Workiva puts Workato’s Genie agents to work – News

The proliferation of agentic artificial intelligence tools is already feeling overwhelming; for companies such as Workiva Inc., finding a centralized platform to manage them is essential.

That platform is Workato Inc., which recently released a series of Genie agents. These digital workers have the potential to smooth friction points and unlock further value, according to Kim Huffman (pictured), chief information officer of Workiva.

“Workato  is  uniquely  positioned  because  they’ve  been  focused  on  integration  and  automation,  which  really  is  the  foundational  building  block  of  an  agentic  solution,” Huffman said. “As  Workato  customers,  Workiva’s  been  able  to  unlock  some  of  that,  but  the  flywheel  effect  and  the  speed  to  which  we’re  going  to  be  able  to  take  advantage  of  that  I  think  is  where  you’re  going  to  see  the  most  surprises.”

Huffman spoke with theCUBE’s Savannah Peterson and Rob Strechay at the WOW: World of Workato event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, News Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed Workiva’s partnership with Workato and the future of agentic AI. (* Disclosure below.)

Turning the Workiva platform agentic

Workiva provides an AI-powered collaboration tool for streamlining financial reporting, governance and sustainability management. Now, that agents are on the rise, Workiva’s focus is on educating users, Huffman explained.

“Never  before  in  a  technology  wave  have  we  actually  seen  the  technology  democratize  to  the  level  where  you  have  functional  business  users  that  are  able  to  utilize  and  potentially  develop  their  own  agents  and  their  own  capabilities  using  AI,” she explained. “We’ve  had  to  be  very  prescriptive  and  thoughtful  about  how  we  rolled  out  our  program  and  it  has  really  started  with  literacy  around  AI.”

Using agentic AI, Workiva has been able to harvest use cases across the platform and derive value from them. The company has implemented Workato’s Genies in sectors such as sales and human resources, but Huffman sees further potential for agentic AI.

“When  we  move  into  agentic,  the  value  that  an  organization  is  going  to  be  able  to  unlock  is  really  when  they  start  looking  at  cross- functional  processes,” she said. “If  you  think  about  an  agent,  the  agent  is  not  bound  by  a  functional  silo … it’s  able  to  think  broader.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of News’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the WOW: World of Workato event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the WOW: World of Workato event. Neither Workato Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or News.)

Photo: News