Salesforce, Workday Unveil AI Employee Service Agent for Enhanced Productivity

Salesforce and Workday, Inc. have announced plans to develop a new AI employee service agent designed to automate tasks, provide personalized support, and deliver data-driven insights to enhance employee productivity.

This initiative will combine Salesforce’s Agentforce Platform and Einstein AI with Workday’s platform and Workday AI, creating a powerful tool for various employee service applications.

The new AI agent will leverage Salesforce CRM data and Workday financial and HR data to communicate with employees in natural language and human-like comprehension.

This integration aims to simplify tasks such as onboarding, health benefit changes, and career development. When complex cases arise, the AI agent will seamlessly transfer them to the appropriate human agent, maintaining all relevant history and context.

Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce, emphasized the potential of AI to augment employees and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

“Our new Agentforce platform, combined with this partnership with Workday, will help businesses create amazing experiences powered by generative and autonomous AI,” Benioff said.

Carl Eschenbach, CEO of Workday, highlighted the fundamental role of employees, customers, and financials in any business.

He noted that integrating Salesforce and Workday’s platforms and AI capabilities would empower customers to deliver unmatched AI-powered employee experiences, leading to happier customers and significant business value.

This strategic partnership will integrate Salesforce’s Einstein 1 Platform and Workday AI, allowing the AI employee service agent to provide relevant, conversational responses to employee queries.

The agent will recommend and act across platforms on behalf of the employee, enhancing productivity and efficiency. For complex issues, the agent will facilitate quick and seamless escalations to human agents.

Additionally, Salesforce and Workday will create a shared data foundation connecting Workday financial and HR data with Salesforce CRM data.

This will enable customers to access and utilize data across both platforms without duplicating it, ensuring secure data sharing.

Workday will also enhance its integration with Slack, providing users with a conversational interface to access and collaborate on Workday financial and HR records directly in Slack.

Employees will benefit from natural language conversations with the AI employee service agent, receiving instant support whether working in Salesforce, Slack, or Workday.

This will streamline onboarding, enable self-service HR, and provide continuous development opportunities tailored to an employee’s role and career interests.

Sal Companieh, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Cushman & Wakefield, expressed excitement about the potential impact of streamlining workflows across Workday and Salesforce. “The ability to deliver more personalized AI-powered employee experiences will be a game changer for us,” Companieh said.

For employers, the fusion of HR, financial, and operational data into advanced AI models will extend workforce capabilities and enhance overall workforce intelligence, optimization, and resilience. This integration will support precision workforce planning, continuous financial planning, and intelligent sales enablement.

R “Ray” Wang, CEO of Constellation Research, Inc., highlighted the significance of this integration, stating, “The shared data foundation between Workday and Salesforce will deliver AI capabilities that could transform the employee experience to be more personalized, efficient, and impactful.”