What is Workday?
Workday is an enterprise software platform for HR and financial management, widely used by large organizations. The material tracks a debate about whether AI-powered point solutions could displace such established systems, with speakers arguing that Workday’s complexity and integration make it resilient to disruption.
Release history
- Apr 2026 - Jason Lemkin said that even if one could “vibe” a Salesforce or Workday, maintaining it would be impractical, pushing back on the idea that AI can easily replace such platforms.
- May 2026 - Jason Lemkin said AI is not going to kill Workday “tomorrow,” but noted that many point solutions exist, though he questioned the need for “microsasses.”
- May 2026 - Mohnish Pabrai said the idea that HR would use AI to develop custom software and get rid of Workday is “a pipe dream.”
- Aug 2026 - Harry Stebbings said that while Bending Spoons might lose 20% of Airtable’s customers after tripling prices, such disruption would happen “a lot faster than workday,” implying Workday’s replacement would be slower.
- Aug 2026 - Harry Stebbings said Workday has “more of a buffer against agentic damage to your growth than an open ecosystem has.”
In the discourse
Attributed discussion of Workday.
AI will kill point-solution and micro-SaaS tools but leave large enterprise platforms like Workday largely intact in the near term.
“There's going to be a lot of these apps these point solute I don't think AI is going to kill work day tomorrow. But these little point solutions that are out there, these little microsasses, we don't need them.”Jason Lemkin · 12 May 2026
Pabrai argues that AI will not allow non-technical employees to self-build enterprise software, dismissing displacement of incumbent SaaS platforms like Workday as a near-term pipe dream.
“The idea that Betsy and HR is going to fire up some AI software, whatever, and develop her own software and get rid of Workday or whatever else they're using in HR is just a pipe dream.”Mohnish Pabrai · 22 May 2026
Even if vibe coding could replicate a Salesforce or Workday today (which it cannot), the maintenance burden alone makes the 'vibe coding kills enterprise SaaS' thesis unworkable.
“The meta answer to the meme on of Oh, we're going to kill salesforce because I can vibe it. Okay, even if you could like which you can't you can't do a salesforce or a workday today, but even if you could who the hell's going to maintain it?”Jason Lemkin · 15 Apr 2026
Bending Spoons plans to triple Airtable prices and may lose 20% of customers, yet the economics are expected to remain favorable, a case study in aggressive price extraction after SaaS acquisition.
“Bending Spoons may lose 20% of Air Table's customers who finally spend a week lifting off of Air Table, but when they triple prices, it's a good deal for Bending Spoons, right? But it's gonna happen a lot faster than workday.”Harry Stebbings · 20 Aug 2026
Closed systems of record like Workday resist agentic disruption better than open ecosystems like Salesforce because the headless, API-driven interface that enables agent replacement is harder to build against a locked data model.
“I it has more of a buffer against agentic damage to your growth than an open ecosystem has.”Harry Stebbings · 20 Aug 2026