In the snowy corridors of Davos, where global leaders debated artificial intelligence’s seismic shifts, Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach pushed back against market skepticism. Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box from the World Economic Forum on January 21, 2026, Mr. Eschenbach declared AI a powerful booster for his enterprise software company, not a threat. “AI is a tailwind for us. It’s absolutely not a headwind,” he told hosts Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin, countering narratives that generative AI could erode established software giants.

Workday, with its cloud platform for human resources and finance, serves 11,000 customers including 65% of the Fortune 500 and 75 million users worldwide. Mr. Eschenbach highlighted the company’s data moat—highly curated records on employees and finances—as a bulwark against upstarts. Customers aren’t fleeing; they’re demanding more AI integration, he said, with no enterprise replacements observed despite AI hype.

The interview came amid Davos discussions shifting from AI excitement to return-on-investment scrutiny, as noted in Fortune. Yet Workday’s stock has fallen about 27% over the past year, trailing peers amid revenue growth concerns. Mr. Eschenbach dismissed this as an “overblown narrative” that AI displaces mature vendors.

Workforce Shakeup Fuels AI Push

Last year, Workday cut 8.5% of its staff in a “workforce optimization exercise” to redirect funds toward AI investments and international expansion. Headcount has held steady at around 19,500 since, per Fortune. Mr. Eschenbach reported robust hiring, including two top executives from Google: one as president of product and technology, the other as AI CTO. “The talent they’re bringing into our company is pretty exceptional,” he said on CNBC.

This strategy has accelerated innovation, with Workday rolling out first-party AI agents and positioning as the “enterprise AI platform for your workforce, whether it’s agents or it’s humans.” Platform openness invites partners to build atop its data, reinforcing incumbency. Customers, trusting Workday’s cleanliness and scale, urge deeper AI embedding rather than bolt-ons.

Internally, AI fears prompted a mandatory “everyday AI” training program six months ago, requiring employees to craft personal AI roadmaps. “They think their jobs are going away,” Mr. Eschenbach acknowledged to Fortune, but steady staffing signals augmentation over replacement.

Challenging the AI Disruption Myth

Mr. Eschenbach directly tackled moat questions: Would enterprises bet on a “VC-backed, five-coder HR platform” over Workday’s proven ecosystem? “No,” he argued, citing 98% retention and Fortune 500 dominance. New buyers gravitate to Workday for AI and finance needs, he added.

Skeptics like Mr. Sorkin raised rapid AI prototyping—via tools from Anthropic or others—that could mimic interfaces and retabulate data. Mr. Eschenbach countered with trust: Enterprises won’t risk unproven players with their core assets. “You can’t underestimate what trust means in the enterprise,” he said. Workday’s data uniqueness positions it as the agent hub.

Recent Sequoia Capital podcast reinforced this, with Mr. Eschenbach describing Workday as “the system of record for the AI era,” managing humans and agents alike in the emerging agent economy (Sequoia Capital).

FY26 Momentum Meets Market Doubt

Heading into fiscal 2027, Mr. Eschenbach touted FY26 as a “really strong year” with AI-driven momentum. Yet investors await proof amid broader tech layoffs tied to AI efficiencies—over 50,000 jobs cut in 2025 by firms like Amazon and Microsoft, per CNBC. Workday’s approach contrasts: optimization to hire AI specialists, not mass reductions.

Earlier CNBC appearances echoed the tailwind theme. In September 2025, Mr. Eschenbach told Jim Cramer: “There’s a narrative that AI is eating into software, that is false” (CNBC). Retention and customer demands validate this, he reiterated at Davos.

Workday’s X posts underscore agent hardening for business scale, signaling product readiness as Davos ROI talks intensify.

Enterprise AI’s Enduring Barriers

Davos 2026 highlighted scaling challenges, with leaders from Nvidia, Microsoft, and Anthropic debating workforce impacts (Euronews). Palantir’s Alex Karp predicted AI destroying humanities jobs but ample vocational opportunities (Fortune). Workday aligns here, upskilling staff for AI coexistence.

Competitive data curation gives Workday an edge; no peer matches its people-and-money dataset depth. Customers like Valvoline scale via Workday, promoting internal cultures amid growth, per recent company posts on X.

Stock pressure persists, but FY27 guidance and AI agent launches could shift sentiment. Mr. Eschenbach’s Davos pitch aims to reframe Workday as AI’s fortified backbone, trusted by those who matter most.