Bronwyn (Bron) Hastings has joined Workday as our new SVP of global partners. In this Q&A, she shares how AI is reshaping the partner ecosystem—and why she believes this moment is a turning point for partners and customers alike.
AI is rapidly reshaping HR and finance—and in the process, changing what partners and customers need from each other. The distance between a promising AI pilot and a genuine shift in how a business operates is rarely closed by technology alone. It takes the right partners working closely together, with the right visibility at the right moments.
Few people understand that better than Bron Hastings, Workday's new SVP of global partners. She’s spent nearly three decades guiding partner strategy through some of the biggest platform shifts in the software industry, from cloud to AI.
Where do you see the biggest gap between AI ambition and reality for HR and finance leaders?
Hastings: Everyone sees the opportunity. AI can bring insight, make information easier to use, and support people in new ways across HR and finance. That part isn't in question anymore.
For me, the harder part is turning that insight into something actionable. AI on its own can tell you something useful—but the real value comes when that insight moves into the work people are already doing, whether through an agent, a workflow, or a better-run process.
The strongest use cases I've seen start with a real process. They look honestly at where it's slow, manual, or frustrating, and then use AI to make that process genuinely better—or even to recreate it entirely.
AI on its own can tell you something useful—but the real value comes when that insight moves into the work people are already doing.
How can partners help HR and finance leaders move from AI pilots to real business value?
Hastings: A lot of it comes down to pace. New capabilities are arriving all the time, and customers are trying to understand where AI can make a practical difference in their business. That creates a very agile environment for everyone involved.
Partners have a particularly important role because they often already understand the customer’s processes, industry, and existing technology environment. They can help identify where AI can create value, and bring the right capabilities together around a real business need.
For many customers, that will include Workday, partner-built capabilities, and other technologies across the enterprise. Partners can help connect those pieces around a workflow or outcome that matters, whether that is in HR, finance, or across the broader business.
They are already investing in this work. Many partners are building accelerators, industry offerings, and deeper transformation capabilities as customers look for AI that can improve the way work gets done. Workday can support that investment by giving partners a clear view of where we are going, helping them stay current, and creating the right conditions for them to innovate with us.
The opportunity is to pair quality with agility. Customers want results quickly, and the strongest partner ecosystems will be the ones that can keep pace while continuing to deliver thoughtful, high-value solutions.
Your career has given you a unique vantage point on how partner ecosystems have evolved across the technology industry. What's the biggest shift you've seen, and why does it matter now?
Hastings: I always take a customer-first view rather than a partner-first one, and that shapes how I think about this.
Customers rely on multiple partners at once for advice, technology, and transformation support. One partner might be helping with HR, another with finance, and another with a broader technology environment. A vendor's job is to help bring the right pieces together around what the customer actually needs, especially when several partners are already part of the picture.
Here's the question I always come back to: does a customer choose you and your partner together, or could either of you be swapped out for someone else? If the honest answer is that you're interchangeable, that's a signal you have work to do. The strongest ecosystems I've been part of are the ones where partners are aligned on the vision, clear on their role, and empowered to bring their own expertise into the conversation. That's what makes a partnership hard to replace.
The strongest ecosystems I've been part of are the ones where partners are aligned on the vision, clear on their role, and empowered to bring their own expertise into the conversation.
What made Workday the right next step for you?
Hastings: The product direction was a big one. I was drawn to the way Workday is connecting AI, workflows, and the data behind HR and finance decisions. You can see that direction in Sana, the Agent System of Record, Workday Data Cloud, and the new tools that give developers more ways to build and connect agents on the Workday platform.
What stood out to me is the opportunity to bring AI into the flow of work in a way that is useful, governed, and grounded in the business context customers already have in Workday. That matters in HR and finance, where the work involves people, money, policies, approvals, and decisions that carry real weight.
Leadership mattered too. I trust the leadership team and the vision they have for where Workday is going. There is a strong customer base, a clear product opportunity, and a real appetite to keep evolving.
And then there is the partner opportunity itself. Workday’s partners have built strong practices and deep customer relationships over many years. What excites me is the chance to build on that foundation as customers look for new ways to apply AI to real business problems. We are living through one of the biggest shifts in technology I have seen in my career, and helping shape the partner ecosystem through that shift is an exciting opportunity.
We are living through one of the biggest shifts in technology I have seen in my career, and helping shape the partner ecosystem through that shift is an exciting opportunity.
What's the most important role partners can play in helping HR and finance leaders scale AI?
Hastings: A customer does not experience AI through a single product or a single partner. They experience it through the processes they are trying to improve and the outcomes they are trying to achieve. That often brings Workday capabilities, partner expertise, and complementary technology together.
Take a retailer preparing for a busy season. Workday can connect workforce planning, scheduling, labor optimization, and finance data to help leaders understand where demand, staffing, and spend are starting to move out of line. A partner can bring retail-specific expertise, an industry accelerator, or connections to the point-of-sale, inventory, and other systems that shape the day-to-day business.
Together, that gives the retailer a more complete view of the decisions it needs to make, from staffing stores and managing labor costs to responding to changes in demand. That is where the ecosystem can create real value for the customer.
That is why I think about an ecosystem as a portfolio of solutions. The question is whether we have the right capabilities and expertise around a customer problem to solve it well.
When partners have a clear view of the product direction, understand where they can bring differentiated value, and have the opportunity to innovate alongside us, they can bring their best thinking to customers. That is how you create an ecosystem that customers choose for the value it delivers.
A customer does not experience AI through a single product or a single partner. They experience it through the processes they are trying to improve and the outcomes they are trying to achieve.
What excites you most about what's ahead for Workday's partner ecosystem?
Hastings: Workday has built a strong foundation with its partners over many years, and there's a real opportunity now to build on that together as AI reshapes how work gets done.
I want partners to have even more clarity about where they can create value for customers, and even more confidence to invest in that work. When partners know where they fit in and where they can grow, they bring their best thinking, their best people, and their best ideas to the table.
Workday partners help customers adapt, thrive, and move forever forward. Learn more about Workday’s partner ecosystem.
More Reading
Here's how Workday is delivering innovation at full speed without putting core operations at risk.
Unity’s Global Head of Finance Transformation & Procurement shares what he finds value in: AI insights, community, and peer learning.
