The US enterprise software company is focusing SA on artificial intelligence

Jonathan Randle, vice president, EMEA, Workday.

US enterprise software provider Workday has introduced new AI capabilities to its portfolio of human capital and finance solutions and plans to capitalize on growing interest in AI in the South African market.

AI capabilities include contract analysis using GenAI, personalized knowledge management, streamlined debt collection process and developer co-pilot, designed to increase developer productivity by turning natural language into application code.

The company has been operating in South Africa for six years and will host its flagship Elevate event in Johannesburg on June 11 and in Cape Town on June 13.

It has 10,000 customers worldwide, 30% of which are companies with fewer than 1,000 employees. It has around 500 clients in South Africa (mainly global operators who have invested in a local presence) and 12 specialist AI accredited partners who provide AI expertise and services to clients.

The provider’s core business is providing software that enables customers to unify finance, HR and planning on one open and connected platform.

This provides customers with a single source of data and truth, enabling real-time, contextual reporting.

Workday’s vice president for EMEA, Jonathan Randle, says there is a need for technology that centralizes data to increase data availability, helps ensure regulatory compliance and solves the complexity that often arises with end-to-end, large-scale software integration solutions.

“There is a demand for consolidation and simplification around the world, particularly around AI and GenAI and cloud migration… the same is true in South Africa,” says Randle.

Clare Hickie, EMEA CTO at Workday, says: “Organizations face many challenges, including some they don’t expect, so the focus should always be on consolidation and simplification.”

Workday introduced the Extend platform to help organizations address these challenges, especially as companies advance in digital transformation.

The platform is a compilation of several development tools that enable customers and partners to create their own applications on the platform. Through the Workday AI Gateway, developers have access to Workday AI and ML services.

“The value they have is that they can take advantage of all the advantages from an architectural standpoint that we have already created,” Hickie says.

Workday expects to grow its network of customers and partners, and while we are currently focused on South Africa, there are plans to expand into new markets in Africa.