard times as a selloff has wiped roughly $40 billion off its market capitalization. The enterprise software giant needs new guidance in response to the downturn. To helm the latest reset, the company has called upon its co-founder, Aneel Bhusri, to step back into an executive role.
The SaaS company is facing mounting pressure as it struggles with slowing growth expectations and investor skepticism, while new AI-powered enterprise software companies intensify competition. Bhusri is being given a generous pay package to turn the company’s fortunes, even as shareholders remain doubtful about whether a change in leadership can reverse its steep decline in the share market.
What will Workday co-founder Aneel Bhusri’s expanded role in the company entail?
Bhusri will have majority voting control along with operational authority as CEO, giving him greater power to make any difficult changes he deems necessary. To entice him back into the CEO role, Workday is offering him a $138.8 million pay package, which includes cash, performance-based compensation, and restricted stock.
Out of the total package, roughly $60 million will be paid to Aneel Bhusri in restricted stock, provided he stays with the company for the next four years, with no performance conditions attached. However, more than half of the compensation — around $75 million — will be paid out only if he achieves a series of undisclosed stock-price targets over the next five years. He will also earn a $1.25 million annual salary and a yearly cash bonus of up to $2.5 million. He will not be eligible for additional equity grants until 2027.
As the AI software space continues to evolve, Bhusri has seen nearly half the value of his more than 8-million-share stake fall from an all-time high of about $2.6 billion in 2024 to roughly $1.3 billion, according to Fortune.
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Aneel Bhusri conveys a message of hope to his Workday employees during troubling times
In a LinkedIn post, Bhusri struck an optimistic tone as he looked to steady the ship after a rocky couple of years that saw the company’s profits decline. “Just as we helped redefine enterprise software when we founded Workday, I believe we can once again lead the way in this AI era,” he wrote.
Bhusri founded Workday with longtime friend and mentor Dave Duffield in 2005, before the pair became co-CEOs in 2009. Former CEO Carl Eschenbach stepped aside, with Bhusri returning as CEO and chairman. Bhusri thanked Eschenbach for his leadership, saying, “He stepped in when Workday needed to mature and scale as a global company. As co-founder, I’m deeply grateful for how he led Workday through an important chapter and did it with integrity and heart.”
After guiding the company through phases of founding, hyper-growth, scaling, and operational excellence, Bhusri said he is now focused on a new phase of realignment, as Workday looks to integrate AI in what he described as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform HR and finance.”
However, the realignment has also brought difficult decisions, with layoffs affecting roughly 7.5% of the workforce as part of a broader restructuring plan.
According to Fortune and the company’s annual report, subscription revenue growth slowed from 19% in fiscal 2024 to 17% in fiscal 2025, with the most recent quarter showing 15%. Bhusri’s return was followed by a stock drop of more than 6%, adding pressure on him to reassure investors as Workday navigates its next chapter in the AI era.
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