Workday acquires Paradox to expand AI recruiting suite

Workday’s artificial intelligence strategy is taking shape through a string of acquisitions, with the company moving aggressively to position itself as a system of record for AI-driven workforce management.

The enterprise software provider announced it is acquiring Paradox, a startup best known for its AI-powered candidate experience agent that streamlines the job application process. The move comes just days after Workday acquired Flowise, a platform for building AI agents and automating workflows. Together, the deals underscore Workday’s ambition to deepen its AI capabilities across recruiting and employee experience.

Building an AI Talent Acquisition Suite

Once integrated, Paradox will become part of Workday Recruiting, expanding the company’s offerings into an end-to-end AI-driven talent acquisition suite. Paradox provides a conversational agent that can engage with job seekers 24/7 — answering questions, scheduling interviews, and guiding applicants through the process. To date, it has powered more than 189 million AI-assisted candidate conversations, significantly boosting employee conversion rates.

The company already integrates with major platforms such as Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, and Indeed, and serves industries including retail, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, and financial services.

Industry analysts see the acquisition as a sign of intensifying competition. Holger Mueller of Constellation Research noted:

“Right when you thought Workday had settled on an organic approach to talent acquisition, it acquires Paradox. Granted, Paradox is a good and complimentary acquisition, but with the Workday move and the recent SAP acquisition one thing is clear — the gloves have come off in the talent acquisition game. And it makes sense — as the winners of talent acquisition can redefine how talent management overall will be reinvented in the AI era.”

Flowise and the Future of AI Agents

The Paradox deal follows Workday’s acquisition of Flowise, which enables enterprises to rapidly build AI agents and automate workflows. Together, these acquisitions reflect Workday’s vision of embedding AI across its platform, enabling what CEO Carl Eschenbach calls a “powerful AI-powered talent acquisition suite” that can support diverse hiring needs.

Eschenbach emphasized on the company’s Q2 earnings call:

• “With Workday Recruiting, Hiredscore and now Paradox, we will be able to deliver an incredibly powerful AI-powered talent acquisition suite, helping customers find, hire and onboard every type of worker for every type of work.”
• “AI is front and center in nearly every customer conversation. More than 30% of our customer deals and more than 75% of our net new deals included one or more of our AI products.”

Financial Strength Underpins AI Push

The acquisitions arrive as Workday posted better-than-expected second quarter results, further strengthening its position to invest in growth. The company reported:

• Revenue: $2.35 billion, up 12.6% year-over-year
• GAAP Net Income: $0.84 per share
• Non-GAAP Earnings: $2.21 per share, beating Wall Street estimates by $0.09
• Subscription Revenue Outlook: Raised to $8.815 billion for fiscal 2026, a 14% increase

CFO Zane Rowe added that Workday projects Q3 subscription revenue of $2.235 billion, up 14.1% year-over-year.

Expanding Customer Adoption

Workday highlighted growing adoption of its full suite offerings, particularly in education and healthcare, where more than 50% of net new deals were full suite. The company also pointed to Salesforce — a longtime HCM customer — going live on Workday’s financial management and accounting platform, consolidating HR and financial data into a single system.

Developers are also extending Workday’s ecosystem, with over 100 Marketplace apps now live, doubling since the start of fiscal 2026.

What’s Next

At its upcoming Workday Rising conference, the company plans to showcase new AI innovations, partnerships, and tools to make it easier for customers to unlock value from AI.

With SAP acquiring SmartRecruiters and Workday doubling down with Paradox and Flowise, the battle for AI-driven talent acquisition is heating up. For Workday, these moves position it not just as a human capital management provider, but as a platform redefining how digital labor and AI agents shape the future of work.