Bruce DeGraw has become one of the most active and trusted contributors in the Workday Community. By asking smart questions and sharing solutions, he’s helping Acrisure and companies like it make the most of Workday tools.
Bruce DeGraw isn’t just crunching numbers at Acrisure. As senior manager of reporting and analytics for Workday Financials, he’s also made a name for himself in the Workday Community—where he’s gone from first-time poster to recognized super user. His approach? Learn what you can, share what you know, and don’t be afraid to ask questions along the way.
DeGraw’s path into analytics started in an unexpected place: the Marine Corps. “The military made me realize I wanted to work indoors,” he jokes. After his service, he earned a degree in accounting and began working in the defense and aerospace sector, where he got deep exposure to pricing models, proposals, and internal systems.
As his roles evolved, so did his interest in improving processes and making data more usable. At one startup, DeGraw led multiple system implementations. It was there that he developed a talent for breaking down complex systems and building bridges between data, technology, and people.
That skillset turned out to be a perfect match for global fintech leader, Acrisure. At any given time, DeGraw and his team are managing dozens of reporting and integration needs, and finding ways to bring clarity to a global organization.
Although DeGraw enjoys building reports and dashboards, his real focus is on enabling his team and stakeholders across Acrisure to get the information they need, when they need it.
“If I can build a report once and get it into someone’s hands so they don’t have to keep asking, that’s a win,” he says. “We want to build things that scale, and that means getting others comfortable with tools like Office Connect, hubs, and discovery boards.”
He’s also a big advocate for automation. “We used to do so many manual processes in Excel. Workday lets us shift away from that and focus on value-added work like data quality, forecasting, and analysis.”
“We used to do so many manual processes in Excel. Workday lets us shift away from that and focus on value-added work like data quality, forecasting, and analysis.”
Bruce DeGraw
Senior Manager, Reporting and Analytics, Workday Financials
Acrisure
DeGraw wasn’t always so vocal in the Workday Community. In fact, he was hesitant at first. “I didn’t want to post something that would seem too basic,” he admits. But over time, reading other people’s questions helped him get unstuck—and realize that a “simple” question for one person might be a huge unlock for someone else.
“That’s when I started contributing,” he says. “You don’t need to be an expert to participate. You just have to be willing to engage.”
“You don’t need to be an expert to participate. You just have to be willing to engage.”
DeGraw is quick to point out that he doesn’t have all the answers. “Sometimes I post something and get five totally different approaches in the replies. That’s the beauty of it—it’s collaborative. You learn a lot just by seeing how others think through the same problem.”
He finds value in helping others because it pushes him to sharpen his own thinking. “When someone posts a good question, I might spend 10 minutes playing with it in our sandbox before answering. That process helps me, too.”
And while Community has thousands of active users, DeGraw says it’s surprisingly tight-knit. He regularly sees the same names jumping in to help others.
“It’s cool to be part of that,” he says. “There’s this unspoken sense that we’re all here to figure it out together.”
DeGraw doesn’t just participate in the community on his own, he encourages his team to use it, too. “Sometimes someone on my team will say, ‘I’m trying to build X, but I’m stuck.’ And my first question is, ‘Did you search Community yet?’”
He’s even started forwarding threads to colleagues as part of onboarding and internal training. “There’s so much knowledge there, and it’s way more dynamic than a traditional knowledge base.”
And now that he’s a recognized contributor, DeGrawfinds that people in his organization trust his advice even more. “Being visible in Community adds credibility,” he says. “It shows that you’re engaged and staying current.”
“Being visible in the Community adds credibility. It shows that you’re engaged and staying current.”
When asked what kinds of questions he likes answering most, DeGraw doesn’t hesitate, “Reporting. Always reporting.” Whether it’s finding the right data source for a custom report or troubleshooting security filters, he enjoys helping others navigate the details.
He’s also a fan of problem-solving questions. “If someone says, ‘I want to build a report that does X, but I can’t figure out how,’ that’s interesting to me. It makes me think.”
And sometimes, Bruce says, it’s the recurring questions that end up being the most helpful. “I’ve answered the same kind of ‘why can’t I find this field in a report’ question a dozen times. But if the twelfth person sees that post and it saves them an hour, then it’s still worth it.”
Has the Community saved Bruce time? “Absolutely,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll post something, walk away to grab lunch, and come back to multiple suggestions.”
He recalls one thread where a user asked how to better organize Workday reports by business area. “A few of us jumped in with tagging ideas and naming conventions,” he says. “The original poster ended up revamping their entire report strategy based on that conversation.”
That kind of peer-to-peer problem solving is what makes the Community stand out, according to DeGraw. “It’s not just technical help—it’s strategic, too.”
DeGraw is excited about where Workday is headed, particularly in reporting. “Composite reporting has come a long way,” he says. “And I love seeing better integration across tools like Adaptive Planning, Prism, Office Connect, Discovery Boards. It’s becoming a true reporting suite.”
He’s also optimistic about how the Community will evolve. “The more people who participate, the more valuable it becomes. You don’t need to be an expert—you just need to show up.”
And if you’re wondering whether to post your question? Bruce’s advice is simple, “Just ask it. Someone else is probably wondering the same thing.”
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