Informed by sessions and conversations with healthcare leaders at Workday Rising, this discussion guide can help your organization turn emerging capabilities into clear Workday priorities and measurable workforce, financial, and operational value.
Key takeaways
- Workday roadmaps should start with business priorities, not individual capabilities. Focus first on the workforce, financial, and operational challenges where technology can create meaningful value.
- Trusted data and strong processes remain foundational. Accurate workforce and financial data, current business processes, and clear organizational structures support both today’s operations and emerging AI capabilities.
- Workforce planning is moving beyond jobs and headcount. Greater visibility into skills, tasks, and capacity can help healthcare organizations determine where people, process improvements, and AI can have the greatest impact.
- AI requires new decisions around governance and investment. As AI agents and capabilities expand, leaders need clear approaches to human oversight, accountability, cost, and measurable value.
Throughout Workday Rising, Nordic’s Workday team attended sessions, met with healthcare leaders, and participated in conversations across the event. While organizations are at different stages of AI adoption, many are asking the same questions: Do we have the right data? The right governance? The right workforce strategy? And where can emerging capabilities create the greatest value? Â
Use this five-question discussion guide to identify potential gaps, align leadership priorities, and focus on the areas most likely to create measurable value from your Workday investment.Â
Rate your organization:
0 = Significant gaps | 1 = Developing | 2 = Progressing | 3 = Strong foundation
Rate your organization based on how well each area is understood, addressed, and incorporated into your Workday strategy.
Is our workforce and financial data ready for AI?
Trust and accuracy emerged as important concerns at Workday Rising. Aaron Dodsworth, Senior Manager, Workday Support Services, Nordic, found that finance leaders were often less concerned about AI costs than the potential consequences of inaccurate financial reporting or payroll. That brought many conversations back to the fundamentals of accurate data, current business processes, and well-maintained job architecture.
Ask yourselfÂ
- Do our leaders trust workforce and financial reporting?Â
- Are key decisions still supported by spreadsheets outside Workday?Â
- Are organizational structures, roles, and job architecture current?Â
- Can we confidently trace important data to its source?Â
Executive discussion question: Would our leaders trust an AI-generated recommendation today?Â
Score: ____ / 3Â
Go deeper: Healthcare AI readiness: The 4 foundations that drive adoption, ROI, and long-term successÂ
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How effectively are we reducing workflow friction and administrative burden?
Not every Workday priority has to be a major transformation. Practical improvements that reduce repetitive work and user friction can also create meaningful value.
Ask yourselfÂ
- Which processes create the most administrative burden?Â
- Where are employees manually entering or reconciling data?Â
- Which workflows consistently slow decision-making?Â
- What recurring tasks create frustration for managers and staff?Â
Executive discussion question: What process wastes the most time across our organization today?Â
Score: ____ / 3
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Do we have the workforce visibility needed for skills-based planning?
Workday’s focus on Work Intelligence reflects a broader shift from planning primarily around jobs and headcount to understanding the tasks and skills that make up the work itself. This workforce planning tool can give healthcare leaders a clearer view of where critical skills sit, where gaps exist, and where AI could augment human work.
Ask yourselfÂ
- Do we understand where critical skills exist across the organization?Â
- Can we identify workforce gaps before they become operational problems?Â
- Are workforce and financial planning aligned?Â
- Can we distinguish work that requires human expertise from work that could be streamlined?Â
Executive discussion question: Which workforce challenges require additional hiring, and which could be solved through better allocation of work?Â
Score: ____ / 3Â
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Do we have the governance needed to use AI responsibly?
“Human in the loop” was a recurring theme throughout Workday Rising. As organizations adopt AI capabilities and introduce more AI agents into their environments, strong governance becomes increasingly important. Leaders need clear visibility into how AI is being used, who is accountable for decisions, and where human oversight remains essential.Â
Ask yourselfÂ
- Who reviews AI-generated recommendations?Â
- Who owns final decisions?Â
- Where are the acceptable boundaries for automation?Â
- Which decisions should always require human review?Â
- How will we govern and monitor AI agents as their use expands across the organization?Â
Executive discussion question: Where do we need AI support, and where do we need human judgment?Â
Score: ____ / 3Â
Go deeper: Your AI did not remove human judgment. It just relocated it.
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How effectively are we prioritizing Workday investments around measurable outcomes?
New capabilities create new opportunities, but they also require leaders to decide what deserves a place on the roadmap. At Workday Rising, capabilities such as Workday Decision Intelligence raised questions about how workforce, financial, and planning data can support faster, more informed decisions.
Polly Parrent, Senior Vice President, EHR/ERP/ServiceNow, Nordic, also heard concerns about the unpredictability of AI costs and the challenge that creates for planning. That makes the value equation even more important. Leaders need to understand what problem an investment will solve, what outcome it should improve, and how they’ll measure the return.
Ask yourselfÂ
- Can we clearly define the business problem we’re trying to solve?Â
- Have we established success metrics?Â
- Can we distinguish must-have priorities from capabilities that can wait
Executive discussion question: What business problems are we trying to solve, and how will we measure success?Â
Score: ____ / 3Â
Go deeper: Why healthcare AI stalls after the pilot and what’s really holding it backÂ
Your results
0–5 points: Strengthen the foundation
Gaps in data, governance, workforce visibility, or process challenges may limit your ability to get more from current and emerging Workday capabilities.
6–10 points: Focus and prioritize
Many foundational elements are in place, but opportunities remain. Focus your Workday roadmap on the initiatives most likely to improve workforce, financial, and operational outcomes.
11–15 points: Advance with purpose
Your organization appears well positioned to prioritize and advance Workday initiatives while maintaining focus on governance, workforce strategy, and measurable outcomes.
The bigger takeaway
The conversations at Workday Rising reinforced the importance of connecting new Workday capabilities to clear workforce, financial, and operational priorities.
A strong roadmap is built by deciding what to prioritize, how to govern it, and where technology can address the business challenges that matter most across your healthcare organization.
Turn your priorities into a Workday roadmap
If this guide surfaced gaps or opportunities, Nordic can help you determine what to address now, what to plan for next, and where your Workday investment could deliver more value. Explore priorities by leadership role or connect with our Workday team.
Frequently asked questions
Q: What should healthcare organizations consider when shaping their Workday roadmap?
A: Healthcare leaders should consider data quality, workforce needs, governance, operational workflows, and the business outcomes they want to achieve. These priorities can help determine what to address now and what belongs on the longer-term roadmap.
Q: How can healthcare organizations get more value from Workday?
A: Hospitals and health systems can focus on the processes and capabilities most likely to improve workforce capacity, financial performance, operational efficiency, and decision-making, rather than prioritizing new functionality based on availability alone.
Q: How can healthcare organizations prepare for expanded AI use in Workday?
A: Organizations should evaluate data quality, workforce visibility, business processes, governance, and the problems they want AI to help solve. These considerations remain relevant whether an organization is exploring AI use cases or scaling existing initiatives.
Q: How should healthcare organizations evaluate AI costs?
A: As AI capabilities and consumption models evolve, cost can be difficult to predict. Healthcare leaders should consider cost alongside expected value, including improvements in workforce capacity, efficiency, financial performance, decision-making, and experience.
About the author
Katie Burke is Senior Director of Workday Healthcare Enterprise Services at Nordic, where she helps healthcare organizations optimize Workday, improve operational performance, and maximize the value of technology investments.