Workday Elevate London: ‘Responsible AI is not just a moniker. It’s a way of life’

Over 800 attendees, 33 sessions, and 43 customer speakers can only mean one thing – Workday Elevate London returned – and what a great day it was! 

Taking center stage, Workday’s VP Country Manager UKI, Dan Pell, welcomed all the guests that managed to secure a place at the booked-out event to discuss the upcoming sessions, while also reflecting on the company’s latest advancements. 

There was a clear buzz in the air, as Pell reminded the audience of Workday’s recent announcement: the business will reinvest over £550 million in the UK over the next three years – which will, of course, pave the way for big opportunities. 

He expressed how this will drive considerable growth, while also continuing to support Workday’s existing customers, which include more than 35% of the FTSE100, including UK Centrica, Rolls Royce, the Crown Commercial Service, and many more. 

And Pell was keen for this excitement to continue, as he passed the stage to a plethora of highly-knowledgeable speakers. 

Although there were so many insightful highlights shared on the day, UNLEASH gives a sneak peek into the top three sessions, featuring Joe Wilson, Workday’s CTO; Damian Hughes and Jake Humphries of the High Performance Podcast; and Andrew Stephenson, Equiniti’s CPO.

AI’s role in the future of work

“Over the past year and a half, there’s been a lot of drumbeat around AI – but personally, I wish there would be more conversations about responsible AI,” Joe Wilson, CTO at Workday began in his opening keynote.

For us at Workday, this means that we include humans in the loop. We’re not giving the world to the robots.

“Human factor, human analysis, human introspection, and overall transparency to help customers have confidence in understanding how we’re built is important.

“Responsible AI is not just a moniker at Workday. It’s a way of life.”

Wilson then continued to discuss the “the power of collective innovation,” stating that ethical AI is the responsibility of everyone, while expressing the need to “do things differently” in a safe and secure way. 

He then welcomed his colleague up to demonstrate how Workday is tailoring experiences, as well as how customers can make the most out of the platform.

Daniel Pell, UKI Country Manager at Workday

What does high performance really look like?

“What does high performance mean to you?,” was the question that kicked off the session.  

Television presenter and co-host of The High Performance Podcast, Jake Humphrey, started by stating that for him, the definition has changed over the years.

“It always comes back to the idea that high performance is happiness, it’s contentment,” he said, “and that’s why it’s always really interesting to have these conversations. 

“About 20 or 25 years ago, no one cared if you were happy in the workplace. Now, it should be the first question businesses ask their people because it plays a real significant toll on their culture.”

As the duo continued through their session, they discussed a number of lessons that have been shared with them throughout their history of star-studded guests. 

Hughes added: “Society often thinks that high performance needs to be measured in metrics, such as having a certain amount of money in the bank. 

“But there’s a big difference between high performance and world-class performance. World class is when you have to meet a certain set of objective measures, whereas high performance can be anything – it’s subjective.

“In fact, Phil Neville said that to him, high performance is doing the best you can with what you have. And I think that sums it up perfectly.”

Building trust through transparency

One of the key themes of the session was a value that every business should prioritize: trust.

Throughout the 30-minute discussion, Andrew Stephenson, CPO at Equiniti took a deep dive into understanding how business leaders can build trust with employees, with Stephenson celebrating how Equiniti has built trust with its employees through two-way communication. 

To achieve this, he explains that the business used the Peakon platform to survey employees each month to gain a comprehensive understanding of their thoughts. 

“We get a 91% response rate across the globe, which wouldn’t be achieved if our employees didn’t trust us,” Stephenson says.

He also provided insights from his experience as a strategist for talent optimization, highlighting the need for organizations to prioritize trust in their approach to workforce management, shining a light on the need to empower managers through transparency, trust, and continuous learning. 

“People want to work with a company,” Stephenson concluded, “not for a company.

“They want to know that they have somewhere to grow, develop, and that they can build a future. Ultimately, they want to go somewhere with your company.” 

If you didn’t manage to make this year’s Workday Elevate London, make sure you sign up for Workday Rising EMEA, taking place in London, UK, on 12–14 November 2024.