The key takeaway: Workday Rising EMEA 2026 takes place in Barcelona from 17 to 19 November and centres on practical agentic AI for HR and Finance. Keynotes from Workday’s executive leadership will detail autonomous agent roadmaps tailored to European regulatory environments. Organisations that prepare a structured attendance strategy, covering session selection, peer networking, and post-event deployment planning, will extract the most measurable value from the three days.
Workday Rising EMEA returns to Barcelona from 17 to 19 November 2026, positioning itself as the primary forum for practical artificial intelligence in HR and Finance. Many organisations still struggle to move from conceptual interest in AI to measurable productivity gains. The gap between technological potential and daily operational efficiency remains the central challenge for large enterprises across the EMEA region.
This article details how the upcoming summit translates autonomous agents into strategic business outcomes. It examines the roadmap shared by Workday’s executive leadership and outlines how HR and HR-IT leaders can maximise their investment in the event.
Contents
Workday Rising EMEA 2026: Practical AI and Business Outcomes
Workday Rising EMEA 2026 runs from 17 to 19 November in Barcelona, with a clear focus on agentic AI architecture and its application to HR and Finance workflows. Keynotes from Gerrit Kazmaier (President, Product and Technology) and Angelique De Vries-Schipperijn (President, EMEA) will detail autonomous roadmaps designed for European enterprises.
Intelligent Agents and Productivity Gains
Workday is shifting toward an agentic architecture in which intelligent agents automate repetitive tasks across HR and Finance. This evolution frees human talent for higher-value, strategic work rather than routine processing.
Native AI integration means these capabilities are built directly into the core platform. Organisations receive intelligence on demand without relying on external bolt-on solutions. The practical impact is therefore immediate rather than dependent on a separate implementation cycle.
Keynote Insights and Strategic Roadmaps
Gerrit Kazmaier will present his vision for the autonomous business, demonstrating how agents execute complex tasks with reliability at scale. Joel Hellermark, Chief AI Officer, contributes to the AI innovation narrative alongside him.
Angelique De Vries-Schipperijn focuses on the EMEA-specific roadmap, covering regional regulatory environments including Works Council requirements and data privacy standards. These insights are directly relevant for HR leaders planning digital transformation in the DACH and broader European market.
Understanding the product roadmap allows HR and HR-IT leaders to align their technology investment with Workday’s future direction, reducing the risk of misaligned configuration decisions.
Registration Logistics: Securing Your Barcelona Attendance
Moving from strategic vision to practicalities, securing a place in Barcelona requires understanding the available pass options and acting on early registration deadlines.
Comparing Full Experience vs. Digital Passes
The Full Experience pass at Fira Gran Via Nord provides access to face-to-face networking, hands-on labs, and evening events. These interactive elements remain exclusive to the physical venue and are particularly valuable for project leads and subject-matter experts who benefit from direct peer exchange.
The Digital pass offers keynote streaming and selected sessions at a lower cost, making it a practical option for remote stakeholders who need access to strategic content without travelling to Barcelona. Both pass types include on-demand viewing of recorded sessions after the event.
- Full Experience: networking, live labs, evening events, full session access.
- Digital: keynote streaming, selected sessions, on-demand recordings, lower cost.
Early Bird Deadlines and Group Discounts
Early Bird registration closes on 2 October 2026. Acting before this deadline is essential for teams managing travel budgets across multiple stakeholders. Hotel pre-payment follows on 23 October 2026.
Group discounts provide a strategic advantage for large HR-IT teams. Sending multiple stakeholders allows broader session coverage across the programme. With several hundred sessions on the agenda, a collective attendance approach ensures no critical product or compliance update is missed.
| Pass Type | Early Bird | Standard | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Experience | Reduced rate | Standard rate | Project leads and SMEs |
| Group (5+) | Tiered discount | Fixed bundle | Large HR-IT teams |
| Digital | Lowest entry | Fixed price | Remote stakeholders |
3 Strategic Ways to Maximise Attendance ROI
Once registration is confirmed, the focus shifts to extracting maximum value from the three days in Barcelona.
1. Peer-to-Peer Connections and Breakout Sessions
Networking with enterprise peers is one of the primary reasons to attend in person. Conversations with HR and HR-IT leaders from comparable organisations often surface practical deployment lessons that are not captured in formal session content.
Select sessions with a rigorous methodology. Prioritise technical deep-dives that address specific deployment challenges relevant to your current programme. Focus on module expansions already defined within your strategic technology roadmap rather than attending broadly.
Industry-specific tracks provide tailored insights for sector contexts. Sponsor-led demos from implementation and advisory partners can also offer a useful view of how specific capabilities are being applied in comparable environments.
