At its developer-focused event, Workday announced a series of new features designed to facilitate the creation, deployment and oversight of artificial intelligence agents within organizations. These innovations are intended to support companies as they gradually move from AI experimentation to large-scale operational adoption.
As intelligent agents gain traction in human resources, finance and operations, companies face a dual challenge: accelerating innovation while ensuring the security, compliance and governance of their data. The new capabilities presented by Workday are part of this broader trend.
Simplified development with Developer Agent
One of the key announcements is the launch of Developer Agent, a tool designed to simplify the development of AI applications and agents. This feature enables technical teams to use natural language to design and deploy solutions directly from their usual development environments.
Developer Agent integrates with several popular tools on the market, giving developers a faster and more intuitive way to create AI-based applications.
Agents securely connected to enterprise data
Workday also introduced its Agent-Ready Tools, a new technology layer that enables agents developed by customers or third-party partners to interact with the company’s HR and financial data.
The goal is to enable AI agents to leverage critical information while complying with strict security and governance rules. This approach is intended to foster advanced use cases without compromising the integrity of sensitive data.
Agent Passport, a new approach to AI agent governance
The most significant announcement is arguably Agent Passport, a governance solution designed to continuously assess, validate and monitor artificial intelligence agents.
The tool draws on several recognized cybersecurity and risk management frameworks, including those from OWASP, NIST and MITRE. It enables organizations to test AI agents’ behavior, verify their compliance and detect potential risks before they are put into production.
With this approach, Workday aims to address growing concerns among companies regarding the reliability and security of autonomous artificial intelligence systems.
Cisco becomes Agent Passport’s first partner
As part of this initiative, Workday announced a partnership with Cisco, Agent Passport’s first official partner.
Using Cisco AI Defense technology, agents developed within the Workday ecosystem can undergo independent assessments designed to strengthen their level of security and trust. This collaboration demonstrates the two companies’ commitment to providing a robust framework for enterprise AI adoption.
A strategy focused on trusted AI
As finance and human resources functions explore new uses of artificial intelligence, the ability to govern these technologies is becoming a key success factor. The innovations unveiled by Workday highlight the growing importance placed on trust and risk management in enterprise AI projects.
source: Workday
