Workday names Sarah Kennedy Ellis Chief Marketing Officer

Workday has named Sarah Kennedy Ellis Chief Marketing Officer, with her appointment taking effect October 5, 2026. She will report to Workday co-founder, CEO and chair Aneel Bhusri and lead the company's global marketing and communications organisation.

Sarah joins Workday from Google, where she led global marketing for Google Cloud and Google Workspace. She brings more than two decades of marketing experience across enterprise technology, having previously served as Chief Marketing Officer of Adobe Experience Cloud and Marketo.

Her appointment comes as Workday positions AI at the centre of its next phase of enterprise growth, with the company focused on helping organisations apply AI across HR, finance and IT.

Leading Workday's Global Marketing Organisation

As Chief Marketing Officer, Sarah will lead Workday's global marketing and communications organisation and help shape the company's brand narrative and growth strategy for the AI era.

The role brings together brand, communications and growth at a time when enterprise technology companies are increasingly being challenged to explain not only what AI can do, but how it creates measurable value for organisations and their people.

For Workday, that story sits across the core areas of HR, finance and IT, where the company says it serves more than 11,500 organisations globally, including more than 65% of the Fortune 500.

Bringing Enterprise Technology Marketing Experience

Sarah's background spans several major enterprise technology businesses.

At Google, she led global marketing for Google Cloud and Google Workspace, helping support the growth of two major enterprise technology businesses. Before Google, she served as CMO of Adobe Experience Cloud and Marketo.

Her experience across cloud, enterprise software, marketing technology and AI gives her a broad view of how technology markets evolve and how brands communicate increasingly complex technology propositions to business audiences.

That experience will be relevant as Workday continues to build its position around AI-powered enterprise applications.

Marketing the AI Era

Workday's latest strategy increasingly centres on the combination of AI with the context, processes and guardrails required to operate enterprise systems.

The company describes its platform as bringing AI into HR, finance and IT, with a focus on moving beyond AI assistance toward agents capable of driving measurable outcomes.

For Sarah, the opportunity is to translate that technology story into a clear and customer-focused narrative as organisations navigate the broader shift toward AI-enabled business operations.

Connecting Technology With Business Value

Sarah has highlighted the relationship between technology and humanity as central to the next phase of her career.

In announcing her move, she pointed to Workday's position at the intersection of enterprise technology and the people and financial resources that organisations depend on.

That perspective aligns with Workday's broader positioning as enterprises evaluate how AI can improve productivity, decision-making and business outcomes while remaining grounded in real organisational needs.

A New Chapter for Workday

Sarah's appointment comes at an important point in Workday's evolution as enterprise AI becomes increasingly embedded in the way organisations manage their people, finances and operations.

Aneel Bhusri said Sarah's experience scaling technology businesses and translating complex technology shifts into customer-focused stories will be valuable as Workday moves forward.

For Sarah, the new role represents an opportunity to lead the company's global marketing and communications strategy as Workday enters its next phase of growth.

About Workday

Workday is an enterprise AI platform focused on HR, finance and IT. More than 11,500 organisations worldwide, including more than 65% of the Fortune 500, use Workday to manage critical business functions and processes.