2. Justifying Attendance Costs to Stakeholders
Build a business case centred on professional development and risk reduction. Align event learning with long-term transformation goals and connect specific sessions to your organisation’s HR and Finance objectives.
EMEA-specific regulatory updates are a strong justification argument. Staying current on regional compliance features, including Works Council requirements and data privacy standards, prevents costly re-implementations or configuration rework after go-live.
Bringing back actionable insights on platform capabilities and upcoming releases provides immediate operational value that justifies the travel investment for finance and HR leadership.
3. Coordinating a Team Coverage Strategy
With a large session catalogue, a single attendee cannot cover all relevant content. Assigning team members to specific tracks, then consolidating findings in a structured debrief, multiplies the knowledge return from the event.
Define coverage priorities before Barcelona: product roadmap sessions, compliance and regulatory updates, and peer case studies from organisations at a similar deployment stage. A shared session log and a post-event internal briefing ensure insights reach the full project team.
Transitioning Insights into Actionable Deployment Strategies
Learning at the event is only the first step. The real challenge is applying Barcelona insights to your own Workday environment in a structured, phased way.
Solving Data Migration Hurdles with OptEaz
Data conversion is consistently one of the most time-intensive bottlenecks in Workday deployments. HCM Advisory’s proprietary tool OptEaz is designed to reduce the manual workload associated with complex data migrations, freeing project teams to focus on strategic configuration and testing rather than data wrangling.
OptEaz covers a broad range of languages, incorporates an extensive and growing rule set, and operates within the client’s own environment to meet GDPR requirements. For organisations planning a new deployment or a significant re-implementation following a roadmap update announced in Barcelona, this tooling directly reduces project risk and elapsed time.
Boutique Advisory Expertise for Long-Term Transformation
Translating event announcements into an operational roadmap requires deep platform knowledge and an understanding of the EMEA regulatory context. HCM Advisory was founded by Oliver Stegmann and Alexandre Perpétuo, both former Workday executives with direct experience building Workday’s presence in Europe. Thomas Marcillaud, Managing Director, brings further depth as a former Workday Services leader.
As an independent advisory firm, HCM Advisory holds no implementation revenue interest. This means recommendations are driven entirely by what is appropriate for the client’s programme, not by delivery volume. Clients such as Johnson Matthey and GEA Group have relied on this conflict-free model for complex EMEA deployments.
HCM Advisory supports HR and HR-IT leaders across the full deployment lifecycle: from cloud readiness checks and scoping before a programme starts, through governance and works council negotiations during deployment, to release management and ongoing platform optimisation after go-live.
A structured advisory engagement ensures that the strategic directions announced at Workday Rising EMEA are translated into a realistic, phased roadmap grounded in your organisation’s actual configuration, data landscape, and regulatory obligations.
FAQ
Where and when is Workday Rising EMEA 2026 taking place?
Workday Rising EMEA 2026 is confirmed for Barcelona, Spain, from 17 to 19 November 2026. The event is hosted at Fira Gran Via Nord. It is the primary annual gathering for Workday customers and partners across the EMEA region, covering HR, Finance, and platform strategy.
Who are the featured keynote speakers at the Barcelona event?
Key speakers include Angelique De Vries-Schipperijn (President, EMEA), Gerrit Kazmaier (President, Product and Technology), and Joel Hellermark (Chief AI Officer). Their sessions will cover the autonomous business roadmap, agentic AI architecture, and EMEA-specific product and regulatory updates.
What are the main themes of the conference?
The central theme is practical AI, with a focus on moving beyond conceptual interest to tangible business outcomes. Sessions explore intelligent agents and automation within HR and Finance workflows. The EMEA programme also addresses regional compliance requirements, including Works Council considerations and data privacy standards.
What are the registration deadlines and cancellation terms?
The Early Bird registration deadline is 2 October 2026, with hotel pre-payment due by 23 October 2026. Cancellations before 16 October receive a full refund minus administrative fees. Between 17 October and 14 November, a 50% refund applies. No refunds are granted after 14 November 2026. Digital passes are non-refundable but include 90 days of on-demand access.
Can a registration be transferred to a colleague?
Yes, registrations are transferable to another individual within the same organisation. The transfer request must be submitted by email to the Workday Rising EMEA team no later than 14 November 2026. This provides flexibility for organisations whose project team composition changes between registration and the event date.
How can an independent advisory partner add value after the event?
An independent advisory partner helps translate the strategic announcements from Barcelona into a realistic deployment or optimisation roadmap for your specific environment. HCM Advisory provides conflict-free guidance across the full Workday lifecycle, from pre-project scoping and works council negotiations to post-go-live release management and platform governance. This ensures event insights are applied in a structured, compliant, and operationally grounded way.